Senate Bill No. 762
(By Senator Bowman)
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[Introduced February 20, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §30-4-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to modifying the composition of the
Board of Dental Examiners; and making stylistic changes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-4-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. WEST VIRGINIA DENTAL PRACTICE ACT.
§30-4-4. Board of dental examiners.
(a) The "West Virginia Board of Dental Examiners" is hereby
continued. The members of the board in office on the
date this
section takes effect first day of July, two thousand five shall
unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective
terms expire and until their successors have been appointed and
qualified
or unless sooner removed.
(b)
(1) Commencing with the board terms beginning the first day
of July, two thousand
one six, the board shall consist of nine
members appointed for terms of five years by the Governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate.
Six Five members must be
licensed dentists,
one member two members must be
a licensed dental
hygienist hygienists, one member must be a nationally certified
dental assistant and one member must be a citizen member who is not
licensed under the provisions of this article and who is not a
dental assistant or a person who performs any services related to
the practice of dentistry.
(2) (c) Each licensed or certified member of the board, at the
time of his or her appointment, must have held a license in this
state or have been nationally certified for a period of not less
than five years immediately preceding the appointment and each
member must be a resident of this state during the appointment
term.
(3) (d) No person connected with a commercial entity that may
derive financial gain from the profession of dentistry and no
person connected with a dental college, school or dental department
of a university is eligible for appointment to the board.
(4) (e) Each appointment of a licensed dentist, whether for a
full term or to fill a vacancy, shall be made by the Governor from
among three nominees selected by the West Virginia Dental
Association; each appointment of a licensed dental hygienist, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, shall be made by the
Governor from among three nominees selected by the West Virginia
Dental Hygienists' Association; and each appointment of a dental
assistant, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, shall be
made by the Governor from among three nominees selected by the West
Virginia Dental Assistants' Association. If the appointment is for
a full term, the nominations must be submitted to the Governor not
later than eight months prior to the date on which the appointment
becomes effective. If the appointment is to fill a vacancy, the
nominations must be submitted to the Governor within thirty days
after a request for the nominations have been made by the Governor
to the President of the West Virginia Dental Association, President
of the West Virginia Dental Hygienists' Association or President of
the West Virginia Dental Assistants' Association. If the
association fails to submit to the Governor nominations for an
appointment in accordance with the requirements of this section,
the Governor may make the appointment without the nominations.
(c) (f) No member may serve more than two consecutive full
terms and any member having served two full terms may not be
appointed for one year after completion of his or her second full
term. A member shall continue to serve until his or her successor
has been appointed and qualified.
(d) (g) The Governor may remove any member from the board for
neglect of duty, incompetency or official misconduct.
(e) (h) Any member of the board immediately and automatically
forfeits his or her membership if he or she has his or her license
to practice dentistry or dental hygiene suspended or revoked by the
board, is convicted of a felony under the laws of any state or the
United States or becomes a nonresident of this state.
(f) (i) Each member of the board shall receive compensation
and expense reimbursement in accordance with section eleven,
article one of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to modify the composition
of the Board of Dental Examiners while, additionally, making
stylistic changes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.