(a) Notices of hearing, proposals for decision, and all other rulings, orders, and actions by SOAH, TRS, or an administrative law judge, as applicable, shall be served upon all parties or their attorneys of record in person or at their last known address by mail. Service by mail is complete upon deposit in the mail, properly addressed, with postage prepaid if it is received by TRS within a timely manner under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 5 and the sender provides adequate proof of the mailing date. Service may also be accomplished by electronic mail or facsimile transmission if all parties agree. In that case, the sender shall retain the original of the document and file it upon request with the administrative law judge or the executive director, as applicable. Upon request, the sender has the burden of proving the date and time of receipt of the document served by facsimile transmission or electronic mail. Electronic mail may not be used with documents produced pursuant to a discovery request. On motion by any party or on its own motion, TRS may serve notice of a hearing on any person whose interest in the subject matter will be directly affected by the final decision in the case.
(b) All initial hearing notices shall include the following:
  (1) a statement of time, place, and nature of the hearing;
  (2) a statement of the legal authority and jurisdiction under which the hearing is to be held;
  (3) a reference to the particular sections of the statutes and rules involved;
  (4) a short, plain statement of the factual matters asserted. If TRS or a party is unable to state the matters in detail at the time the notice is served, the initial notice may be limited to a statement of the issues involved. Thereafter, upon written application filed not less than ten days before the date set for hearing, a more definite and detailed statement must be furnished not less than seven days prior to the date set for the hearing; and
  (5) a statement that failure to appear at the prehearing conference or any scheduled hearing may result in the following: the facts alleged by TRS may be admitted as true; the relief requested by TRS may be granted; petitioner's appeal may be denied; or petitioner's appeal may be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute the claim; or any or all of the foregoing actions.
(c) After service of the initial notice, any party wishing to raise issues or matters not set forth in the initial notice must do so by filing a motion which sets forth such issues or matters not less than 30 days before the date set for hearing. If the motion is granted, the administrative law judge shall give notice, not less than 20 days before the date of hearing, of the additional issues and matters to be decided in the contested case.
(d) All other notices in a contested case shall set forth only the additional issues and matters to be decided.

Source Note: The provisions of this §43.16 adopted to be effective April 20, 1988, 13 TexReg 1672; amended to be effective June 9, 1999, 24 TexReg 4249; amended to be effective March 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 2115; amended to be effective March 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 1095; amended to be effective April 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 2002; amended to be effective January 1, 2016, 40 TexReg 9730