Senate Bill No. 401
(By Senators Ross, Minard, Snyder, Unger, Boley and Minear)
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[Introduced January 30, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §30-13-21 and §30-13-22 of the code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to clarifying
the board of registration for professional engineers may
assess civil penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-13-21 and §30-13-22 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. ENGINEERS.
§30-13-21. Disciplinary action--Revocation, suspension, refusal
to issue, restore or renew, probation, fine,
reprimand.
(a) The board may suspend or revoke or refuse to issue,
restore or renew a certificate of registration of, or place on
probation, fine or reprimand any professional engineer who has:
(1) Perpetrated any fraud or deceit in obtaining or attempting to obtain or renew a certificate of registration or certificate of
authorization;
(2) Been negligent, incompetent or committed an act of
misconduct in the practice of engineering;
(3) Been convicted of or has entered a plea of nolo contendere
to any crime under the laws of the United States or any state or
territory thereof, which is a felony whether related to practice or
not; and conviction of or entry of a plea of nolo contendere to any
crime, whether a felony, misdemeanor or otherwise, an essential
element of which is dishonesty, or which is directly related to the
practice of engineering;
(4) Failed to comply with any of the provisions of this
article or any of the rules promulgated under it;
(5) Been disciplined by another state, territory, the District
of Columbia, foreign country, the United States government or any
other governmental agency, if at least one of the grounds for
discipline is the same or substantially equivalent to those grounds
for discipline contained in this article;
(6) Failed within thirty days to provide information requested
by the board as a result of a formal or informal complaint to the
board which would indicate a violation of this article;
(7) Knowingly made false statements or signed false
statements, certificates or affidavits to induce payment;
(8) Aided or assisted another person in violating any provision of this article or the rules promulgated;
(9) Violated any terms of probation imposed by the board or
using a seal or practicing engineering while the professional
engineer's license is suspended, revoked, nonrenewed or inactive;
(10) Signed or affixed the professional engineer's seal or
permitted the professional engineer's seal or signature to be
affixed to any specifications, reports, drawings, plans, design
information, construction documents or calculations or revisions
which have not been prepared or completely checked by the
professional engineer or under the professional engineer's direct
supervision or control;
(11) Engaged in dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional
conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud or harm the
public;
(12) Provided false testimony or information to the board; and
(13) Been habitually intoxicated or addicted to or by the use
of drugs or alcohol.
In addition to any other penalty provided in this article, the
board may assess civil penalties against any person who violates
any provision of this article or any rule promulgated by the board
may be fined by the board for each offense in an amount determined
by the board.
(b) The board shall prepare and shall adopt "rules of
professional responsibility for professional engineers". The board may revise and amend these "rules of professional responsibility
for professional engineers" from time to time and shall notify each
registrant in writing of any revisions or amendments.
(c) The board may:
(1) Revoke a certificate of authorization;
(2) Suspend a certificate of authorization of any firm for a
period of time not exceeding two years where one or more of its
officers or directors of the firm have been found guilty of any
conduct which would authorize a revocation or suspension of his or
her certificate of registration under the provisions of this
article;
(3) Place the person or firm on probation for a period of time
and make the person or firm subject to conditions as the board may
specify;
(4) Assess a civil penalty Levy a fine for each count or
separate offense in an amount set by the board.
§30-13-22. Disciplinary action -- Procedures.
(a) Any person may file a complaint with the board that a
person or firm subject to the provisions of this article has
committed a fraud, been deceitful, been grossly negligent,
incompetent, guilty of misconduct or has violated the "rules of
professional responsibility for professional engineers".
(b) All complaints, unless dismissed by the board as
unfounded, trivial or unless settled informally, shall be heard by the board within six months after the date each complaint was
received by the board.
(c) The board shall fix the time and place for hearings on
complaints and a copy of all charges, together with a notice of the
time and place of hearing on the complaint the person or firm
complained against or mailed to the last known address of the
person or firm holding a certificate of authorization at least
thirty days prior to the hearing. At the hearing, the individual
registrant or firm holding a certificate of authorization shall
have the right to appear in person or by counsel, or both, to
cross-examine witnesses and to produce evidence and witnesses in
his, her or its defense. If the accused person or corporation
fails or refuses to appear, the board may proceed to hear the
complaint and determine the validity of the charges.
(d) If after the hearing a majority of the board votes in
favor of sustaining the charges, the board shall reprimand or fine
the person or firm complained against. The board may also suspend,
revoke, refuse to issue or refuse to restore or renew an
individual's certificate of registration or a firm's certificate of
authorization. In addition, the board may place a registrant on
probation.
(e) An individual registrant, having a certificate of
registration, or a firm, having a certificate of authorization,
aggrieved by any action of the board in assessing a civil penalty levying a fine, denying, suspending, refusing to issue, refusing to
restore or renew or revoking a certificate of registration or a
certificate of authorization, may appeal the board's decision to
the circuit court.
(f) Any civil penalty assessed as a result of a hearing shall
be paid within fifty days after the decision becomes final.
(g) The board may, upon petition of an individual registrant
or firm holding a certificate of authorization, reissue a
certificate of registration or authorization, provided that a
majority of the members of the board votes in favor of such
issuance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is clarify the Board of
Registered Professional Engineers may assess civil penalties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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