FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 633

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


 

 

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SMITH (150).

                  Read 1st time January 29, 2007 and copies ordered printed.

D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

1561L.01I


 

AN ACT

To repeal section 621.045, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the Missouri board for architects, professional engineers, professional land surveyors, and landscape architects.




Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:


            Section A. Section 621.045, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 621.045, to read as follows:

            621.045. 1. The administrative hearing commission shall conduct hearings and make findings of fact and conclusions of law in those cases when, under the law, a license issued by any of the following agencies may be revoked or suspended or when the licensee may be placed on probation or when an agency refuses to permit an applicant to be examined upon his qualifications or refuses to issue or renew a license of an applicant who has passed an examination for licensure or who possesses the qualifications for licensure without examination:

            Missouri State Board of Accountancy

            Missouri Board [of Registration] for Architects, Professional Engineers [and] , Professional Land Surveyors, and Landscape Architects

            Board of Barber Examiners

            Board of Cosmetology

            Board of Chiropody and Podiatry

            Board of Chiropractic Examiners

            Missouri Dental Board

            Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors

            Board of Registration for the Healing Arts

            Board of Nursing

            Board of Optometry

            Board of Pharmacy

            Missouri Real Estate Commission

            Missouri Veterinary Medical Board

            Supervisor of Liquor Control

            Department of Health and Senior Services

            Department of Insurance

            Department of Mental Health.

            2. If in the future there are created by law any new or additional administrative agencies which have the power to issue, revoke, suspend, or place on probation any license, then those agencies are under the provisions of this law.

            3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, after August 28, 1995, in order to encourage settlement of disputes between any agency described in subsection 1 or 2 of this section and its licensees, any such agency shall:

            (1) Provide the licensee with a written description of the specific conduct for which discipline is sought and a citation to the law and rules allegedly violated, together with copies of any documents which are the basis thereof and the agency's initial settlement offer, or file a contested case against the licensee;

            (2) If no contested case has been filed against the licensee, allow the licensee at least sixty days, from the date of mailing, to consider the agency's initial settlement offer and to contact the agency to discuss the terms of such settlement offer;

            (3) If no contested case has been filed against the licensee, advise the licensee that the licensee may, either at the time the settlement agreement is signed by all parties, or within fifteen days thereafter, submit the agreement to the administrative hearing commission for determination that the facts agreed to by the parties to the settlement constitute grounds for denying or disciplining the license of the licensee; and

            (4) In any contact pursuant to this subsection by the agency or its counsel with a licensee who is not represented by counsel, advise the licensee that the licensee has the right to consult an attorney at the licensee's own expense.

            4. If the licensee desires review by the administrative hearing commission pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection 3 of this section at any time prior to the settlement becoming final, the licensee may rescind and withdraw from the settlement and any admissions of fact or law in the agreement shall be deemed withdrawn and not admissible for any purposes under the law against the licensee. Any settlement submitted to the administrative hearing commission shall not be effective and final unless and until findings of fact and conclusions of law are entered by the administrative hearing commission that the facts agreed to by the parties to the settlement constitute grounds for denying or disciplining the license of the licensee.