The parties or their attorneys shall have the right to take exceptions to the findings and/or recommendations made by the Judicial Hearing Officer and to have a further hearing before such juvenile court for final disposition. The following procedure shall be utilized for exception hearings:

   (A) A hearing before a Judicial Hearing Officer shall be conducted in the same manner as a hearing before the juvenile court. Testimony in such matters shall be preserved by digital recording or other prescribed means and shall be in accordance with prescribed standards. Transcriptions of all hearings shall be available upon request, and all costs of preparing the transcription shall be paid by the party for whom it is prepared.

   (B) Upon the hearing of a matter, the Judicial Hearing Officer shall prepare in writing his or her findings and recommendations, and shall submit a report to the juvenile court containing findings of fact and law as well as recommendations.

   (C) Upon receiving the findings and recommendations from the Judicial Hearing Officer and when no exception is filed, the juvenile court shall review the report of the Judicial Hearing Officer de novo on the record, and in the juvenile court’s discretion, the juvenile court may approve, modify, or reject the recommendations of the Judicial Hearing Officer and make its own determinations and enter judgment based thereon. Any statutory right of appeal or rehearing shall remain reserved to all parties.

   (D) The parties shall have the right to take exception to the findings and recommendations of the Judicial Hearing Officer within seven (7) days and to have a hearing by the juvenile court before final disposition. Upon receiving the findings and recommendations, the juvenile court shall have the discretion to allow the presentation of new or additional evidence, and at the conclusion of the hearing, the juvenile court has the discretion to approve, modify, or reject the recommendations of the Judicial Hearing Officer and make its own determinations and enter judgment based thereon. Any statutory rights of appeal or rehearing shall remain reserved to all parties.

   (E) Upon filing the notice of exception with the clerk of the court from which the exception is being taken, the petitioner shall also file with that juvenile court a request directing the clerk to prepare a transcript, with the petitioner identifying the pleading or document to be included in the transcript by listing the name of the pleading or document and its date of filing. The petitioner shall also request the court reporting personnel to make or have made an expedited audio file and/or a verbatim record of the hearing(s) from which an exception is being made.

   (F) To be enforceable, the Judicial Hearing Officer’s recommendations must be entered as an order by a judge.

   (G) The parties must be provided a copy of the recommendation of the Judicial Hearing Officer and the approved order by the juvenile court.