THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

March 20, 1990 

Honorable Brad Wright Opinion No. JM-1148 

Chairman 

Public Health Committee Re: Authority of the Board of 

House of Representatives Chiropractic Examiners to condiP. 0. Box 2910 tion eligibility for licensure 

Austin, Texas 78769-2910 on graduation from a college 

accredited by a particular private organization (RQ-1811) 

Dear Representative Wright: 

You ask about the validity of a rule adopted by the 

Board of Chiropractic Examiners that defines the term "bona 

fide reputable chiropractic school." 

The regulatory statute governing chiropractors is 

article 451233, V.T.C.S. That act requires that applicants 

for licensure by examination be graduates of "bona fide 

reputable chiropractic schools (whose.entrance requirements 

and course of instruction are as high as those of the better 

.class of chiropractic schools in the United States)."1 

V.T.C.S. art. 451233, § 10(a). The board has adopted the 

following rule regarding chiropractic schools: 

(a) The board shall annually review and 

approve those chiropractic schools whose 

graduates are eligible for examination and 

licensure under the provisions of Texas Civil 

Statutes Article 4512b, 5 10. 

(b) A bona fide reputable, chiropractic 

school as that term is used in the 

Chiropractic Act, 0 10, is a school which 

1. After October 1, 1990, applicants for licensure by 

examination will include final semester students, as well as 

graduates, of bona fide reputable chiropractic schools. 

Acts 1989, 71st beg., ch. 363, 5 5, at 1450 (effective Oct. 

F- 1, 1990). 

P. 6061 
Honorable Brad Wright - Page 2 (JM-1148) 

’ 

either holds 

credited by 

Education. 

22 T.A.C. S 71.5. 

You ask whether 

candidate status or is acthe Council on Chiropractic 

the board has authority to limit the 

term "bona fide reputable chiropractic school" to schools 

accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education and 

thereby to exclude schools accredited b 

Chiropractic Academic Standards Association. 3 

the Straight 

The board‘s refusal to recognize schools of l@straightt' 

chiropractic as bona fide reputable schools of chiropractic 

has generated controversy in the past. In 1984, the Austin 

Court of Appeals considered whether the board had denied due 

process of law in the manner in which it determined that an 

applicant, who had graduated from a school of "straight" 

chiropractic, had not graduated from a bona fide, reputable 

school of chiropractic. Wadden 

Examiners, 663 S.W.2d 622 (Tex. APP. - Austin 1984, writ 

ref'd n.r.e.). The controversy arose when the board 

responded to Madden's request for an application by 

informing Madden that he was ineligible for licensure 

because he had not attended a bona, fide, reputable school of 

chiropractic. The board's rule at the time of Madden's 

request provided: 

All applicants for licensure -who have 

matriculated in a chiropractic college after 

October 1, 1975 must present evidence of 

having graduated from a chiropractic college 

having status [sic] with the accrediting 

commission of the Council on Chiropractic 

Education or the equivalent thereof. 

See id. at 624. Litigation ensued and eventually led to a 

hearing in which the board issued the following order: 

1. A chiropractic college must either show 

accreditation by an accrediting body viewed 

2. For an explanation of the distinction between 

t'straight't chiropractic and "mixer" chiropractic, see Madden 

v. T e. s, 663 S.W.2d 622 (Tex. 

APP. - Austin 1984, writ ref8d z.r.e.1. 

P. 6062 
Honorable Brad Wright - Page 3 (JM-1148) 

as reliable by the Board or show a valid 

reason why such accreditation cannot be 

obtained and otherwise give proof of 

reputable status in order to be a bona fide 

and reputable school for the purposes of 

Section 10, Article 451213, V.A.C.S. 

2. Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic 

located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is 

not a bona fide reputable school as that term 

is used in Section 10, Article 4512b, 

V.A.C.S., and defined by the Board, and 

therefore, it is ORDERED that David Madden a 

Sherman College graduate, is not eligible to 

sit for the state board examination. 

Seeaid. at 624-25. After that hearing, Madden continued 

lltlgation against the board, 

been denied due process. 

claiming that he had again 

The Austin Court of Appeals 

agreed, stating that although the board was free to announce 

a new definition of‘ "bona fide reputable school of 

chiropractic" in an adjudicative hearing, Madden was 

entitled to know before a hearing the standards that would = 

C control his case. Id. at 626. Mr. Madden's case was 

remanded to the board .for final resolution not inconsistent 

with the court's opinion. & at 627. 

In the meantime, the Board of Chiropractic Examiners 

promulgated its current rule, which defines bona fide, 

reputable chiropractic school as a schools that holds 

candidate status or is 

Chiropractic Education. 

accredited by the Council on 

Tex . Bd. of Chiropractic Examiners, 

9 Tex. Reg. 5199 (1984) (codified at 22 T.A.C. 5 71.5). 

Apparently none of the issues raised in the litigation with 

Mr. Madden persuaded the board that schools of straight 

chiropractic were bona fide, reputable schools of 

chiropractic for purposes of article 4512b, V.T.C.S. 

P. 

You have raised the issue because the United States 

Department of Education has determined the 

Chiropractic 

Straight 

Academic Standards Association to be 

nationally recognized accrediting association for purpose: 

of section 1141(a) of title 20 of the United States Code. 

"Accreditation of postsecondary institutions 

postsecondary programs by agencies recognized by t:: 

Secretary [of Education] is a prerequisite to eligibility 

for many types of Federal financial assistance for those 

institutions or programs and for the students enrolled in 

those institutions or programs." 34 C.F.R. 0 602.1(b) 

(1988); see senerally 34 C.F.R. Parts 602, 603 (Secretary's 

P. 6063 
Honorable Brad Wright - Page 4 (JM-1148) 

Procedures and 

Agencies) . 

Criteria for Recognition of Accrediting 

The legislature has delegated to the Board of 

Chiropractic Examiners the responsibility for determining 

what constitutes a bona fide, reputable school of 

chiropractic. Because we cannot make fact findings in the 

opinions process, we cannot assess whether the board's rule 

defining bona fide, reputable school of chiropractic is too 

broad or too narrow. The fact that the United States 

Department of Education has found the Straight Chiropractic 

Academic Standards Association to be a nationally recognized 

accrediting association for certain federal iaw purposes 

does not by itself require the Board of Chiropractic 

Examiners to recognize schools accredited by the Straight 

Chiropractic Academic Standards Association as a bona fide, 

reputable school of chiropractic for purposes of Texas law. 

SUMMARY 

The fact alone that the United States 

Department of Education has found the e 

Straight Chiropractic Academic Standards 

Association to be a nationally recognized 

accrediting association for certain federal 

law purposes does not require the Board of 

Chiropractic Examiners to recognize schools 

accredited by the Straight Chiropractic 

Academic Standards Association as a bona 

fide, reputable school of chiropractic for 

purposes of Texas law. 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARYEELLER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAELEY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RENEA HICKS 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

P. 6064 
Honorable Brad Wright - Page 5 (JM-1148) 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Sarah Woelk 

Assistant Attorney General 

C 

P. 6065