| (a) Upon receipt of a request for hearing and continuing until the time a motion for rehearing is denied, the time for ruling on such a motion has expired, or the proceeding is otherwise final, the commissioner and members of the commission may not communicate directly or indirectly with any party or a representative of a party in a contested case in connection with any issue of fact or law in the contested case except upon notice and opportunity for each party to participate. (b) The commissioner and members of the commission may communicate ex parte with employees of the department who did not participate in any hearing in the case in order to utilize special skills or knowledge of the department's staff in evaluating the record in the case. Prohibited ex parte communications shall not include any written communication if the communicator contemporaneously serves copies of the communication on all parties to the contested case. |
