(1) Upon receipt by mail of a written request for a due process hearing involving a special education controversy, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall:

(a) promptly advise the district administration and parent, legal guardian or surrogate parent of the request for due process hearing; and

(b) appoint an impartial hearing officer to conduct a due process hearing.

(i) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall maintain a list of individuals who are qualified to serve as impartial hearing officers.

(ii) Selection of impartial hearing officer:

(A) Upon receiving a request for hearing, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall mail to each party a list of the names of five proposed impartial hearing officers together with a summary of their qualifications.

(B) Each party shall have five business days following receipt of the list of names to study the list, cross off any two names objected to, number the remaining names in order of preference, and return the list to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Requests for more information about proposed impartial hearing officers must be directed to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Unless good cause is shown, this request for more information does not extend the five business day response time. (This five business days is counted as part of the 45-day period allowed for the issuance of the final order in a due process hearing. See ARM 10.16.3523.)

(C) If the parties arrive at a mutually agreeable choice, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall make the appointment from the ranking.

(D) If, despite efforts to arrive at a mutually agreeable choice, the parties cannot agree upon an impartial hearing officer, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall make the appointment from the names ranked by the parties.

(2) An impartial hearing officer may at any point withdraw from consideration or from service in any hearing in which the impartial hearing officer believes a personal or professional bias or interest on any of the issues to be decided in the hearing exists which might conflict with the impartial hearing officer's objectivity. Such written request to withdraw shall be directed to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Any subsequent appointment of an impartial hearing officer shall be conducted as provided above.