By Torres H.B. No. 2643
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of dentistry.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 4, Article 4543a, Revised
1-5 Statutes, as amended by S.B. No. 18, Chapter 2, Acts of the 74th
1-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) It is a ground for removal from the Board if a member:
1-8 (1) does not have at the time of appointment the
1-9 qualifications required by Section 1 of this article for
1-10 appointment to the Board;
1-11 (2) does not maintain during the service on the Board
1-12 the qualifications required by Section 1 of this article for
1-13 appointment to the Board;
1-14 (3) violates a prohibition established by Section 3 of
1-15 this article;
1-16 (4) fails to attend at least one-half of the regularly
1-17 scheduled meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
1-18 calendar year; <or>
1-19 (5) cannot discharge the member's duties for a
1-20 substantial part of the term for which the member is appointed
1-21 because of illness or disability; or
1-22 (6) violates the statutes, rules or regulations, or
1-23 governmental policies which the member is charged to keep.
2-1 SECTION 2. Subsections (b), (f), (g), (h), (i), and (j),
2-2 Section 1, Article 4548h, Revised Statutes, as amended by S.B. No.
2-3 18, Chapter 2, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995,
2-4 are amended to read as follows:
2-5 (b) If a written complaint is filed with the Board that the
2-6 Board has authority to resolve, the Board, at least as frequently
2-7 as quarterly and until final disposition of the complaint, shall
2-8 notify the parties to the complaint, by certified mail, of the
2-9 status of the complaint unless the notice would jeopardize an
2-10 undercover investigation.
2-11 (f) The Board shall dispose of a complaint within two years
2-12 of its filing date or the complaint shall be dismissed <all
2-13 complaints in a timely manner>. The Board shall establish a
2-14 schedule for conducting each phase of a complaint that is under the
2-15 control of the Board. The schedule shall be kept in the
2-16 information file for the complaint. A change in the schedule must
2-17 be noted in the complaint information file.
2-18 (g) <The Executive Director of the Board shall notify the
2-19 Board of the number of complaints that extend beyond a two-year
2-20 time frame for resolution. The Executive Director shall provide
2-21 the Board with an explanation of the reasons that the complaints
2-22 have not been resolved. The notice and explanation required shall
2-23 be provided to the Board periodically at regularly scheduled Board
2-24 meetings.>
2-25 <(h)> The Board by rule shall adopt procedures governing:
3-1 (1) informal disposition of a contested case under
3-2 Section 2001.056, Government Code; and
3-3 (2) informal proceedings held in compliance with
3-4 Section 2001.054(c), Government Code.
3-5 (h) <(i)> Rules adopted under this section must provide the
3-6 complainant, where applicable and permitted by law, an opportunity
3-7 to be heard, must provide the licensee an opportunity to be heard,
3-8 and must require the presence of an attorney to advise the Board or
3-9 the Board's employees. The attorney must be a member of the
3-10 Board's legal staff, if the Board has a legal staff. If the Board
3-11 does not have a legal staff, the attorney must be an employee of
3-12 the office of the attorney general.
3-13 (i) <(j)> The Board by rule shall develop a system for
3-14 monitoring license holders' compliance with the requirements of
3-15 this Act. Rules adopted under this section shall include
3-16 procedures for monitoring a license holder who is ordered by the
3-17 Board to perform certain acts to ascertain that the license holder
3-18 performs the required acts and to identify and monitor license
3-19 holders who represent a risk to the public.
3-20 SECTION 3. Section 2, Article 4548h, Revised Statutes, as
3-21 amended by S.B. No. 18, Chapter 2, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
3-22 Regular Session, 1995, is amended by adding Subsection (g) to read
3-23 as follows:
3-24 (g) The Board shall promptly notify, by certified mail, the
3-25 employer of any person suspended under Subsection (a) or (e) of
4-1 this section.
4-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-8 passage, and it is so enacted.