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S N A P M A N U A L

228 (3) Responsibilities of the SNAP household The household has the following responsibilities relating to the fair hearing process:

(A) File the appeal request, either orally or in writing, which must indicate the reason the household is dissatisfied. (The Office of Administrative Hearings can request that the claimant be more specific about the issue). An oral request may be made by telephoning the Economic Services worker or Economic Services supervisor or the Office of Administrative Hearings.

When the action the household wishes to appeal is not clear, the Economic Services worker or Economic Services supervisor must ask the household to clarify the request; however, forwarding the request to the Office of Administrative Hearings must not be delayed beyond two working days after receipt of the request. (B) Decide if the household wants to receive continued benefits. (C) Notify OAH if they wish to have a face-to-face hearing (through Microsoft Teams video conferencing). Otherwise, a telephone hearing will be scheduled unless a Hearing Officer decides that a face-to-face (through Microsoft Teams videoconferencing) hearing is necessary. (D) Present the household’s case or appoint a representative to present the case AND (E) Request the Office of Administrative Hearings to subpoena any necessary documents or witnesses at least 14 days in advance of the hearing. When the household requests a subpoena, the household automatically accepts responsibility for all subpoena fees charged.

1 8 . 6 D E N I A L / D I S M I S S A L O F F A I R H E A R I N G R E Q U E S T S The Economic Services worker or Economic Services supervisor cannot deny or dismiss a hearing request; however, the hearing officer may do so if any of the following situations occur:

(A) The request is not received in the specified time period. See Section 18.2 Time Frames. (B) The household or the household’s representative fails without good cause to appear at the scheduled hearing. (C) The request is withdrawn orally or in writing from the household or representative. A written withdrawal must be signed by the household or the household’s representative. All withdrawals must also be forwarded to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) and be acknowledged as withdrawn by the OAH.

NOTE: The Economic Services worker or Economic Services supervisor must not coerce or attempt to influence the household to withdraw the fair hearing request.

• Preferred Methods of Withdrawal from a Fair Hearing

To ensure that Fair Hearings are being withdrawn consistently, the acceptable methods of withdrawal are listed below: