(a) The other party shall respond to the appellant's request. The response shall:
  (1) be in writing;
  (2) clearly and concisely support each issue in the administrative law judge's decision that the appellant has rebutted in the request, and state why the appellant's relief should not be granted;
  (3) be filed with the Chief Clerk of Proceedings in the division's central office in Austin not later than the 15th day after receipt of the appellant's appeal. The appellant's appeal is deemed received in accordance with §102.5 (relating to General Rules for Written Communications To and From the Commission, §102.4 (relating to General Rules for Non-Commission Communications) and §102.3 (relating to Computation of Time) of this title. Responses that are timely submitted to a division location other than the Chief Clerk of Proceedings, such as a local field office of the division, will be considered filed timely and forwarded to the division's appeals panel for consideration, but this may result in delay in the processing of the response. Untimely responses, regardless of whether they are filed with the Chief Clerk of Proceedings or in a different division office, will not be reviewed by the appeals panel;
  (4) be served on the other party or parties on the same day filed with the division; and
  (5) contain a statement certifying that a copy has been served on the other party or parties in person, mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, or transmitted by verifiable means. A certificate in substantially the following form shall be used: "I hereby certify that I have on this ____ day of ____________, _____, served a copy of the attached response to a request for appeal on _______________________________ (state the name of the other party or parties on whom a copy was served) by _______________________________ (state the manner of service)." _______________________________ Signature
(b) If it is not clear from the response that the party has properly served a copy of the response on the other party or parties, the division shall provide a copy of the response expeditiously.
(c) A response to the appellant's request with the division shall be filed not later than the 15th day after the responding party is deemed to have received the appellant's request. Saturdays and Sundays and holidays listed in §662.003, Government Code, are not included in the computation of this 15-day period. A response made under this section shall be presumed to be timely filed with the division if it is:
  (1) mailed on or before the 15th day after the date of deemed receipt of the appellant's request, as provided in subsection (a) of this section; and
  (2) received by the division not later than the 20th day after the date of deemed receipt of the appellant's request.

Source Note: The provisions of this §143.4 adopted to be effective March 7, 1991, 16 TexReg 1195; amended to be effective March 31, 1992, 17 TexReg 2009; amended to be effective March 14, 2001, 26 TexReg 2032; amended to be effective May 9, 2004, 29 TexReg 4223; amended to be effective December 13, 2009, 34 TexReg 8739; amended to be effective January 7, 2019, 44 TexReg 111