(A) Any person who desires to engage in optical dispensing shall file a properly completed application for an examination with the state vision professionals board or with the testing service the board has contracted with pursuant to section 4725.49 of the Revised Code. The application for examination shall be made using a form provided by the board and shall be accompanied by an examination fee the board shall establish by rule.

(B) Any person who desires to engage in optical dispensing shall file a properly completed application for a license with the board with a licensure application fee of fifty dollars.

No person shall be eligible to apply for a license under this division, unless the person is at least eighteen years of age, is free of contagious or infectious disease, has received a passing score, as determined by the board, on the examination administered under division (A) of this section, is a graduate of an accredited high school of any state, or has received an equivalent education and has successfully completed either of the following:

(1) Two years of supervised experience under a licensed dispensing optician, optometrist, or physician engaged in the practice of ophthalmology, up to one year of which may be continuous experience of not less than thirty hours a week in an optical laboratory;

(2) A two-year college level program in optical dispensing that has been approved by the board and that includes, but is not limited to, courses of study in mathematics, science, English, anatomy and physiology of the eye, applied optics, ophthalmic optics, measurement and inspection of lenses, lens grinding and edging, ophthalmic lens design, keratometry, and the fitting and adjusting of spectacle lenses and frames and contact lenses, including methods of fitting contact lenses and post-fitting care.

(C) Any person who desires to obtain a license to practice as an ocularist shall file a properly completed application with the board accompanied by the appropriate fee and proof that the applicant has met the requirements for licensure. The board shall establish, by rule, the application fee and the minimum requirements for licensure, including education, examination, or experience standards recognized by the board as national standards for ocularists. The board shall issue a license to practice as an ocularist to an applicant who satisfies the requirements of this division and rules adopted pursuant to this division.

(D)

(1) Subject to divisions (D)(2), (3), and (4) of this section, the board shall not adopt, maintain, renew, or enforce any rule that precludes an individual from receiving or renewing a license as a dispensing optician issued under sections 4725.40 to 4725.59 of the Revised Code due to any past criminal activity or interpretation of moral character, unless the individual has committed a crime of moral turpitude or a disqualifying offense as those terms are defined in section 4776.10 of the Revised Code. If the board denies an individual a license or license renewal, the reasons for such denial shall be put in writing.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this division, if an individual applying for a license has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor that is not a crime of moral turpitude or a disqualifying offense less than one year prior to making the application, the board may use its discretion in granting or denying the individual a license. Except as otherwise provided in this division, if an individual applying for a license has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony that is not a crime of moral turpitude or a disqualifying offense less than three years prior to making the application, the board may use its discretion in granting or denying the individual a license. The provisions in this paragraph do not apply with respect to any offense unless the board, prior to September 28, 2012, was required or authorized to deny the application based on that offense.

In all other circumstances, the board shall follow the procedures it adopts by rule that conform to division (D)(1) of this section.

(3) In considering a renewal of an individual's license, the board shall not consider any conviction or plea of guilty prior to the initial licensing. However, the board may consider a conviction or plea of guilty if it occurred after the individual was initially licensed, or after the most recent license renewal.

(4) The board may grant an individual a conditional license that lasts for one year. After the one-year period has expired, the license is no longer considered conditional, and the individual shall be considered fully licensed.

(E) The board, subject to the approval of the controlling board, may establish examination fees in excess of the amount established by rule pursuant to this section, provided that such fees do not exceed those amounts established in rule by more than fifty per cent.

Amended by 132nd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 420, §1, eff. 4/5/2019.

Amended by 132nd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 49, §130.11, eff. 1/21/2018.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.131, SB 337, §1, eff. 9/28/2012.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 09-05-2001 .