90-333. North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors; appointments; terms; composition.

(a) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Article, there is hereby created the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors which shall consist of seven members appointed by the Governor in the manner hereinafter prescribed. Any State or nationally recognized professional association representing professional counselors may submit recommendations to the Governor for Board membership. The Governor may remove any member of the Board for neglect of duty or malfeasance or conviction of a felony or other crime of moral turpitude, but for no other reason.

(b) At least five members of the Board shall be licensed professional counselors except that initial appointees shall be persons who meet the educational and experience requirements for licensure as licensed professional counselors under the provisions of this Article; and two members shall be public-at-large members appointed from the general public. Composition of the Board as to the race and sex of its members shall reflect the population of the State and each member shall reside in a different congressional district.

(c) At all times the Board shall include at least one counselor primarily engaged in counselor education, at least one counselor primarily engaged in the public sector, at least one counselor primarily engaged in the private sector, and two licensed professional counselors at large.

(d) All members of the Board shall be residents of the State of North Carolina, and, with the exception of the public-at-large members, shall be licensed by the Board under the provisions of this Article. Professional members of the Board must be actively engaged in the practice of counseling or in the education and training of students in counseling, and have been for at least three years prior to their appointment to the Board. The engagement in this activity during the two years preceding the appointment shall have occurred primarily in this State.

(e) The term of office of each member of the Board shall be three years; provided, however, that of the members first appointed, three shall be appointed for terms of one year, two for terms of two years, and two for terms of three years. No member shall serve more than two consecutive three-year terms.

(f) Each term of service on the Board shall expire on the 30th day of June of the year in which the term expires. As the term of a member expires, the Governor shall make the appointment for a full term, or, if a vacancy occurs for any other reason, for the remainder of the unexpired term. Appointees to the Board shall continue to serve until a successor is appointed and qualified.

(g) Members of the Board shall receive compensation for their services and reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of duties required by this Article, at the rates prescribed in G.S. 93B-5.

(h) The Board may employ, subject to the provisions of Chapter 126 of the General Statutes, the necessary personnel for the performance of its functions, and fix their compensation within the limits of funds available to the Board.