R497-100-4. Form of Proceeding

  (1) All adjudicative proceedings commenced by the Department of Human Services or commenced by other persons affected by the Department of Human Services' actions shall be informal adjudicative proceedings.

  (2) However, any time before a final order is issued in any adjudicative proceeding, the presiding officer may convert an informal adjudicative proceeding to a formal adjudicative proceeding if:

  (a) conversion of the proceeding is in the public interest; and

  (b) conversion of the proceeding does not unfairly prejudice the rights of any party.

  (3) If a proceeding is converted from informal to formal, the Procedure for Formal Adjudicative Proceedings in Section 63G-4-204 through 208 shall apply. In all other cases, the Procedures for Informal Proceedings in Section 63G-4-203 and R497-100-6 shall apply.