| (a) The executive director shall designate a department
employee as the department's alternative dispute resolution coordinator.
(b) The person designated as the alternative dispute
resolution coordinator must have completed a minimum of 40 classroom
hours of training in dispute resolution techniques in a course conducted
by an alternative dispute resolution system established under Civil
Practice and Remedies Code, Chapter 152, or another dispute resolution
organization approved by a court of this state at the time of or as
soon as practicable after the designation.
(c) The alternative dispute resolution coordinator
may act as the impartial third party for an alternative dispute resolution
process.
(d) The alternative dispute resolution coordinator
shall develop the process to be used by the department for alternative
dispute resolution. The process must conform, to the extent possible,
to the model guidelines issued by the State Office of Administrative
Hearings for the use of alternative dispute resolution by state agencies.
The process should provide the method that will be used by the coordinator
for the selection of impartial third parties.
(e) The alternative dispute resolution coordinator
shall collect data on the effectiveness of the department's use of
alternative dispute resolution and before December 31 of each year
shall file with the commission a report interpreting the data collected
for the preceding fiscal year.
|
