Bill 3130

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               3130
Ratification Number:       575
Act Number                 482
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Relicensing and reregistration of
                           dentists

(A482, R575, H3130)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 40-15-170, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE RELICENSING AND REREGISTRATION OF DENTISTS, DENTAL HYGIENISTS, AND DENTAL TECHNICIANS, SO AS TO REVISE THE LICENSE FEES WHICH MAY BE CHARGED BY THE STATE BOARD OF DENTISTRY FOR CERTAIN YEARS, TO REVISE REQUIRED DATES OF REREGISTRATION, AND TO PROVIDE FOR A MONETARY PENALTY FOR LATE REREGISTRATION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

License fees and registration dates revised

SECTION 1. Section 40-15-170 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-15-170. The secretary of the board shall on or about the fifteenth day of October of each year send a reregistration application to the last address furnished the board of each person licensed or registered by the board. The failure to receive the application does not excuse a failure to reregister, as required by this chapter. An annual registration fee, to be set by the board, shall cover fully all costs and is payable by each licensed dentist and dental hygienist and each registered dental technician not later than the thirty-first of December. In setting the license fees for the year 1987-88, the board must set the license fees for each classification so that in the aggregate the revenues generated from all license fees for the year will equal one hundred fifteen percent of its total expenditures during the previous year. If reregistration is not completed by the thirty-first of December, the fee must be doubled. If the licensee or dental technician fails to reregister by the thirty-first of January of the following year, the secretary of the board shall notify the licensee or dental technician by registered mail at his last known address that failure to reregister by the first of March will result in the license or registration expiring as of the first of March. After the thirty-first of January, an additional five dollar penalty is added each day until the reregistration fee is paid. Any expired license may be reinstated or any dental technician may be reregistered by taking the licensure or dental technician examination or appearing in person before the board with a satisfactory explanation for the failure to reregister. An orthodontic technician may be reregistered by submitting a completed application or appearing in person before the board with a satisfactory explanation for the failure to reregister. It is the responsibility of each licensee or dental technician to keep the office of the secretary notified of his current mailing address.

If an individual's license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene is revoked by another state for cause this shall, in the discretion of the board, constitute grounds for revocation of his South Carolina license. The license of a dentist or dental hygienist who does not either reside or practice in South Carolina for a period of six successive years is considered inactive. The time spent in active service by any person in the armed forces or public health service of the United States or with the Veterans' Administration is not construed as absence from or failure to practice in the State. Relicensing after an absence of over six years may be made at the discretion of the board upon proof of high professional fitness and moral character."

Retroactive application

SECTION 2. The provisions of Section 40-15-170 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Section 1 of this act, relating to the setting of license fees for the year 1987-88 are retroactive to the fees imposed for that license year.

Time effective

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Approved the 14th day of May, 1990.