Title OC, Occupations Code

Sec. 351.166. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO LICENSE HOLDERS. At least once each biennium, the board shall provide to license holders information on: (1) prescribing and dispensing pain medications, with particular emphasis on Schedule II and Schedule III controlled substances; (2) abus…

Sec. 351.167. POISON CONTROL CENTER INFORMATION. The board shall provide to license holders information regarding the services provided by poison control centers. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1163, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Sec. 351.168. TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS POLICY REQUIRED. The board shall implement a policy requiring the board to use appropriate technological solutions to improve the board's ability to perform its functions. The policy must ensure that the public is able to interact with the bo…

Sec. 351.169. ALTERNATIVE RULEMAKING AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION. (a) The board shall develop and implement a policy to encourage the use of: (1) negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter 2008, Government Code, for the adoption of board rules; and (2) appropriate alternative disp…

Sec. 351.201. PUBLIC INTEREST INFORMATION. (a) The board shall prepare information of public interest describing the functions of the board and the procedures by which complaints are filed with and resolved by the board. (b) The board shall make the information available to the p…

Sec. 351.202. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. (a) The board shall develop and implement policies that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the board and to speak on any issue under the board's jurisdiction. (b) The board shall prepare and maintain a written pla…

Sec. 351.203. COMPLAINTS. (a) The board by rule shall establish methods by which a consumer or service recipient is notified of the name, mailing address, and telephone number of the board for the purpose of directing a complaint to the board. The board may provide for that notic…

Sec. 351.2034. COMPLAINTS RESULTING FROM GLAUCOMA TREATMENT. (a) The board, in collaboration with the Texas Medical Board, shall adopt rules for investigating and reviewing complaints filed with the board regarding a therapeutic optometrist's treatment of a patient for glaucoma. …

Sec. 351.2035. COMPLAINTS RESULTING FROM INSPECTIONS. (a) The board shall handle as a complaint any violation of this chapter or a rule adopted by the board that is discovered during an inspection conducted under Section 351.1575(b)(1). (b) The board shall investigate and dispose…

Sec. 351.2036. PROCEDURE FOR PROCESSING COMPLAINTS. (a) The board may delegate to board staff the authority to dismiss or enter into an agreed settlement of a complaint that does not directly relate to patient care and the investigation or disposition of which does not require ex…

Sec. 351.204. RECORDS OF COMPLAINTS. (a) The board shall maintain a system to act promptly and efficiently on each complaint filed with the board. The board shall maintain information concerning: (1) parties to the complaint; (2) the subject matter of the complaint; (3) a summary…

Sec. 351.2045. CONFIDENTIALITY OF COMPLAINTS, ADVERSE REPORTS, INVESTIGATION FILES, AND OTHER INFORMATION. (a) Each complaint, adverse report, investigation file, and other investigation report and all other investigative information in the possession of or received or gathered b…

Sec. 351.2046. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN COMPLAINTS. (a) In this section: (1) "Anonymous complaint" means a complaint that lacks sufficient information to identify the source or the name of the person who filed the complaint. (2) "Insurance agent" means a person licensed under Cha…

Sec. 351.205. GENERAL RULES REGARDING COMPLAINT INVESTIGATION AND DISPOSITION. (a) The board shall adopt rules concerning the investigation of a complaint filed with the board. The rules adopted under this section must: (1) distinguish between categories of complaints; (2) ensure…

Sec. 351.251. LICENSE REQUIRED. A person may not practice optometry or therapeutic optometry unless the person holds a license issued under this chapter. Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 351.252. EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THERAPEUTIC OPTOMETRIST. (a) A person must satisfactorily complete the education requirements established by board rule to be licensed as a therapeutic optometrist. (b) The education necessary to meet the requirements must: (1) be provided…

Sec. 351.2525. CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION FOR LICENSE ISSUANCE. (a) The board shall require that an applicant for a license submit a complete and legible set of fingerprints, on a form prescribed by the board, to the board or to the Department of Public Safety for the pu…

Sec. 351.2526. REVIEW OF NATIONAL PRACTITIONER DATABASE. The board shall establish a process to review at least one national practitioner database to determine whether another state has taken any disciplinary or other legal action against an applicant or license holder before iss…

Sec. 351.253. EXAMINATION REQUIREMENT FOR THERAPEUTIC OPTOMETRIST. A person must pass the examination given by the board to be licensed to practice therapeutic optometry in this state. Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 351.254. EXAMINATION APPLICATION. (a) An applicant is eligible to take the licensing examination if the applicant provides to the executive director, on a form provided by the board, information the board considers necessary to enforce this chapter, including satisfactory ev…

Sec. 351.255. CONDUCT OF EXAMINATION. (a) The board shall give an applicant notice of the date and place of the examination. The examination shall be given at least twice a year at the board's regular meetings. (b) The board shall conduct the examination: (1) in writing and by ot…

Sec. 351.256. EXAMINATION SUBJECTS. (a) The examination must consist of written or practical tests in subjects regularly taught in recognized accredited colleges of optometry, including: (1) practical, theoretical, and physiological optics; (2) theoretical and practical optometry…

Sec. 351.257. EXAMINATION RESULTS. (a) The board shall notify each examinee of the examination results not later than the 30th day after the date the examination is administered. If an examination is graded or reviewed by a national testing service, the board shall notify each ex…

Sec. 351.258. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE TO THERAPEUTIC OPTOMETRIST; FEE. (a) The board shall: (1) register as qualified under this chapter an applicant who passes the examination and meets all board requirements; and (2) issue to the applicant a license to practice therapeutic optometr…

Sec. 351.259. PROVISIONAL LICENSE. (a) The board shall issue a provisional license to practice optometry or therapeutic optometry to an applicant who: (1) is licensed in good standing as an optometrist or therapeutic optometrist in another state that has licensing requirements th…

Sec. 351.2595. LICENSE WITHOUT EXAMINATION. The board may issue a license to practice therapeutic optometry without requiring the applicant to pass all or part of the examination required by Section 351.253 if: (1) the applicant is licensed in good standing as a therapeutic optom…

Sec. 351.260. LIMITED LICENSE FOR CLINICAL FACULTY. (a) The board by rule may issue a limited license to a full-time clinical faculty member of an institution of higher education of this state who provides instruction in optometry or therapeutic optometry. (b) A license issued un…

Sec. 351.261. DISPLAY OF LICENSE OR CERTIFICATE. A person practicing optometry or therapeutic optometry in this state shall: (1) display the person's license or certificate in a conspicuous place in the principal office in which the person practices optometry or therapeutic optom…

Sec. 351.262. INFORMATION PRESENTED TO PATIENT. (a) An optometrist or therapeutic optometrist shall, within a reasonable time after completing an examination of a patient, present to the patient a prescription, bill, or receipt containing the license number and name of the optome…

Sec. 351.263. LOST OR DESTROYED LICENSE. The board shall issue a license under this chapter to a license holder whose license has been lost or destroyed on: (1) submission of an affidavit stating: (A) that the license has been lost or destroyed; (B) that the person making the aff…

Sec. 351.264. INACTIVE STATUS. The board by rule may provide for a license holder's license to be placed on inactive status. Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 351.265. RETIRED STATUS. (a) The board by rule may allow a license holder to place the person's license on retired status. A license holder must apply to the board for retired status, on a form prescribed by the board, before the expiration date of the person's license. (b) …

Sec. 351.266. MILITARY LIMITED VOLUNTEER LICENSE. (a) The board shall adopt rules relating to the issuance of a military limited volunteer license under this section. (b) The board may issue a military limited volunteer license to practice optometry or therapeutic optometry to an…

Sec. 351.301. RENEWAL CERTIFICATE. (a) A person required by this subchapter to hold a renewal certificate may not practice optometry or therapeutic optometry without the certificate. (b) A violation of this section has the same effect as, and is subject to the penalties for, prac…

Sec. 351.302. LICENSE RENEWAL. (a) A license under this chapter is valid for a term of one or two years as determined by board rule. (a-1) The board by rule may adopt a system under which licenses expire on various dates during the year. The board shall adjust the final dates for…

Sec. 351.303. NOTICE OF LICENSE EXPIRATION. Not later than the 30th day before the date a person's license is to expire, the board shall send written notice of the impending license expiration to the person at the person's last known address according to board records. Acts 1999,…

Sec. 351.304. PROCEDURE FOR RENEWAL. (a) Not later than the date provided under Section 351.302, an optometrist or therapeutic optometrist shall pay to the board a renewal fee for the renewal of a license to practice optometry or therapeutic optometry. A person may renew an unexp…

Sec. 351.3045. CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION REQUIREMENT FOR LICENSE RENEWAL. (a) An applicant renewing a license issued under this chapter shall submit a complete and legible set of fingerprints for purposes of performing a criminal history record information check of the …

Sec. 351.305. ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE. On receipt of the required fees, the board shall issue a renewal certificate containing information from board records that the board considers necessary for the proper enforcement of this chapter, including the license number and the period…

Sec. 351.306. RENEWAL OF EXPIRED LICENSE BY OUT-OF-STATE PRACTITIONER. (a) The board may renew without examination the expired license of a person who was licensed in this state, moved to another state, and is currently licensed and has been in practice in the other state for the…

Sec. 351.3065. RENEWAL OF EXPIRED LICENSE BY RETIRED OPTOMETRIST OR THERAPEUTIC OPTOMETRIST. The board may renew the license of a person whose license has been expired for one year or more without requiring the person to comply with the requirements and procedures for an original…

Sec. 351.307. GOVERNMENTAL SERVICE, TRAINING, OR EDUCATION. An optometrist or therapeutic optometrist may obtain reinstatement of an expired license without paying a lapsed renewal fee or other fee and without passing an examination if: (1) the license holder's license expired wh…

Sec. 351.308. CONTINUING EDUCATION. (a) An optometrist or therapeutic optometrist must take annual courses in subjects relating to the use and application of scientific, technical, and clinical advances in subjects relating to the practice of optometry or therapeutic optometry re…

Sec. 351.309. CONTINUING EDUCATION EXEMPTIONS. A person is exempt from the continuing education requirements of Section 351.308 if the person: (1) holds a license but does not practice optometry or therapeutic optometry in this state; (2) served in the regular armed forces of the…

Sec. 351.351. LICENSE HOLDER INFORMATION. (a) A license holder shall file with the board: (1) the license holder's mailing address; (2) the address of the license holder's residence; (3) the mailing address of each office of the license holder; and (4) the address for the locatio…

Sec. 351.352. OPTOMETRIC FILES AND RECORDS. (a) All prescription files, patient records, and business records of an optometric practice are the sole property of the optometrist or therapeutic optometrist. (b) A patient may obtain a copy of the patient's optometric records, or may…