2006 Code of Virginia § 54.1-2917 - Mandatory suspension or revocation by Board; reinstatement; appeal

54.1-2917. Mandatory suspension or revocation by Board; reinstatement;appeal.

Upon receipt of documentation from any court or agency, state or federal,that any person licensed to practice any of the healing arts in thisCommonwealth has had his certificate or license to practice a branch of thehealing arts revoked or suspended, and has not had his certificate or licenseto so practice reinstated, in another state, the District of Columbia, aUnited States possession or territory, or a foreign jurisdiction or has beenconvicted of a felony or has been adjudged legally incompetent orincapacitated, the Board shall immediately suspend or revoke, without ahearing, the certificate or license of any person so disciplined, convictedor adjudged. The Board shall notify such person or his legal guardian,conservator, trustee, committee or other representative of the suspension orrevocation, in writing. Such notice shall include a copy of the documentationfrom such court or agency, certified by the Executive Director as thedocumentation received from such court or agency. Such person shall not havethe right to practice within this Commonwealth until his certificate orlicense has been reinstated by the Board.

The clerk of any court in which a conviction of a felony or an adjudicationof incompetence or incapacity is made, who has knowledge that a practitionerof the healing arts has been convicted or found to be incapacitated orincompetent, shall have a duty to report these findings promptly to the Board.

When a conviction has not become final, the Board may decline to suspend orrevoke the certificate or license until the conviction becomes final afterconsidering the likelihood of irreparable damage to the practitioner if hiscertificate or license should be suspended or revoked during the pendency ofan ultimately successful appeal, the likelihood of injury or damage topatients or the public if the license or certificate is not suspended orrevoked, and the seriousness of the offense.

Any person whose certificate or license has been suspended or revoked asprovided in this section may apply to the Board for reinstatement of hiscertificate or license. Such person shall be entitled to a hearing not laterthan the next regular meeting of the Board after the expiration of thirtydays from the receipt of such application, and shall have the right to berepresented by counsel and to summon witnesses to testify in his behalf. TheBoard may consider other information concerning possible violations ofVirginia law at such hearing, if reasonable notice is given to such person ofthe information.

The Board may employ a stenographer and summon witnesses. The reinstatementof the applicant's certificate or license shall require the affirmative voteof three-fourths of the members at the hearing. The Board may order thereinstatement without further examination. The proceedings at the hearingshall be recorded formally and shall be certified by the president of theBoard or his designee.

(1958, c. 461, 54-321.2; 1975, c. 508; 1978, c. 465; 1979, c. 727; 1986, c.434; 1988, c. 765; 1992, c. 659; 1993, c. 991; 1997, c. 801; 2002, c. 455.)