2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHTEEN - Education (§§ 1 — 3510-3520) › PART III - Educational Activities Generally (§§ 861-866 — 1597b) › Chapter 67 - Education of Handicapped (§§ 1021 — 1070) › § 1025 - Public Corporation; Creation

To carry out the purposes of §§ 1025-1029 of this title, it is hereby created a Public Corporation under the name of “Industries for the Blind, for the Mentally Retarded and Other Disabled Persons of Puerto Rico”. The Corporation shall be an instrumentality of the Government of Puerto Rico, attached to the Department of the Family.
The Secretary of the Family shall be the President of the Corporation and shall be empowered to designate an officer or employee of said Department as Executive Director of the Corporation without additional compensation. The President of the Corporation may delegate in a natural, juridical or public person, or from the non-governmental sector, the necessary administrative powers for the proper operation of the Corporation. To such effects, he/she shall prescribe rules and regulations which shall be approved by the Governor. The loans that the Corporation may wish to make must be approved by the President of the Corporation and must be transacted through the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 581-594 of Title 7.
Said Corporation shall have the power to establish and organize shops in San Juan and other towns of Puerto Rico, wherein training, remunerated employment, and any other services that are considered convenient or necessary shall be afforded for the rehabilitation of the blind, of the mentally retarded or of persons with other mental or physical handicaps which constitute obstacles to their occupational capacity, residing in Puerto Rico. It shall have the power to determine the manner and scope of the operation of the business and activities of the Corporation; shall fix by regulation the physical and mental handicaps covered by §§ 1025-1029 of this title, the policies for the operation of the shops, the employment, compensation, profit payments, and other services of rehabilitation to persons working in such shops, the sale to the public of the articles produced in said shops, and any other necessary matters of business. It may sue and be sued, may borrow money, and shall enjoy the same rights, duties, and privileges as private corporations under the laws of Puerto Rico.
The foregoing notwithstanding, the Secretary of the Family shall be empowered to transfer in its entirety the “Industry for the Blind, for the Mentally Retarded and Other Disabled Persons of Puerto Rico” to a natural, juridical, public person, or non-governmental organization, pursuant to the applicable laws and regulations and upon previous approval of the transfer by both Houses of the Legislative Assembly through resolution by petition of the Secretary of the Family and the express consent of the Governor of Puerto Rico. Said transfer shall be evidenced by a public deed executed before a notary public. Said document shall contain provisions as are necessary to protect the vested rights of employees currently working in this entity, including their right to a job in the “Industry for the Blind, for the Mentally Retarded and Other Disabled Persons of Puerto Rico”. Provided, That if the natural, juridical, or public person, or non-governmental organization to whom such title is transferred fails to comply with said provisions, the Department of the Family may revert the same and impose the applicable penalties to the natural, juridical, or public person, or non-governmental organization for noncompliance with said provisions. Likewise, the same may be reverted when the natural, juridical, or public person or non-governmental organization disregards or deviates from the mission, vision, and philosophy of the “Industry for the Blind, for the Mentally Retarded and Other Disabled Persons of Puerto Rico”.
History —May 14, 1948, No. 207, p. 616, § 2; June 24, 1968, No. 127, p. 299, §§ 1, 2, eff. July 1, 1968; Apr. 4, 2011, No. 47, § 1.