SECTION 140.284. Registration of Applicants with Criminal Backgrounds

(a) This section sets out the guidelines and criteria on the eligibility of persons with criminal backgrounds to obtain registration as spectacle dispensers or contact lens dispensers.

(b) Criminal convictions which directly relate to the occupation of dispensing opticians shall be considered by the Department of State Health Services (department) as follows.

(1) The department may suspend or revoke an existing registration or disqualify a person from receiving a registration because of a person's conviction of a felony or misdemeanor if the crime directly relates to the duties and responsibilities under that registration.

(2) In considering whether a criminal conviction directly relates, the department shall consider:

(A) the nature and seriousness of the crime;

(B) the relationship of the crime to the purposes for requiring a registration as a spectacle dispensing optician or a contact lens dispenser;

(C) the extent to which a registration might offer an opportunity to engage in further criminal activity of the same type as that in which the person previously had been involved; and

(D) the relationship of the crime to the ability, capacity, or fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the responsibilities of a registered spectacle dispensing optician or a registered contact lens dispenser.

(c) The following felonies and misdemeanors directly relate because these criminal offenses indicate an inability or an unwillingness for the person to be able to perform or to be fit for registration:

(1) the misdemeanor of violating the Opticians' Registry Act (Act);

(2) a conviction relating to deceptive business practices;

(3) a misdemeanor or felony offense involving moral turpitude;

(4) the misdemeanor of practicing medicine or optometry without a license;

(5) a misdemeanor or felony offense under various titles of the Texas Penal Code:

(A) Title 5 concerning offenses against the person;

(B) Title 7 concerning offenses against property;

(C) Title 9 concerning offenses against public order and decency;

(D) Title 10 concerning offenses against public health, safety, and morals; and

(E) Title 4 concerning offenses of attempting or conspiring to commit any of the offenses in this subsection; and

(6) other misdemeanors and felonies if disciplinary action by the department will promote the intent of the Act, this subchapter, and the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 53.

Source Note: The provisions of this §140.284 adopted to be effective August 14, 2008, 33 TexReg 6394