90-113.32. Board; composition; voting.

(a) The Board is created as the authority to credential substance abuse professionals in North Carolina.

(b) Repealed by Session Laws 2008-130, s. 2, effective July 28, 2008.

(c) After the initial Board members' terms expire, the Board shall consist of the following members, all of whom shall reside in North Carolina, appointed or elected as follows:

(1) Eleven professionals credentialed pursuant to this Article and elected by the credentialed professionals, at least two of whom shall serve each of the four Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services regions of the State. Three members shall serve as members at large.

(2) Three members at large chosen from laypersons or other professional disciplines who have shown a special interest in the field of substance abuse, nominated by the Nominating and Elections Committee established by subsection (d) of this section and elected by the Board.

(3) Two members from the Department of Health and Human Services, appointed by the Chief of Community Policy Management of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, at least one of whom administers substance abuse services.

(4) One member of the public at large appointed by the Governor.

(5) One member of the public at large appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in accordance with G.S. 120-121 and one member of the public at large appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate in accordance with G.S. 120-121.

(6) One member shall represent each of the professional disciplines granted deemed status under G.S. 90-113.41A. The member may be appointed by the professional discipline on or before a date set by the Board. If the professional discipline has at least one association in the State, the member shall be chosen from a list of nominees submitted to the association. The members appointed or elected under this subdivision shall be certified as substance abuse specialists by the professional discipline that the members represent.

(c1) Every member of the Board shall have the right to vote on all matters before the Board, except for the President who shall vote only in case of a tie or when another member of the Board abstains on the question of whether the professional discipline the member represents shall retain its deemed status.

(d) The Board shall appoint five professionals from the field of substance abuse counseling and substance abuse prevention consulting to serve on the Nominating and Elections Committee. Of these five, at least three shall not be members of the Board. The Board shall appoint a member of the Nominating and Elections Committee to serve as chair. The Committee's purpose is to accept nominations from professionals certified or licensed by the Board to fill vacancies on the Board in membership categories prescribed by subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (c) of this section and to conduct the election of Board members. The Committee shall solicit nominations from all professionals it has certified or licensed under this Article when elected members' terms are due to expire. The certified or licensed professionals shall submit to the Committee all nominations beginning 90 days and ending 28 days before the election of new Board members. The Committee shall furnish all certified or licensed professionals with a ballot containing all the nominees for each elected Board member vacancy. In soliciting and making nominations for this process, the Committee shall give consideration to factors that promote representation on the Board by professionals certified or licensed by the Board. The Committee shall serve for a two-year term, its successors to be appointed for the same term by the Board.

(e) Members of the Board shall serve for four-year terms. No Board member shall serve for more than two consecutive terms, but a person who has been a member for two consecutive terms may be reappointed after being off the Board for a period of at least one year. When a vacancy occurs in an unexpired term, the Board shall, as soon as practicable, appoint temporary members to serve until the end of the unexpired terms. Time spent as a temporary member does not count in determining the limitation on consecutive terms.

(f) If a member becomes ineligible to serve on the Board for any reason, except when the member has committed an ethical violation that results in the suspension or revocation of the member's professional credentials, that member may fulfill the remainder of his or her term on the Board.