(1) Except as provided in Section 33-1-39, the license of every person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the State of Mississippi shall be renewed annually.

On or before May 1 of each year, the State Board of Medical Licensure shall mail a notice of renewal of license to every physician or osteopath to whom a license was issued or renewed during the current licensing year. The notice shall provide instructions for obtaining and submitting applications for renewal. The State Board of Medical Licensure is authorized to make applications for renewal available via electronic means. The applicant shall obtain and complete the application and submit it to the board in the manner prescribed by the board in the notice before June 30 with the renewal fee of an amount established by the board, but not to exceed Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00), a portion of which fee shall be used to support a program to aid impaired physicians and osteopaths. The payment of the annual license renewal fee shall be optional with all physicians over the age of seventy (70) years. Upon receipt of the application and fee, the board shall verify the accuracy of the application and issue to applicant a certificate of renewal for the ensuing year, beginning July 1 and expiring June 30 of the succeeding calendar year. That renewal shall render the holder thereof a legal practitioner as stated on the renewal form.

(2) Any physician or osteopath practicing in Mississippi who allows his or her license to lapse by failing to renew the license as provided in subsection (1) may be reinstated by the board on satisfactory explanation for the failure to renew, by completion of a reinstatement form, and upon payment of the renewal fee for the current year, and shall be assessed a fine of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) plus an additional fine of Five Dollars ($5.00) for each month thereafter that the license renewal remains delinquent.

(3) Any physician or osteopath not practicing in Mississippi who allows his or her license to lapse by failing to renew the license as provided in subsection (1) may be reinstated by the board on satisfactory explanation for the failure to renew, by completion of a reinstatement form and upon payment of the arrearages for the previous five (5) years and the renewal fee for the current year.

(4) Any physician or osteopath who allows his or her license to lapse shall be notified by the board within thirty (30) days of that lapse.

(5) Any person practicing as a licensed physician or osteopath during the time his or her license has lapsed shall be considered an illegal practitioner and shall be subject to penalties provided for violation of the Medical Practice Act, if he or she had not submitted the required reinstatement form and fee within fifteen (15) days after notification by the board of the lapse.

(6) Any physician or osteopath practicing in the State of Mississippi whose license has lapsed and is deemed an illegal practitioner under subsection (5) of this section may petition the board for reinstatement of his or her license on a retroactive basis, if the physician or osteopath was unable to meet the June 30 deadline due to extraordinary or other legitimate reasons, and retroactive reinstatement of licensure shall be granted or may be denied by the board only for good cause. Failure to advise the board of change of address shall not be considered a basis of reinstatement.

(7) None of the fees or fines provided for in this section shall be applicable to the renewal of a special volunteer medical license authorized under Section 73-25-18.

(8) Fees collected under the provisions of this section shall be used by the board to defray expenses of administering the licensure provisions of the Medical Practice Act (Title 73, Chapter 25, Mississippi Code of 1972) and to support a program to aid impaired physicians and osteopaths in an amount determined by the board.

(9) In order for a physician or osteopath whose medical license has been expired for five (5) years or more to qualify for reinstatement of license, the physician or osteopath must have successfully been cleared for reinstatement through an investigation that shall consist of a determination as to good moral character and verification that the prospective licensee is not guilty of or in violation of any statutory ground for denial of licensure as set forth in Sections 73-25-29 and 73-25-83. To assist the board in conducting its licensure investigation, all applicants shall undergo a fingerprint-based criminal history records check of the Mississippi central criminal database and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history database. Each applicant shall submit a full set of the applicant’s fingerprints in a form and manner prescribed by the board, which shall be forwarded to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (department) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Identification Division for this purpose.

Any and all state or national criminal history records information obtained by the board that is not already a matter of public record shall be deemed nonpublic and confidential information restricted to the exclusive use of the board, its members, officers, investigators, agents and attorneys in evaluating the applicant’s eligibility or disqualification for licensure, and shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. Except when introduced into evidence in a hearing before the board to determine licensure, no such information or records related thereto shall, except with the written consent of the applicant or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, be released or otherwise disclosed by the board to any other person or agency.

The board shall provide to the department the fingerprints of the applicant, any additional information that may be required by the department, and a form signed by the applicant consenting to the check of the criminal records and to the use of the fingerprints and other identifying information required by the state or national repositories.

The board shall charge and collect from the applicant, in addition to all other applicable fees and costs, such amount as may be incurred by the board in requesting and obtaining state and national criminal history records information on the applicant.