1) State Level Hearings - Within sixty (60) days of receipt of a request for a fair hearing, the agency will conduct the hearing, reach a decision, and notify the household of the decision. Decisions which result in an increase in household benefits will be reflected in the food stamp allotment within ten (10) days of the receipt of the hearing decision even if the Division must provide supplementary food stamp benefits or otherwise provide the household with an opportunity to obtain the allotment outside of the normal issuance cycle. However, the Division may take longer than ten (10) days if it elects to make the decision effective in the household's normal issuance cycle, provided that issuance will occur within sixty (60) days from the date of the household's request for the hearing. Decisions which result in a decrease in household benefits will be reflected in the next scheduled issuance following receipt of the hearing decision.

2) Household Requests for Postponement - The household may request and receive a postponement or continuance of the scheduled hearing. The postponement may not exceed thirty (30) days and, in such a case, the time limit for action on the decision is extended for as many days as the hearing is postponed. For example, if a hearing is postponed by the household for ten (10) days, notification of the hearing decision will be required within seventy (70) days from the date of the original request for a hearing.

3) Agency Requests for Postponement - The agency may request that a hearing be rescheduled. Such requests may be granted in the discretion of the hearing officer. The requests should be made to the hearing officer as soon as the agency decides that a rescheduling is desirable. However, unless the hearing officer advises the agency and household to the contrary, such postponement shall not affect the time within which the decisions shall be made and the household notified. In the Food Stamp Program, there will be no extension of the sixty (60) day timeframe due to rescheduling of the hearing by the agency.