§ 90-202.4. Board of Podiatry Examiners; terms of office; powers; duties.

§ 90‑202.4.  Boardof Podiatry Examiners; terms of office; powers; duties.

(a)        There shall be established a Board of Podiatry Examiners forthe State of North Carolina. This Board shall consist of four members appointedby the Governor. Three of the members shall be licensed podiatrists who havepracticed podiatry in North Carolina for not less than seven years immediatelypreceding their election and who are elected and nominated to the Governor ashereinafter provided. The other member shall be a person chosen by the Governorto represent the public at large. The public member shall not be a health careprovider nor may he or she be the spouse of a health care provider. Forpurposes of Board membership, "health care provider" means anylicensed health care professional and any agent or employee of any health careinstitution, health care insurer, health care professional school, or a memberof any allied health profession. For purposes of this section, a personenrolled in a program to prepare him to be a licensed health care professionalor an allied health professional shall be deemed a health care provider. Forpurposes of this section, any person with significant financial interest in ahealth service or profession is not a public member.

(b)        All Board members serving on June 30, 1981, shall beeligible to complete their respective terms. No member appointed to the Boardon or after July 1, 1981, shall serve more than two complete consecutive three‑yearterms, except that each member shall serve until his successor is chosen andqualified.

(c)        Podiatrist members chosen as provided for in subsection (d)shall be selected upon the expiration of the respective terms of the members ofthe present Board of Podiatry Examiners. Membership on the Board resulting fromappointment before July 1, 1981, shall not be considered in determining thepermissible length of service under subsection (b). The Governor shall appointthe public member not later than July 1, 1981.

(d)        The Governor shall appoint podiatrist members of the Boardfrom a list provided by the Board of Podiatry Examiners. For each vacancy, theBoard shall submit at least two names to the Governor. All nominations ofpodiatrist members of the Board shall be conducted by the Board of PodiatryExaminers, which is hereby constituted a Board of Podiatry Elections. Everypodiatrist with a current North Carolina license residing in this State shallbe eligible to vote in all elections. The list of licensed podiatrists shallconstitute the registration list for elections. The Board of Podiatry Electionsis authorized to make rules relative to the conduct of these elections,provided such rules are not in conflict with the provisions of this section andprovided that notice shall be given to all licensed podiatrists residing inNorth Carolina. All such rules shall be adopted subject to the procedures ofChapter 150B of the General Statutes of North Carolina. From any decision ofthe Board of Podiatry Elections relative to the conduct of such elections,appeal may be taken to the courts in the manner provided by Chapter 150B of theGeneral Statutes.

(e)        Any initial or regular member of the Board may be removedfrom office by the Governor for good cause shown. Any vacancy in the initial orregular podiatrist membership of the Board shall be filled for the period ofthe unexpired term by the Governor from a list of at least two names submittedby the podiatrist members of the Board. Any vacancy in the public membership ofthe Board shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired term.

(f)         The Board is authorized to elect its own presiding andother officers.

(g)        The Board, in carrying out its responsibilities, shall haveauthority to employ personnel, full‑time or part‑time, as shall bedetermined to be necessary in the work of the Board. The Board shall haveauthority to pay compensation to the member of the Board holding the positionof secretary‑treasurer on a basis to be determined by the Board; Providedthat in the event the positions of secretary and treasurer are not combined butare held by different members of the Board, the Board shall have authority topay compensation to the member holding the position of secretary and to themember holding the position of treasurer, if the Board so chooses, on a basisto be determined by the Board. The Board is required to keep proper andcomplete records with respect to all of its activities, financial andotherwise, and shall on or before January 30 of each year submit a writtenreport to the Governor and to such other officials and/or agencies as othersections of the General Statutes may require, said report covering theactivities of the Board during the previous calendar year, which report shallinclude a verified financial statement. The Board is authorized to adopt rulesand regulations governing its proceedings and the practice of podiatry in thisState, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Article. The Board shallmaintain at all times an up‑to‑date list of the names and addressesof each licensed podiatrist in North Carolina, which list shall be availablefor inspection and which shall be included in the annual report referred toabove. (1919, c. 78, s. 3; C.S.,s. 6765; 1963, c. 1195, s. 2; 1967, c. 1217, s. 3; 1975, c. 672, s. 1; 1981, c.659, s. 1; 1983, c. 217, ss. 1‑4; 1987, c. 827, s. 1.)