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S.B. No. 211
AN ACT
relating to the licensing and regulation of chiropractors,
optometrists, and therapeutic optometrists.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 201, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 201.206 to read as follows:
Sec. 201.206. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INVESTIGATION FILES.
(a) The board's investigation files are confidential, privileged,
and not subject to discovery, subpoena, or any other means of legal
compulsion for release other than to the board or an employee or
agent of the board.
(b) The board shall share information in investigation
files, on request, with another state or federal regulatory agency
or with a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency
regardless of whether the investigation has been completed. The
board is not required to disclose under this subsection information
that is an attorney-client communication, an attorney work product,
or other information protected by a privilege recognized by the
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Texas Rules of Evidence.
(c) On the completion of the investigation and before a
hearing under Section 201.505, the board shall provide to the
license holder, subject to any other privilege or restriction set
forth by rule, statute, or legal precedent, access to all
information in the board's possession that the board intends to
offer into evidence in presenting its case in chief at the contested
case hearing on the complaint. The board is not required to
provide:
(1) a board investigative report or memorandum;
(2) the identity of a nontestifying complainant; or
(3) attorney-client communications, attorney work
product, or other materials covered by a privilege recognized by
the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Texas Rules of Evidence.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the board may:
(1) disclose a complaint to the affected license
holder; and
(2) provide to a complainant the license holder's
response to the complaint, if providing the response is considered
by the board to be necessary to investigate the complaint.
(e) This section does not prohibit the board or another
party in a disciplinary action from offering into evidence in a
contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code, a record,
document, or other information obtained or created during an
investigation.
SECTION 2. Section 201.312, Occupations Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 201.312. REGISTRATION [ACCREDITATION] OF FACILITIES.
(a) The board by rule shall adopt requirements for registering
[licensing and regulating] chiropractic facilities as necessary to
protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
(b) The rules adopted under this section must:
(1) specify the registration [licensing] requirements
for a chiropractic facility;
(2) prescribe the standards for the chiropractic
[structure of the] facility registration [licensing] program;
[and]
(3) provide for the issuance of a separate certificate
of registration [one facility license] to an owner of a
chiropractic facility for each chiropractic facility owned by the
owner; and
(4) provide for the board to send notice to an owner of
a chiropractic facility and to each chiropractor practicing in the
facility of the impending expiration of the facility's certificate
of registration before the expiration of the certificate.
(c) The standards adopted under Subsection (b)(2) must be
consistent with industry standards for the practice of
chiropractic.
(d) To register a chiropractic facility, the owner of the
facility must:
(1) file with the board a written application for
registration; and
(2) pay, with the application, a registration fee in
an amount set by the board not to exceed $75.
(e) The board may issue a certificate of registration only
to a chiropractic facility that complies with the requirements of
this section.
(f) A certificate of registration under this section must be
renewed annually. To renew the certificate, the certificate holder
shall apply to the board and pay an annual fee equal to the amount of
the registration fee under Subsection (d)(2).
(g) A person licensed to practice chiropractic in this state
is subject to disciplinary action under this chapter if the person
practices chiropractic in a chiropractic facility that the person
knows is not registered under this section.
(h) An owner of a chiropractic facility who violates this
section or a rule adopted under this section is subject to
disciplinary action by the board in the same manner as a license
holder who violates this chapter or a rule adopted under this
chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 201.355, Occupations Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) The board may renew without reexamination an expired
license of a person who was licensed in this state, moved to another
state or foreign country, and is currently licensed in good
standing and has been in practice in the other state or foreign
country for the two years preceding application.
(c) For purposes of this section, a person is currently
licensed if the person is licensed by another chiropractic
licensing board recognized by the board. The board shall adopt
requirements for recognizing another chiropractic licensing board
that:
(1) has licensing requirements substantially
equivalent to the requirements of this chapter; and
(2) maintains professional standards considered by
the board to be equivalent to the standards under this chapter.
SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 351, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 351.2045 to read as follows:
Sec. 351.2045. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INVESTIGATION FILES.
(a) The board's investigation files are confidential, privileged,
and not subject to discovery, subpoena, or any other means of legal
compulsion for release other than to the board or an employee or
agent of the board.
(b) The board shall share information in investigation
files, on request, with another state or federal regulatory agency
or with a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency
regardless of whether the investigation has been completed. The
board is not required to disclose under this subsection information
that is an attorney-client communication, an attorney work product,
or other information protected by a privilege recognized by the
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Texas Rules of Evidence.
(c) On the completion of the investigation and before a
hearing under Section 351.503, the board shall provide to the
license holder, subject to any other privilege or restriction set
forth by rule, statute, or legal precedent, access to all
information in the board's possession that the board intends to
offer into evidence in presenting its case in chief at the contested
case hearing on the complaint. The board is not required to
provide:
(1) a board investigative report or memorandum;
(2) the identity of a nontestifying complainant; or
(3) attorney-client communications, attorney work
product, or other materials covered by a privilege recognized by
the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Texas Rules of Evidence.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the board may:
(1) disclose a complaint to the affected license
holder; and
(2) provide to a complainant the license holder's
response to the complaint, if providing the response is considered
by the board to be necessary to investigate the complaint.
(e) This section does not prohibit the board or another
party in a disciplinary action from offering into evidence in a
contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code, a record,
document, or other information obtained or created during an
investigation.
SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 201.303, Occupations
Code, is repealed.
SECTION 6. Not later than January 1, 2004, the Texas Board
of Chiropractic Examiners shall adopt rules under Section 201.503,
Occupations Code, specifying the maximum amount of sanctions that
may be assessed against a chiropractor for violating Subsection
(g), Section 201.312, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 7. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) Section 201.206, Occupations Code, as added by this Act,
applies to a complaint or investigation pending on the effective
date of this Act or filed on or after that date.
(c) The change in law made by this Act by the amendment of
Subsection (a), Section 201.355, Occupations Code, applies only to
an application to renew a license filed on or after the effective
date of this Act. An application to renew a license filed before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the application was filed, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
(d) Section 351.2045, Occupations Code, as added by this
Act, applies to a complaint or investigation pending on the
effective date of this Act or filed on or after that date.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 211 passed the Senate on
March 17, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 24, Nays 7; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 29, 2003, by a
viva-voce vote.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 211 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 25, 2003, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor