(A) A Commission of Hearing Aid Specialists is established to guide, advise, and make recommendations to the department.

(B)(1) Members of the commission must be residents of the State. The commission consists of:

(a) five licensed hearing aid specialists, and each must be a principal dealer of a different manufacturer's hearing aid who are not audiologists;

(b) one otolaryngologist;

(c) one representative of the general public who is a user of a hearing aid, is not associated with a hearing aid specialist or manufacturer, and is not a member of the other groups or professions required to be represented on the commission;

(d) the State Health Officer or his designee.

(2) Each hearing aid specialist on the commission must have no less than five years experience under this chapter.

(C) Members of the commission in subsection (B)(1)(a) through (d) must be appointed by the Governor. Before appointing the member in subsection (B)(1)(d), the Governor shall invite recommendations from the South Carolina Hearing Aid Society, the Commission on Aging, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Education, the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Board of Commissioners of the School for the Deaf and the Blind, and other agencies or organizations which might have knowledge of qualified citizens to serve on the commission. The term of each member is four years. Before a member's term expires the Governor shall appoint a successor to assume his duties at the expiration of the term. A vacancy must be filled in the manner of the original appointment. The members annually shall designate one member as chairman and another as secretary. No member of the commission who has served two or more full terms may be reappointed until at least one year after the expiration of his most recent full term of office.

(D) Commission members may receive per diem and mileage provided by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions for each day actually spent in the duties of the commission. No member may receive more than fifteen days per diem in one fiscal year.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 56-745.16; 1971 (57) 1012; 1978 Act No. 460, Section 1; 1992 Act No. 312, Section 1; 1994 Act No. 337, Section 2; 2008 Act No. 273, Section 5.