Senate Bill No. 564
(By Senator Bowman)
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[Introduced February 12, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Health and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §30-25-4 and §30-25-7 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by
adding thereto a new section, designated §30-25-7a, all
relating to requiring applicants for, and current holders of,
licenses as nursing home administrators to successfully pass
criminal history record checks; granting the Nursing Home
Administrators Licensing Board with the authority to perform
the criminal history record checks; requiring the applicants
for, and current holders of, those licenses to cover the costs
of performing the criminal history record checks; and
providing rule-making authority.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-25-4 and §30-25-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §30-25-7a, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 25. NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS.
§30-25-4. Qualifications for license; exceptions; application;
fees.
(a) To be eligible for a license as a nursing home
administrator a person must:
(1) Be of good moral character;
(2) Possess the qualifications and meet any reasonable
standards as the board may prescribe pursuant to subsection (a),
section seven of this article;
(3) Pass the examination prescribed by the board in the
subject of nursing home administration; and
(4) Have sufficient knowledge and soundness of judgment to be
able to adequately discharge the functions of a nursing home
administrator.
(5) Submit to and successfully pass criminal history record
checks in accordance with section seven-a of this article.
(b) Any person who holds a license or certificate as a nursing
home administrator issued by any other state, the requirements for
which are found by the board to be at least as great as those
provided in this article may be granted a license without
examination if he or she meets all of the other requirements for
licensing in this state.
(c) Any applicant for any license shall submit an application
for the license at the time, in the manner, on the forms and
containing the information as the board may, from time to time, by reasonable legislative rules prescribe and pay to the board the
prescribed license fee, which fee shall be returned to the
applicant if he or she is denied a license.
§30-25-7. Powers and duties of board.
(a) The board shall:
(1) Examine applicants and determine their eligibility for a
license or emergency permit as a nursing home administrator;
(2) Prepare, conduct and grade an apt and proper examination
of applicants for a license and determine the satisfactory passing
score on the examination;
(3) Promulgate reasonable legislative rules in accordance with
and subject to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code, for the proper performance of its duties and
shall establish fees for examinations, permits, licenses and
renewals sufficient to cover the costs of administration of this
article;
(4) Issue, renew, deny, suspend or revoke licenses and
emergency permits in accordance with the provisions of this article
and, in accordance with the administrative procedures provided in
this article, may review, affirm, reverse, vacate or modify its
order with respect to any denial, suspension or revocation;
(5) Develop, impose and enforce standards which must be met by
individuals in order to receive a license as a nursing home
administrator. The standards shall be designed to ensure that
nursing home administrators will be individuals who are of good character and are otherwise suitable, and who, by training or
experience in the field of institutional administration, are
qualified to serve as nursing home administrators;
(6) Employ, direct, discharge and define the duties of
personnel necessary to effectuate the provisions of this article;
(7) Keep accurate and complete records of its proceedings,
certify the records as may be appropriate, and prepare, from time
to time, a list showing the names and addresses of all licensees;
(8) Approve courses of study or training in the field of
nursing home administration which sufficiently meet education and
training requirements for nursing home administrators established
by this article;
(9) Conduct a course of study or training of the type referred
to in subdivision (8) of this subsection if the courses are not
otherwise reasonably available to residents of this state;
and
(10) Perform criminal history record checks in accordance with
section seven-a of this article on all applicants for, and current
holders of, licenses as nursing home administrators; and
(10) (11) Take other action as may be reasonably necessary or
appropriate to effectuate the provisions of this article.
(b) All moneys paid to the board shall be accepted by a person
designated by the board and deposited by him or her with the
treasurer of the state and credited to an account to be known as
the "West Virginia nursing home administrators licensing board
fund." Reimbursement of all reasonable and necessary costs and expenses actually incurred by members, and by the board in the
administration of this article shall be paid from the fund.
§30-25-7a. Authorization for criminal history record check; fees;
rules.
(a) In furtherance of the national goal of promoting
uniformity and reciprocity among the states with regard to nursing
home administrator licensing, this section sets forth the
requirements to obtain access to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation National Criminal Investigation Center and the
Criminal Justice Information Services Division criminal history
record information and to secure information or reports from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice Information
Services Division and the National Criminal Investigation Center.
The scope of this section is to set forth the applicability of the
criminal history record check to applicants for and current holders
of a state nursing home administrator license.
(b) As used in this section, the following terms have the
meanings ascribed in this subsection, unless a different meaning is
clearly required by the context:
(1)"Applicant" means a natural person:
(A) Applying for an initial license as a nursing home
administrator; or
(B) Applying for a renewal or continuation of a license as a
nursing home administrator.
(2) "Current holder" means a natural person who currently has a license as a nursing home administrator.
(3) "Fingerprint" means an impression of the lines on the
finger taken for the purpose of identification. The impression may
be obtained electronically or in ink converted to an electronic
format.
(c) In order to make a determination of license eligibility,
the board is authorized to require fingerprints of applicants and
current holders and to submit those fingerprints and the fee
required to perform the criminal history record checks to the West
Virginia State Police and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
for the state and national criminal history record checks.
(d) The board shall require a criminal history record check on
each applicant and each current holder in accordance with this
section. The board shall require each applicant and each current
holder to submit a full set of fingerprints, including a scanned
file from a hard copy fingerprint, in order for the board to obtain
and receive national criminal history records from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation the National Criminal Investigation Center
and Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
(e) The board shall collect a fee from each applicant and each
current holder in an amount established by rule. The amount of the
fee must be sufficient to cover:
(1) The cost of the collection and transmittal of fingerprints
by persons, including local law-enforcement agencies that are
approved by the board to capture fingerprints, to the West Virginia State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
(2) The cost of any amounts charged by the State Police and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation to perform the criminal history
record checks.
(f) The board may contract for the collection and transmission
of fingerprints authorized under this section and may order that
the fee for collecting and transmitting fingerprints be payable
directly by the applicant or current holder to the contractor.
(g) The board is authorized to receive criminal history record
information directly from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in
lieu of via transmission of the information from the Federal Bureau
of Investigation to the West Virginia State Police.
(h) The board shall treat and maintain an applicant's and a
current holder's fingerprints and any criminal history record
information obtained under this section as confidential and shall
apply security measures consistent with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation Criminal Justice Information Services Division
standards for the electronic storage of fingerprints and necessary
identifying information. The board shall limit the use of records
solely to the purposes authorized in this section. The
fingerprints and the criminal history record information in the
custody of the board are not subject to subpoena, other than one
issued in a criminal action or investigation; are confidential by
law and privileged; and are not subject to discovery or admissible
in evidence in any private civil action.
(i) The board shall promulgate emergency rules pursuant to the
provisions of section fifteen, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a
of this code as are necessary for the administration of this
section, including rules governing applicants for and current
holders of licenses as nursing home administrators and the
frequency of criminal history record checks for those holding
nursing home administrators licenses.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require applicants for
and current holders of a license as a nursing home administrator to
successfully pass criminal history record checks. The bill grants
the Nursing Home Administrators Licensing Board with the authority
to perform the criminal history record checks and requires the
applicants for, and current holders of, those licenses to cover the
costs of performing those checks. The bill also provides rulemaking
authority
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§30-25-7a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
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