2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 37 — Professions and occupations
RS 37:3554 — Louisiana board of massage therapy; creation, membership, qualifications, terms, vacancies, officers, meetings, reimbursement, liability

§3554. Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy; creation, membership, qualifications, terms, vacancies, officers, meetings, reimbursement, liability

A.(1) There is hereby created the Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy within the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. It shall be composed of seven members appointed by the governor. Five licensed massage therapists shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted to the governor by professional massage therapy associations. Two lay members shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted to the governor by professional massage therapy associations.

(2) The massage therapists initially appointed to the board from nominations submitted to the governor by professional massage therapy associations shall be qualified to be licensed under this Chapter. The appointees shall have practiced massage therapy for at least three years and shall be required to obtain a license within one hundred eighty days after appointment to the board; thereafter, massage therapists appointed to the board shall be licensed as massage therapists under this Chapter and shall have been in practice for a minimum of three years.

(3) The initial members of the board shall be appointed by the governor not later than October 1, 1992.

B. Except as provided in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, members of the board shall serve two-year terms. However, no member shall serve more than three consecutive terms. Board member terms are to be staggered as follows:

(1) The governor shall appoint three massage therapists and one lay person each to a term of one year beginning October 1, 2002. Thereafter, in odd years the governor shall appoint three massage therapists and one lay person to the board.

(2) In even years the governor shall appoint two massage therapists and one lay person to the board.

C. A vacancy on the board occurring prior to expiration of a term shall be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the remainder of the term.

D. The board shall hold its first meeting within thirty days after October 1, 1992, and shall meet at least twice each year thereafter. Additional board meetings may be held at the call of the chairman or upon the written request of any three members of the board.

E. The board shall annually elect a chairman, vice chairman, secretary, and treasurer from its membership and shall maintain records of the attendance of its members at board meetings.

F. Each member of the board shall serve with compensation, not to exceed fifty dollars per day, and shall be reimbursed for travel and related expenses incurred, not to exceed those expenses authorized for reimbursement by the Department of Health and Hospitals, for each day that the member engages in board business.

G. No member of the board shall be liable to civil action for any act performed in good faith in the execution of his duties as a board member.

Acts 1992, No. 753, §2, eff. Sept. 1, 1992.; Acts 2001, No. 387, §1.