§ 38–2661.14. Commission athletic appeals panels.

(a) The Commission shall establish athletic appeals panels to hear appeals from LEA decisions related to participant eligibility and decisions of the DCSAA.

(b)(1) The Chairperson of the Commission shall appoint a separate athletic appeals panel for each matter brought before the Commission. Each panel shall be composed of 3 voting members.

(2) A voting member who represents an athletic league shall not hear an appeal to which a member of the same athletic league is a party.

(3) A voting member of the Commission shall disclose a potential conflict of interest, as defined by the Commission in its rules of governance and procedure, in any matter before the Commission and shall not be appointed to an appeals panel for that matter.

(c) An athletic appeals panel shall hear all issues relating to an appeal de novo, except that the evidence before the panel shall be limited to the record made before the LEA or the DCSAA unless a party seeks to introduce relevant evidence that, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, it could not have produced during the initial hearing on the complaint or that was improperly excluded from the initial hearing on the complaint.

(d)(1) In a written decision, the Commission shall issue the decision of an athletic appeals panel affirming or denying the decision of an LEA or the DCSAA.

(2) The decision of the Commission shall be final.