33-1-117. Professional and occupational licensure of military spouses; temporary permits.

(a) As used in this section:

(i) "Active" means a status of occupational or professional licensure which has not been suspended, revoked or terminated and which is not otherwise inactive;

(ii) "Applicant" means a military spouse seeking licensure from a professional or occupational licensing board of this state;

(iii) "Good standing" means a status of occupational or professional licensure which is in compliance with all requirements imposed by the issuing licensing, certification or registration authority;

(iv) "License" means any license, certificate or registration required to practice an occupation or profession;

(v) "Military service member" means an active uniformed member of the United States army, navy, air force, marine corps, coast guard, United States public health service commissioned corps, national oceanic and atmospheric administration commissioned corps, national guard or any reserve or auxiliary component thereof;

(vi) "Military spouse" means the spouse of a military service member as defined in paragraph (v) of this subsection who has been transferred or is scheduled to be transferred to Wyoming, is domiciled in Wyoming or has moved to Wyoming on a permanent change-of-station basis.

(b) A professional or occupational licensing board shall issue a license to a military spouse to allow the military spouse to lawfully practice a profession or occupation requiring licensure in this state if the military spouse:

(i) Holds a relevant, active occupational or professional license in good standing from another state which state mandates substantially equivalent or more stringent educational, training, examination and experience requirements for licensure. Substantial equivalency shall be determined pursuant to rules which shall be adopted by the licensing board from which the military spouse applicant seeks licensure;

(ii) Demonstrates competency in the occupation or profession for which the military spouse applicant seeks licensure. Competency shall be determined pursuant to rules which shall be adopted for that purpose and may include consideration of continuing education credits, recent work experience, disciplinary actions taken against the applicant in other states and other factors used to determine the competency of nonmilitary spouse license applicants;

(iii) Has not engaged in any act that would constitute grounds for refusal, suspension or revocation of the occupational or professional license sought in this state; and

(iv) Completes all required application procedures and pays any required fee.

(c) All relevant work experience of a military spouse applicant, including full-time or part-time experience, regardless of whether in a paid or volunteer capacity, may be credited in any work experience requirement adopted by an occupational or professional licensing board.

(d) This section shall apply to all applications for licensure under W.S. 21-2-802 or under title 33 of the Wyoming statutes except title 33, chapter 5, attorneys at law and applications to any board which represents a profession with prescriptive drug authority.

(e) Pursuant to rules which may be adopted for this purpose, a professional or occupational licensing board may issue a temporary practice permit to a military spouse applicant who meets the requirements of paragraph (b)(i) of this section and who has applied for a professional or occupational license under this section. The military spouse applicant may practice under the temporary permit for a period not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days or until the professional or occupational license for which they have applied has been either granted or denied, whichever first occurs.

(f) Professional or occupational licensing boards shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

(a) A board which licenses health care providers may refuse to issue or renew, or may suspend or revoke the license, certificate or temporary permit of any licensee or certificate holder, or otherwise discipline a licensee or certificate holder, upon clear and convincing evidence that the licensee or certificate holder has committed sexual misconduct.

(b) As used in this section:

(i) "Health care provider" means an individual who is licensed, certified or otherwise authorized or permitted by the laws of this state to provide care, treatment, services or procedures to maintain, diagnose or otherwise treat a patient's physical or mental condition;

(ii) "Sexual misconduct" means:

(A) Any behavior by a licensee that involves offers of exchange of medical services for some form of sexual gratification; or

(B) Sexual contact or sexual intrusion, as defined in W.S. 6-2-301(a), that occurs while the patient is under the care of the licensee.