(a) A protest of a charter application must be received by the department before the 15th day after the date the organizers publish notice and must be accompanied by any fee required by §21.5(b) of this title (relating to Public Notice). If the protest is untimely, the department will return all fees and deposits to the protesting party. If the protest is timely, the department shall notify the applicant of the protest and mail or deliver a complete copy of the nonconfidential sections of the charter application to the protesting party before the 15th day after the later of the date of receipt of the protest or receipt of the charter application.     
      (b) A protesting party must file a detailed protest responding to each contested statement in the nonconfidential portion of the application not later than the 20th day after the date the protesting party receives the application from the department. The protesting party must relate each statement and response in his protest to the standards for approval set forth in Finance Code §182.003(b).     
      (c) The applicant must file a written reply to the protesting party's detailed response on or before the 10th day after the date the response is filed.     
      (d) The protesting party's response and the applicant's reply must be in the form and must be served as required by Finance Code §182.005(b). Any comment received by the department and any reply of the applicant to the comment shall be made available to the protesting party.     
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §21.10 adopted to be effective July 10, 2008, 33 TexReg 5277