By Naishtat H.B. No. 2618
75R7280 BEM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to disciplinary proceedings and investigation of a
1-3 complaint against a social worker.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 50.021(a), Human Resources Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The board shall deny, revoke, [or] suspend, or suspend
1-8 on an emergency basis a license or order of recognition, place on
1-9 probation a person whose license or order of recognition has been
1-10 suspended, or reprimand a person with a license or order of
1-11 recognition for any of the following reasons:
1-12 (1) violating a provision of this chapter or a rule of
1-13 the board;
1-14 (2) circumventing or attempting to circumvent this
1-15 chapter or a rule of the board;
1-16 (3) participating, directly or indirectly, in a plan,
1-17 scheme, or arrangement attempting or having as its purpose the
1-18 evasion of this chapter or a rule of the board;
1-19 (4) engaging in unethical conduct;
1-20 (5) engaging in conduct which discredits or tends to
1-21 discredit the profession of social work;
1-22 (6) performing an act, allowing an omission, or making
1-23 an assertion or representation that is fraudulent, deceitful, or
1-24 misleading or that in any manner tends to create a misleading
2-1 impression;
2-2 (7) knowingly associating with or permitting or
2-3 allowing the use of any licensed person's professional services or
2-4 professional identification in a project or enterprise that the
2-5 person knows or with the exercise of reasonable diligence should
2-6 know is a practice that violates this chapter or a rule of the
2-7 board pertaining to the practice of social work;
2-8 (8) knowingly associating with or permitting the use
2-9 of a licensed person's name, professional services, professional
2-10 identification, or endorsement in connection with a venture or
2-11 enterprise that the person knows or with the exercise of reasonable
2-12 diligence should know is a trade, business, or professional
2-13 practice of a fraudulent, deceitful, misleading, or dishonest
2-14 nature;
2-15 (9) revealing, directly or indirectly, or causing to
2-16 be revealed a confidential communication transmitted to the
2-17 licensed person by a client or recipient of his services except as
2-18 may be required by law;
2-19 (10) having a certificate or a license to practice
2-20 social work in another jurisdiction denied, suspended, or revoked
2-21 for reasons or causes the board finds would constitute a violation
2-22 of this chapter or a rule pertaining to the practice of social work
2-23 adopted by the board;
2-24 (11) having been convicted of a felony in an American
2-25 jurisdiction;
2-26 (12) refusing to do or perform any act or service for
2-27 which the person is licensed under this chapter solely on the basis
3-1 of the recipient's age, sex, race, religion, national origin,
3-2 color, or political affiliation; or
3-3 (13) committing an act for which liability exists
3-4 under Chapter 81, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
3-5 SECTION 2. Section 50.022, Human Resources Code, is amended
3-6 to read as follows:
3-7 Sec. 50.022. DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS. (a) A proceeding
3-8 under Section 50.021 begins when a charge is filed with the
3-9 department and referred to the board in writing and under oath.
3-10 The charge may be made by any person.
3-11 (b) A person is entitled to notice and a hearing before the
3-12 State Office of Administrative Hearings before a sanction is
3-13 imposed under Section 50.021.
3-14 (c) Disciplinary proceedings and the appeals from the
3-15 proceedings are governed by Chapter 2001, Government Code. The
3-16 board by rule shall adopt a broad schedule of sanctions for
3-17 violations under this chapter. The State Office of Administrative
3-18 Hearings shall use the schedule for any sanction imposed as the
3-19 result of a hearing conducted by that office.
3-20 (d) A person whose license or order of recognition has
3-21 expired and who is found by the board to have violated this chapter
3-22 or a rule adopted under this chapter during the time the license or
3-23 order of recognition was unexpired is subject to a sanction under
3-24 this chapter. Subsections (b) and (c) apply to a proceeding
3-25 against a person under this subsection.
3-26 SECTION 3. Section 50.0222, Human Resources Code, is amended
3-27 by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
4-1 (d) The board may conduct an investigation of a complaint
4-2 and reach a decision as to the validity of the complaint regardless
4-3 of the status of the license or order of recognition of the person
4-4 against whom the complaint is issued.
4-5 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-6 (b) The Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners shall
4-7 adopt rules for the emergency suspension of a social worker's
4-8 license or order of recognition under Section 50.021(a), Human
4-9 Resources Code, as amended by this Act, not later than December 1,
4-10 1997.
4-11 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.