CHAPTER 46 HOUSE BILL No. 2169 An Act concerning the Kansas board of examiners in optometry; relating to the fees charged
and collected by the board; amending K.S.A. 65-1505 and 65-1509 and repealing the
existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

      Section  1. K.S.A. 65-1505 is hereby amended to read as follows: 65-
1505. (a) Persons entitled to practice optometry in Kansas shall be those
persons licensed in accordance with the provisions of the optometry law.
A person shall be qualified to be licensed and to receive a license as an
optometrist: (1) Who is of good moral character; and in determining the
moral character of any such person, the board may take into consideration
any felony conviction of such person, but such conviction shall not auto-
matically operate as a bar to licensure; (2) who has graduated from a
school or college of optometry approved by the board; and (3) who suc-
cessfully meets and completes the requirements set by the board and
passes an examination given by the board. All licenses issued on and after
the effective date of this act, to persons not licensed in this state or in
another state prior to July 1, 1996, shall be diagnostic, therapeutic and
glaucoma licenses.

 (b) All applicants for licensure or reciprocal licensure, except as pro-
vided in subsection (a) and (f), in addition to successfully completing all
other requirements for licensure, shall take and successfully pass an ex-
amination required by the board before being certified by the board as a
diagnostic and therapeutic licensee.

 (c) All persons before taking the examination required by the board
to be certified as a diagnostic and therapeutic licensee shall submit evi-
dence satisfactory to the board of having successfully completed a course
approved by the board in didactic education and clinical training in the
examination, diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the human eye and
its adnexae, totaling at least 100 hours.

 (d) All applicants for glaucoma licensure, in addition to successfully
completing all other requirements for licensure, shall submit evidence
satisfactory to the board of: (1) Professional liability insurance in an
amount acceptable to the board, (2) completion of a course of instruction
approved by the board after consultation with the interprofessional ad-
visory committee which includes at least 24 hours of training in the treat-
ment and co-management of adult open-angle glaucoma and (3) co-man-
agement for a period of at least 24 months and not less than 20 diagnoses
of suspected or confirmed glaucoma, except that the board may eliminate
or shorten the co-management period, and eliminate or reduce the num-
ber of diagnoses of suspected or confirmed glaucoma for applicants for
glaucoma licensure who graduate from approved optometric schools or
colleges after July 1, 1998.

 (e) Any person applying for examination by the board shall fill out
and swear to an application furnished by the board, accompanied by a
fee fixed by the board by rules and regulations in an amount of not to
exceed $150 $450, and file the same with the secretary of the board at
least 30 days prior to the holding of the examination. At such examinations
the board shall examine each applicant in subjects taught in schools or
colleges of optometry approved by the board, as may be required by the
board. If such person complies with the other qualifications for licensing
and passes such examination, such person shall receive from the board,
upon the payment of a fee fixed by the board by rules and regulations in
an amount of not to exceed $30 $150, a license entitling such person to
practice optometry. In the event of the failure on the part of the applicant
to pass the first examination, such person may, with the consent of the
board, within 18 months, by filing an application accompanied by a fee
fixed by the board by rules and regulations in an amount of not to exceed
$75 $150, take a second examination; for the third and each subsequent
examination a fee fixed by the board by rules and regulations in an amount
of not to exceed $45 $150. Any examination fee and license fee fixed by
the board under this subsection which is in effect on the day preceding
the effective date of this act shall continue in effect until the board adopts
rules and regulations under this subsection fixing a different fee therefor.

 (f) Any applicant for reciprocal licensure may in the board's discretion
be licensed and issued a license without examination in the category of
licensure under the optometry law for which application is made if the
applicant has been in the active practice of optometry in another state for
at least the three-year period immediately preceding the application for
reciprocal licensure and the applicant:

 (1) Presents a certified copy of a certificate of registration or license
which has been issued to the applicant by another state where the require-
ments for licensure are deemed by the board to be equivalent to the
requirements for licensure in the category of licensure under this act for
which application is made, if such state accords a like privilege to holders
of a license issued by the board;

 (2) submits a sworn statement of the licensing authority of such other
state that the applicant's license has never been limited, suspended or
revoked and that the applicant has never been censured or had other
disciplinary action taken; and

 (3) successfully passes an examination of Kansas law administered by
the board and such clinical practice examination as the board deems nec-
essary.

 If such applicant was first licensed in another state prior to July 1, 1987,
the applicant shall be required to satisfy only the requirements of the
category of licensure under the optometry law for which application is
made and which existed in this state at the time of the applicant's licen-
sure in such other state; or, if such requirements did not exist in this state
at the time of the applicant's licensure in such other state, the applicant
shall be required to satisfy only the requirements of the category of li-
censure under the optometry law for which application is made which
originally were required for that category of licensure. If such applicant
was first licensed in another state on or after July 1, 1987, the applicant
shall apply to initially be issued a diagnostic and therapeutic license and
shall be required to satisfy all the requirements of that category of licen-
sure under this act. The fee for licensing such applicants shall be fixed
by the board by rules and regulations in an amount of not to exceed $150
$450. The reciprocal license fee fixed by the board under this subsection
which is in effect on the day preceding the effective date of this act shall
continue in effect until the board adopts rules and regulations under this
subsection fixing a different fee therefor.

 (g) The board shall adopt rules and regulations establishing the cri-
teria which a school or college of optometry shall satisfy in meeting the
requirement of approval by the board established under subsection (a).
The board may send a questionnaire developed by the board to any school
or college of optometry for which the board does not have sufficient
information to determine whether the school or college meets the
requirements for approval and rules and regulations adopted under this
act. The questionnaire providing the necessary information shall be com-
pleted and returned to the board in order for the school or college to be
considered for approval. The board may contract with investigative agen-
cies, commissions or consultants to assist the board in obtaining infor-
mation about schools or colleges. In entering such contracts the authority
to approve schools or colleges shall remain solely with the board.

 Sec.  2. K.S.A. 65-1509 is hereby amended to read as follows: 65-
1509. (a) Before engaging in the practice of optometry in this state, it
shall be the duty of each licensed optometrist to notify the board in writ-
ing of the address of the office or offices where such licensee is to engage
or intends to engage in the practice of optometry and of any changes in
the licensee's location of practice. Any notice required to be given by the
board to any licensed optometrist may be given by mailing to such address
through the United States mail, postpaid.

 (b) Any license to practice optometry issued by the board shall expire
on May 31 of each year and may be renewed annually upon request of
the licensee the year specified by the board for the expiration of the license
and shall be renewed on a biennial basis in accordance with this section.
The request for renewal shall be on a form provided by the board and
shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee, which shall be paid no later
than the expiration date of the license.

 (c) Commencing with the renewal of licenses that expire on May 31,
2004, each license shall be renewed on a biennial basis. To provide for a
system of biennial renewal of licenses, the board may provide by rules
and regulations that licenses issued or renewed may expire less than two
years from the date of issuance or renewal and for the proration of fees
accordingly. On or before May 1 each year, the board shall determine
the amount that may be necessary for the next ensuing fiscal year to carry
out and enforce the provisions of the optometry law, and shall fix by rules
and regulations the renewal fee and the fees provided for in K.S.A. 65-
1505 and amendments thereto, in such amounts as may be necessary for
that purpose. The biennial renewal fee shall not exceed $150 $800. Upon
fixing such fees, the board shall immediately notify all licensees of the
amount of such fees for the ensuing year biennial renewal period. In every
renewal year hereafter, every licensed optometrist shall pay to the board
of examiners a fee for a renewal of such license for each year biennial
renewal period. The license renewal fee fixed by the board under this
subsection which is in effect on the day preceding the effective date of
this act shall continue in effect until the board adopts rules and regula-
tions under this subsection fixing a different fee therefor.

 (d) The payment of the renewal fee by the person who is a holder of
a license as an optometrist but who has not complied with the continuing
education requirements fixed by the board, if no grounds exist for denying
the renewal of the license other than that the person has not complied
with the continuing education requirements fixed by the board, shall en-
title the person to inactive status licensure by the board. No person hold-
ing an inactive status license from the board shall engage in the practice
of optometry in this state. A person holding an inactive status license from
the board shall be entitled to cancellation of the inactive status license and
to renewal of licensure as an optometrist upon furnishing satisfactory
evidence to the board that such person has obtained the equivalent of all
missed continuing education requirements to date, and payment of an
additional fee fixed by the board through rule and regulation in an amount
not to exceed $450.

 (d) (e) At least 30 days before the expiration of the licensee's license,
the board shall notify each licensee of the expiration by mail addressed
to the licensee's last known address. If the licensee fails to pay the annual
fee or show proof of compliance with the continuing education require-
ments by the date of the expiration of the license, the licensee shall be
mailed a second notice that the licensee's license has expired, that the
board shall suspend action for 30 days following the date of expiration,
that upon receipt of the annual fee together with an additional fee not to
exceed $500, within the thirty-day period, no order of cancellation will
be entered and that, if both fees are not received within the thirty-day
period, the license shall be canceled.

 (e) (f) Any licensee who allows the licensee's license to lapse or be
canceled by failing to renew as herein provided, may be reinstated by the
board upon payment of the renewal fees then due and upon proof of
compliance with the continuing education requirements established by
the board. As an additional requirement of reinstatement, in cases in
which the board deems it appropriate, the licensee may be required to
successfully pass the examination given by the board to applicants for
licensure or such other competency examination as the board may choose.

 Sec.  3. K.S.A. 65-1505 and 65-1509 are hereby repealed.

 Sec.  4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.

Approved April 10, 2003.
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