(a) Not later than thirty (30) days after receipt of a notice of determination of liability under § 66-29-166 a putative holder may request an informal conference with the treasurer to review the determination. The treasurer may designate an employee to act on behalf of the treasurer for all purposes of this section.

(b) If a putative holder makes a timely request under subsection (a) for an informal conference:

(1) The treasurer shall set a place and time for the conference not later than twenty (20) days after the date of the request, unless the putative holder and the treasurer mutually agree upon a later date;

(2) The treasurer shall give the putative holder notice of the time and place of the conference;

(3) The conference may be held in person, by telephone, or by electronic means, as determined by the treasurer;

(4) The conference may be postponed, adjourned, and reconvened as the treasurer determines appropriate;

(5) The treasurer, or the treasurer's designee with the approval of the treasurer, may modify a determination made under § 66-29-166 in part or withdraw it in its entirety; and

(6) The treasurer shall issue a decision in a record and provide a copy of the record to the putative holder and examiner not later than twenty (20) days after the conference ends unless the putative holder and the treasurer mutually agree to continue the conference.

(c) A conference under subsection (b) is not an administrative remedy and is not a contested case subject to title 4, chapter 5. An oath is not required and rules of evidence do not apply in the conference.

(d) At a conference under subsection (b), the putative holder must be given an opportunity to confer informally with the treasurer and the person who examined the records of the putative holder to:

(1) Discuss the determination made under § 66-29-166; and

(2) Present any issue the putative holder wishes to raise concerning the validity of the determination.

(e) If the treasurer fails to act within a period prescribed in subsection (b), the failure does not affect a right of the treasurer, except that interest does not accrue on the amount for which the holder was determined to be liable under § 66-29-166 during the period in which the treasurer failed to act until the earlier of:

(1) The date the putative holder files an action under § 66-29-169; or

(2) If no action is filed under § 66-29-169, the conclusion of the ninety-day period for filing an action under § 66-29-169.

(f) The treasurer may hold an informal conference with the putative holder without a request at any time before a putative holder files suit under § 66-29-169.

(g) Penalties under § 66-29-173 and § 66-29-174 continue to accrue for property not reported, paid, or delivered as required by this part following the initiation and during the pendency of an informal conference under this section.