§30-4-4 Board of dental examiners.
§30-4-4. Board of dental examiners.
(a) The "West Virginia Board of Dental Examiners" is hereby continued. The members of the board in office on the date this section takes effect shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective terms expire and until their successors have been appointed and qualified.
(b)(1) Commencing with the board terms beginning the first day of July, two thousand one, the board shall consist of nine members appointed for terms of five years by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Six members must be licensed dentists, one member must be a licensed dental hygienist, one member must be a nationally certified dental assistant and one member must be a citizen member who is not licensed under the provisions of this article and who is not a dental assistant or a person who performs any services related to the practice of dentistry.
(2) Each licensed or certified member of the board, at the time of his or her appointment, must have held a license in this state or have been nationally certified for a period of not less than five years immediately preceding the appointment and each member must be a resident of this state during the appointment term.
(3) No person connected with a commercial entity that may derive financial gain from the profession of dentistry and no person connected with a dental college, school or dental department of a university is eligible for appointment to the board.
(4) Each appointment of a licensed dentist, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, shall be made by the governor from among three nominees selected by the West Virginia dental association; each appointment of a licensed dental hygienist, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, shall be made by the governor from among three nominees selected by the West Virginia dental hygienists' association; and each appointment of a dental assistant, whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, shall be made by the governor from among three nominees selected by the West Virginia dental assistants' association. If the appointment is for a full term, the nominations must be submitted to the governor not later than eight months prior to the date on which the appointment becomes effective. If the appointment is to fill a vacancy, the nominations must be submitted to the governor within thirty days after a request for the nominations have been made by the governor to the president of the West Virginia dental association, president of the West Virginia dental hygienists' association or president of the West Virginia dental assistants' association. If the association fails to submit to the governor nominations for an appointment in accordance with the requirements of this section, the governor may make the appointment without the nominations.
(c) No member may serve more than two consecutive full terms and any member having served two full terms may not be appointed for one year after completion of his or her second full term. A member shall continue to serve until his or her successor has been appointed and qualified.
(d) The governor may remove any member from the board for neglect of duty, incompetency or official misconduct.
(e) Any member of the board immediately and automatically forfeits his or her membership if he or she has his or her license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene suspended or revoked by the board, is convicted of a felony under the laws of any state or the United States or becomes a nonresident of this state.
(f) Each member of the board shall receive compensation and expense reimbursement in accordance with section eleven, article one of this chapter.