By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1095
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the regulation of the practice of dentistry.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 4, Article 4543a, Revised
1-4 Statutes, as amended by S.B. No. 18, Chapter 2, Acts of the 74th
1-5 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) It is a ground for removal from the Board if a member:
1-7 (1) does not have at the time of appointment the
1-8 qualifications required by Section 1 of this article for
1-9 appointment to the Board;
1-10 (2) does not maintain during the service on the Board
1-11 the qualifications required by Section 1 of this article for
1-12 appointment to the Board;
1-13 (3) violates a prohibition established by Section 3 of
1-14 this article;
1-15 (4) fails to attend at least one-half of the regularly
1-16 scheduled meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
1-17 calendar year; <or>
1-18 (5) cannot discharge the member's duties for a
1-19 substantial part of the term for which the member is appointed
1-20 because of illness or disability; or
1-21 (6) violates the statutes, rules or regulations, or
1-22 governmental policies which the member is charged to keep.
1-23 SECTION 2. Subsections (b), (f), (g), (h), (i), and (j),
2-1 Section 1, Article 4548h, Revised Statutes, as amended by S.B. No.
2-2 18, Chapter 2, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995,
2-3 are amended to read as follows:
2-4 (b) If a written complaint is filed with the Board that the
2-5 Board has authority to resolve, the Board, at least as frequently
2-6 as quarterly and until final disposition of the complaint, shall
2-7 notify the parties to the complaint, by certified mail, of the
2-8 status of the complaint unless the notice would jeopardize an
2-9 undercover investigation.
2-10 (f) The Board shall dispose of a complaint within two years
2-11 of its filing date or the complaint shall be dismissed <all
2-12 complaints in a timely manner>. The Board shall establish a
2-13 schedule for conducting each phase of a complaint that is under the
2-14 control of the Board. The schedule shall be kept in the
2-15 information file for the complaint. A change in the schedule must
2-16 be noted in the complaint information file.
2-17 (g) <The Executive Director of the Board shall notify the
2-18 Board of the number of complaints that extend beyond a two-year
2-19 time frame for resolution. The Executive Director shall provide
2-20 the Board with an explanation of the reasons that the complaints
2-21 have not been resolved. The notice and explanation required shall
2-22 be provided to the Board periodically at regularly scheduled Board
2-23 meetings.>
2-24 <(h)> The Board by rule shall adopt procedures governing:
2-25 (1) informal disposition of a contested case under
3-1 Section 2001.056, Government Code; and
3-2 (2) informal proceedings held in compliance with
3-3 Section 2001.054(c), Government Code.
3-4 (h) <(i)> Rules adopted under this section must provide the
3-5 complainant, where applicable and permitted by law, an opportunity
3-6 to be heard, must provide the licensee an opportunity to be heard,
3-7 and must require the presence of an attorney to advise the Board or
3-8 the Board's employees. The attorney must be a member of the
3-9 Board's legal staff, if the Board has a legal staff. If the Board
3-10 does not have a legal staff, the attorney must be an employee of
3-11 the office of the attorney general.
3-12 (i) <(j)> The Board by rule shall develop a system for
3-13 monitoring license holders' compliance with the requirements of
3-14 this Act. Rules adopted under this section shall include
3-15 procedures for monitoring a license holder who is ordered by the
3-16 Board to perform certain acts to ascertain that the license holder
3-17 performs the required acts and to identify and monitor license
3-18 holders who represent a risk to the public.
3-19 SECTION 3. Section 2, Article 4548h, Revised Statutes, as
3-20 amended by S.B. No. 18, Chapter 2, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
3-21 Regular Session, 1995, is amended by adding Subsection (g) to read
3-22 as follows:
3-23 (g) The Board shall promptly notify, by certified mail, the
3-24 employer of any person suspended under Subsection (a) or (e) of
3-25 this section.
4-1 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-6 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-7 passage, and it is so enacted.