(a) The Chief Hearing Examiner is the chief administrator of the Office of Administrative Hearings and he or she may employ hearing examiners and other clerical personnel necessary for the proper administration of this article.

(1) The Chief Hearing Examiner may delegate administrative duties to other employees, but the Chief Hearing Examiner shall be responsible for all official delegated acts.

(2) All employees of the Office of Administrative Hearings, except the Chief Hearing Examiner, shall be in the classified service and shall be governed by the provisions of the statutes, rules and policies of the classified service in accordance with the provisions of article six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.

(3) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, those persons serving as hearing examiners within the Division of Motor Vehicles on the effective date of this article as enacted during the Regular Session of the 2010 Legislature, shall be eligible and given first preference in hiring as hearing examiners pursuant to this article.

(b) The Chief Hearing Examiner shall:

(1) Direct and supervise the work of the office staff;

(2) Make hearing assignments;

(3) Maintain the records of the office;

(4) Review and approve decisions of hearing examiners as to legal accuracy, clarity and other requirements;

(5) Submit to the Legislature, on or before the fifteenth day of February, an annual report summarizing the office's activities since the end of the last report period, including a statement of the number and type of matters handled by the office during the preceding fiscal year and the number of matters pending at the end of the year; and

(6) Perform the other duties necessary and proper to carry out the purposes of this article.

(c) The administrative expenses of the office shall be included within the annual budget of the Department of Transportation.