§ 130A-40. Appointment of local health director.
§130A‑40. Appointment of local health director.
(a) A local board ofhealth, after consulting with the appropriate county board or boards ofcommissioners, shall appoint a local health director. All persons who areappointed to the position of local health director on or after January 1, 1992,must possess minimum education and experience requirements for that position,as follows:
(1) A medical doctorate;or
(2) A masters degree inPublic Health Administration, and at least one year of employment experience inhealth programs or health services; or
(3) A masters degree ina public health discipline other than public health administration, and atleast three years of employment experience in health programs or healthservices; or
(4) A masters degree inpublic administration, and at least two years of experience in health programsor health services; or
(5) A masters degree ina field related to public health, and at least three years of experience inhealth programs or health services; or
(6) A bachelors degreein public health administration or public administration and at least threeyears of experience in health programs or health services.
(b) Before appointing aperson to the position of local health director under subsection (a)(5) of thissection, the local board of health shall forward the application and otherpertinent materials of such candidate to the State Health Director. If theState Health Director determines that the candidate's masters degree is in afield not related to public health, the State Health Director shall so notifythe local board of health in writing within 15 days of the State HealthDirector's receipt of the application and materials, and such candidate shallbe deemed not to meet the education requirements of subsection (a)(5) of thissection. If the State Health Director fails to act upon the application within15 days of receipt of the application and materials from the local board ofhealth, the application shall be deemed approved with respect to the educationrequirements of subsection (a)(5) of this section, and the local board ofhealth may proceed with appointment process.
(c) The State HealthDirector shall review requests of educational institutions to determine whethera particular masters degree offered by the requesting institution is related topublic health for the purposes of subsection (a)(5) of this section. The StateHealth Director shall act upon such requests within 90 days of receipt of therequest and pertinent materials from the institution, and shall notify theinstitution of its determination in writing within the 90‑day reviewperiod. If the State Health Director determines that an institution'sparticular masters degree is not related to public health, the State HealthDirector shall include the reasons therefor in his written determination to theinstitution.
(d) When a local boardof health fails to appoint a local health director within 60 days of thecreation of a vacancy, the State Health Director may appoint a local healthdirector to serve until the local board of health appoints a local healthdirector in accordance with this section. (1957, c. 1357, s. 1; 1973,c. 152; c. 476, s. 128; 1983, c. 891, s. 2; 1983 (Reg. Sess., 1984), c. 1034,s. 75; 1991, c. 612.)