1999 Minnesota Statutes

     148C.03 Duties of the commissioner. 

    Subdivision 1.    General.  The commissioner shall, 
 after consultation with the advisory council or a committee 
 established by rule: 

    (a) adopt and enforce rules for licensure of alcohol and 
 drug counselors, including establishing standards and methods of 
 determining whether applicants and licensees are qualified under 
 section 148C.04.  The rules must provide for examinations and 
 establish standards for the regulation of professional conduct.  
 The rules must be designed to protect the public; 

    (b) develop and, at least twice a year, administer an 
 examination to assess applicants' knowledge and skills.  The 
 commissioner may contract for the administration of an 
 examination approved by the International Certification 
 Reciprocity Consortium/Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse 
 (ICRC/AODA).  The examinations must be written and oral, must 
 minimize cultural bias, and must be balanced in various theories 
 relative to the practice of alcohol and drug counseling; 

    (c) issue licenses to individuals qualified under sections 
 148C.01 to 148C.11; 

    (d) issue copies of the rules for licensure to all 
 applicants; 

    (e) adopt rules to establish and implement procedures, 
 including a standard disciplinary process and rules of 
 professional conduct; 

    (f) carry out disciplinary actions against licensees; 

    (g) establish, with the advice and recommendations of the 
 advisory council, written internal operating procedures for 
 receiving and investigating complaints and for taking 
 disciplinary actions as appropriate; 

    (h) educate the public about the existence and content of 
 the rules for alcohol and drug counselor licensing to enable 
 consumers to file complaints against licensees who may have 
 violated the rules; 

    (i) evaluate the rules in order to refine and improve the 
 methods used to enforce the commissioner's standards; 

    (j) set, collect, and adjust license fees for alcohol and 
 drug counselors so that the total fees collected will as closely 
 as possible equal anticipated expenditures during the biennium, 
 as provided in section 16A.1285; fees for initial and renewal 
 application and examinations; late fees for counselors who 
 submit license renewal applications after the renewal deadline; 
 and a surcharge fee.  The surcharge fee must include an amount 
 necessary to recover, over a five-year period, the 
 commissioner's direct expenditures for the adoption of the rules 
 providing for the licensure of alcohol and drug counselors.  All 
 fees received shall be deposited in the state treasury and 
 credited to the special revenue fund; and 

    (k) prepare reports on activities related to the licensure 
 of alcohol and drug counselors according to this subdivision by 
 October 1 of each even-numbered year.  Copies of the reports 
 shall be delivered to the legislature in accordance with section 
 3.195 and to the governor.  The reports shall contain the 
 following information on the commissioner's activities relating 
 to the licensure of alcohol and drug counselors, for the 
 two-year period ending the previous June 30: 

    (1) a general statement of the activities; 

    (2) the number of staff hours spent on the activities; 

    (3) the receipts and disbursements of funds; 

    (4) the names of advisory council members and their 
 addresses, occupations, and dates of appointment and 
 reappointment; 

    (5) the names and job classifications of employees; 

    (6) a brief summary of rules proposed or adopted during the 
 reporting period with appropriate citations to the State 
 Register and published rules; 

    (7) the number of persons having each type of license 
 issued by the commissioner as of June 30 in the year of the 
 report; 

    (8) the locations and dates of the administration of 
 examinations by the commissioner; 

    (9) the number of persons examined by the commissioner with 
 the persons subdivided into groups showing age categories, sex, 
 and states of residency; 

    (10) the number of persons licensed by the commissioner 
 after taking the examinations referred to in clause (8) with the 
 persons subdivided by age categories, sex, and states of 
 residency; 

    (11) the number of persons not licensed by the commissioner 
 after taking the examinations referred to in clause (8) with the 
 persons subdivided by age categories, sex, and states of 
 residency; 

    (12) the number of persons not taking the examinations 
 referred to in clause (8) who were licensed by the commissioner 
 or who were denied licensing, the reasons for the licensing or 
 denial, and the persons subdivided by age categories, sex, and 
 states of residency; 

    (13) the number of persons previously licensed by the 
 commissioner whose licenses were revoked, suspended, or 
 otherwise altered in status with brief statements of the reasons 
 for the revocation, suspension, or alteration; 

    (14) the number of written and oral complaints and other 
 communications received by the commissioner which allege or 
 imply a violation of a statute or rule which the commissioner is 
 empowered to enforce; 

    (15) a summary, by specific category, of the substance of 
 the complaints and communications referred to in clause (14) 
 and, for each specific category, the responses or dispositions; 
 and 

    (16) any other objective information which the commissioner 
 believes will be useful in reviewing the commissioner's 
 activities. 

    Subd. 2. Repealed, 1995 c 164 s 35 

    Subd. 3. Repealed, 1995 c 164 s 35 

    Subd. 4.    Professional accountability.  The 
 commissioner shall maintain and keep current a file containing 
 the reports and complaints filed against alcohol and drug 
 counselors within the commissioner's jurisdiction. 

    HIST: 1992 c 559 art 2 s 3; 1Sp1993 c 1 art 3 s 5-7; 1995 c 
 164 s 6,7; 1996 c 305 art 1 s 42; 1996 c 451 art 4 s 37; 1997 c 
 187 art 2 s 6; 1998 c 317 s 12