In response to Post 135, I can only speak to how Florida handles monetary fines. In addition to maintaining a general revenue fund, some state agencies in Florida maintain agency-specific and statutorily authorized trust funds for recovering and administering licensure fees, fines, etc.

For example, under Florida Statute Sec. 20.435(d) the Florida Department of Health maintains a "Medical Quality Assurance Trust Fund" which "consist[s] of fees and fines related to the licensing of health care professionals. Funds shall be used for the purpose of providing administrative support for the regulation of health care professionals and for other such purposes as may be appropriate and shall be expended only pursuant to legislative appropriation or an approved amendment to the department's operating budget pursuant to the provisions of chapter 216."

When I worked for the Florida Attorney General's Office, we maintained a "Consumer Fraud Trust Fund" which we funded with fines collected in white collar cases. The money was allocated toward consumer education (i.e. elder exploitation workshops, consumer complaint hotline), and investigative costs.

Stephen Iglesias, Esq.
813-286-4300

In response to Post 136 on probation options, Florida does not offer community service as a condition to probation. Each regulatory board in Florida follows a codified set of "disciplinary guidelines". Depending on the severity of offense and disciplinary record of the licensee, the boards are offered a mix of options including fines, costs of investigation, continuing eductation, testing, impaired practitioner counseling, peer monitoring, suspension, and ultimately license revocation. Community service is not one of the options. If you would like me to send you a link to an example of discplinary guidelines from the Florida Administrative Code, either post here or contact me. I hope this helps.

Stephen Iglesias, Esq.
813-286-4300

A CLEAR constituent has asked the following questions:

Do any states have a cost recovery system for legal proceedings?
If so, is the cost recovery statutorily mandated?
For which professions/occupations do you recover cost?
What are the pros and cons of the cost recovery?

Thank you.

A CLEAR constituent has asked the following questions:

Does your state/jurisdiction use community service as an option for discipline?

If so, what types of community service do you use?

Did this require statutory authority to be included as an option?

Thank you.

A CLEAR constituent has requested the following information:

What do agencies do with fees collected from respondents as a result of a monetary penalty, fines etc? Where do the monies go - to the literary fund, special projects, separate agency budget for training etc?

How do agencies handle reimbursement back to their boards from respondents for the cost of hearings, investigations etc? How much can they recoup and what do they do with the money?

Thank you for your assistance.

Edited by author 06-21-2007 05:11 PM
Has anyone come encountered a situation whereby professional licensees are seeking to renew their respective licenses, however, the licensing authority is unable [due to physical plant problems which prevent access to computer databases and licensure information]to physically issue renewals at the present time? If so, how did you handle same?

What is being contemplated is the creation of a form stating that the licensing entity certifies that a particular individual has filed an renewal application with the licensing authority; that a presumption is being made that everything is in order until such time as the licensing authority can actually determine the validity of the licensure renewal application and its contents by reviewing its computer databases, etc.; and that the renewal applicant can continue to practice until a date certain or until the licensing authority finally makes a determination as to the renewal application; whichever occurs first. Thank you.

/m126

The Alabama Board of Physical Therapy will best be able to assist with this question. The Board can be contacted directly at (334)242-4064 and the website can be found at http://www.pt.alabama.gov/

Edited by author 06-06-2007 02:20 PM
I need to know the legal rights as a PTA regarding doing discharge summaries. Can a PTA do a discharge summary as long as the PT co-signs the discharge summary? This is for the state of Alabama.

/m123

The board or college responsible for regulating physical therapists in your state or province will best be able to assist with this question. A list of such regulatory boards in the United States is available at http://www.fsbpt.org/licensing/index.asp, while a similar list for regulatory colleges in Canada can be accessed at http://www.alliancept.org/links.shtml#1

Sincerely,
Adam Parfitt
CLEAR