HBA-NRS H.B. 2383 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2383 By: Allen Public Health 3/22/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law authorizes an applicant for a license to practice chemical dependency counseling to be checked for prohibitive criminal history upon application for a license by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA). State law does not provide for further criminal background checks until the license is renewed two years later. TCADA investigates many complaints involving abuse of and improper conduct toward patients, many of whom are children and minors, in drug and alcohol abuse treatment centers. House Bill 2383 establishes grounds by which TCADA can refuse to issue a license to practice chemical dependency counseling and authorizes TCADA to obtain criminal history record information relating to an applicant. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2383 amends the Occupations Code to prohibit the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA) from issuing a license to practice chemical dependency counseling (license) to an applicant who has been convicted or placed on community supervision for an offense equal to a Class B misdemeanor during the five years before the date of the application, convicted or placed on community supervision for an offense equal to or greater than a Class A misdemeanor, or found to be incapacitated by a court on the basis of a mental defect or disease. This prohibition does not apply to an applicant who has received a full pardon based on the person's wrongful conviction or been found by a court to no longer be incapacitated. The bill requires TCADA to refuse to renew a license on receipt of information from DPS or another law enforcement agency that the person has been convicted, placed on community supervision, or found to be incapacitated. The bill requires TCADA to temporarily suspend a license if TCADA receives written notice from DPS or another law enforcement agency that the license holder has been charged, indicted, or placed on deferred adjudication, community supervision, or probation, or convicted of an offense. The bill authorizes a license to be suspended without notice or hearing under certain conditions. The bill requires the State Office of Administrative Hearings to hold a preliminary hearing not later than the 14th day after the date of the temporary suspension to determine whether the suspension was justified and requires a final hearing on whether to revoke the license because of a conviction or placement on community supervision to be held not later than the 61st day after the date of the temporary suspension. H. B. 2383 authorizes a person whose license application is denied, whose license renewal is refused, or whose license is suspended to appeal the denial, refusal to renew, or suspension on the grounds that the 20th anniversary of the date of the conviction or placement on community supervision for an offense that was the sole basis for the commission's determination has occurred. After a hearing, the bill authorizes TCADA to determine that the person is entitled to a license. Proceedings for hearing and appeals are governed by the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill authorizes TCADA to obtain criminal history record information relating to an applicant from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The bill further authorizes TCADA to deny an application for a license if an applicant fails to provide two sets of fingerprints. The bill provides that the issuance of a license is conditioned on TCADA's receipt of the applicant's criminal history record information. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001, and applies to conduct that occurs before, on, or after the effective date.