(a) If the respondent requests a hearing, the hearing shall be conducted by the department or the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
(b) The State Office of Administrative Hearings shall consider the department’s applicable substantive rules and policies when conducting a hearing under this subchapter.

(c) A department hearing officer or an administrative law judge at the State Office of Administrative Hearings, as applicable, shall:
(1) make findings of fact and conclusions of law; and
(2) promptly issue to the commission a proposal for decision as to the occurrence of the violation and the amount of any proposed administrative penalty.