90B-5. North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board; appointments; terms; composition.

(a) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Chapter, there is hereby created the North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board which shall consist of seven members appointed by the Governor as follows:

(1) At least two members of the Board shall be Certified Social Workers or Certified Master Social Workers, three members shall be Licensed Clinical Social Workers, and two members shall be appointed from the public at large. Composition of the Board as to the race and sex of its members shall reflect the composition of the population of the State of North Carolina.

(2) At all times the Board shall include at least one member primarily engaged in social work education, at least one member primarily engaged in social work in the public sector, and at least one member primarily engaged in social work in the private sector.

(3) All members of the Board shall be residents of the State of North Carolina, and with the exception of the public members, shall be certified or licensed by the Board under the provisions of this Chapter. Professional members of the Board must be actively engaged in the practice of social work or in the education and training of students in social work, and have been for at least three years prior to their appointment to the Board. Such activity during the two years preceding the appointment shall have occurred primarily in this State.

(b) The Governor may only remove a member of the Board for neglect of duty, malfeasance, or conviction of a felony or other crime of moral turpitude.

(c) The term of office of each member of the Board shall be three years. No member shall serve more than two consecutive three-year terms. 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.

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

(e) 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.