SECTION 3.175. Evaluation of Evidence by Expert

(a) If the Board's staff determines that a respondent who is a Registrant, Candidate, or Applicant appears to have engaged in the Practice of Landscape Architecture in a manner that was Reckless, Grossly incompetent, or dishonest, the matter may not be docketed at the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a formal hearing unless the evidence and information gathered during the investigation have been reviewed by a member of the Board or the Board's staff or a consultant who is registered as a Landscape Architect.

(b) The purpose of the review shall be to confirm, prior to the commencement of formal disciplinary proceedings, that the respondent's professional conduct did not satisfy the requisite standard of care which should be applied by a reasonably prudent Landscape Architect under similar circumstances.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.175 adopted to be effective July 5, 2004, 29 TexReg 6286; amended to be effective October 18, 2009, 34 TexReg 7074