A. The hearing officer shall base his or her decision solely upon relevant evidence presented to or considered by the retirement system manager and any supportive evidence which may be admitted at the hearing.
B. In the event that any party to the appeal attempts to introduce additional evidence for consideration by the hearing officer, the hearing officer shall not consider such evidence, but shall instead immediately recess the hearing and refer the application to the retirement system manager for reconsideration in light of said additional evidence. Not later than thirty (30) days following the referral of the matter to him or her, the retirement system manager shall reconsider the matter in light of the additional evidence and shall either affirm or disaffirm the prior decision from which the appeal has been taken. The retirement system manager shall thereafter advise the hearing officer of the action taken upon rehearing.
C. The commission shall base its decision to adopt, modify or reject the proposed findings of fact and proposed decision of the hearing officer solely upon the record before it and any additional evidence which may be admitted by said commission.
D. As used in this section, "supportive evidence" means relevant evidence which is cumulative or corroborative of evidence presented to or considered by the retirement system manager.
E. As used in this section, "additional evidence" means relevant evidence which, in exercise of reasonable diligence could not have been presented to the retirement system manager by its proponent prior to the manager's decision upon which the appeal is based.
F. In any case where additional evidence is admitted, the party against whom it is offered shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to rebut such evidence. The hearing officer or commission may grant such continuances as may be reasonable and necessary under the circumstances for purposes of obtaining rebuttal evidence. (Prior code § 34.14.1404)