reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27A - College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico (§§ 545 — 545p) › § 545k - Rights and general duties

The College shall have, without it being construed as a limitation, the following powers and duties:
(a) Make the maximum effort to uphold the honor and dignity of the profession of optometry and to make known, extol and honor that image in every way within its reach.
(b) Contribute to the permanence, progress and advancement of the profession of optometry in Puerto Rico, as well as of those arts and industries related thereto, and to publish and circulate newspapers, magazines, books, articles and printed material, as well as to prepare or sponsor and present programs on optometry using any existing meaning of communication.
(c) Instruct the public about the profession of optometry.
(d) Render those reports and consultations requested by the Government, and cooperate with the municipal, Commonwealth and federal governments and their agencies, public instrumentalities and regulatory bodies in all matters of mutual interest or benefit to the general welfare of the public that are related to the profession of optometry.
(e) Protect optometrists and the profession of optometry, defend their rights and immunities and contest any act that is harmful to the profession, including taking before the courts any natural or juridical person who [is] responsible for or cause[s] said acts, and intervene, should it be deemed proper, in those matters related to the profession of optometry or to those optometrists who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, merit its intervention.
(f) Promote fraternal relations between its members, entities and other professional colleges.
(g) Establish the seat of the College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico.
(h) Arrange with accredited universities the offering of pre-optometry study programs as well as review and continuing education courses for its members. Said courses must have the approval of the Board of Examiners.
(i) Obtain group life insurance, health and disability insurance policies, and retirement and pension plans for the benefit of its members.
(j) Sponsor legislation or take steps to amend the legislation that regulates the admission to and practice of the profession of optometry in Puerto Rico and see to it that said profession keeps up with the progress and developments in optometry provided in said act, regarding the profession and practice of optometry.
(k) Maintain a high level of professional conduct and ethics among the members of the College and denounce any disloyal practice of the profession of optometry.
History —Dec. 17, 1993, No. 129, § 12.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27A - College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico (§§ 545 — 545p) › § 545l - Exemptions

The College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico is created as a non-profit entity and shall be the representative body of the profession of optometry and of all licensed optometrists authorized to practice the profession in Puerto Rico, and it shall be exempt from the payment of all types of taxes, municipal licenses, excise taxes and any other type of levy in this jurisdiction.
History —Dec. 17, 1993, No. 129, § 13.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27A - College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico (§§ 545 — 545p) › § 545m - Penalties

Any optometrist who practices the profession of optometry or anything pertaining to its practice without being duly associated [with] the College of Optometrists, or who after having been a member has temporarily or permanently lost his/her status as a member, shall be guilty of the illegal practice of optometry, as legislated in Section 11 of Act No. 80 of June 26, 1964.
History —Dec. 17, 1993, No. 129, § 14.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27A - College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico (§§ 545 — 545p) › § 545n - Objections to use of contributions

Optometrists shall have the right to object to the use of their contributions by the College to carry out ideological activities. To such purposes, the College of Optometrists shall set forth the procedure to be followed, through regulations, within the applicable constitutional parameters.
History —Dec. 17, 1993, No. 129, § 15.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27A - College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico (§§ 545 — 545p) › § 545p - Constitutive Assembly

Should the results of the referendum thus provided be affirmative, the Commission referred to in § 545o of this title shall then become the Commission to Convene the Constitutive Assembly of the College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico. In that capacity, and within thirty (30) days after the date that the communication provided in § 545o of this title was made, said Commission shall summon all optometrists who to that date have the right to be members of the College, by certified mail, to the Constitutive Assembly created for the purpose of electing the first Board of Directors of the College and resolve all matters pertaining to the bylaws of that institution. The Constitutive Assembly, which shall have its seat in the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, shall not be held until fifteen (15) days have elapsed from the publication of said Notice to Convene in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in Puerto Rico. In the event that those present at said Constitutive Assembly do not constitute a simple majority of the optometrists of Puerto Rico, said Assembly shall not be held; but a majority of those attending shall designate the place and time for a new meeting, which shall be held for an identical purpose, in the same way as the former, and with a lapse of at least thirty (30) days between one and the other. One-fourth of all optometrists who have the right to be members of the College shall constitute a quorum for this second Constitutive Assembly, and the agreements adopted, or the acts performed by the majority of those present shall be valid.
Should there be no quorum at this second meeting, the Assembly shall not be held, but the Referendum Commission shall provide for subsequent meetings of the Constitutive Assembly and the quorum to be required for said meeting.
As soon as the College is constituted, the association registered at the Department of State as the College of Optometrists of Puerto Rico, Inc., shall be dissolved. The College created by this chapter shall be the successor of the juristic person of said association.
History —Dec. 17, 1993, No. 129, § 17.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546 - Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, the terms herein below shall have the following meanings:
(a) Association. — The Opticians Association of Puerto Rico created by means of this chapter.
(b) Optician. — Person dedicated to the preparation of ophthalmic lenses with or without focus, spectacles, and accessories thereof by means of written prescriptions issued by ophthalmologists and optometrists duly authorized to practice their profession, and according to such written prescriptions, measures the facial contours of the patient or client bearing the prescription of the ophthalmologist or optometrist to shape, polish, cut and mount ophthalmic lenses to determine the size and shape of the frames and lenses that better suit the physical needs of such patient or client. The optician also makes duplicates and does repairs and repetitions of lenses without requiring a new prescription.
(c) Optics practice. — It shall be understood that any natural person engaged in the practice of optics is that who announces the practice of the preparation of ophthalmic lenses with or without focus, spectacles, eyeglasses or duplicates of lenses or eyeglasses, measures the facial contours of the patient or client bearing the prescription of the ophthalmologist or optometrist to determine the size and shape of the frames and lenses that better suit the physical needs of such patient or client, and shapes, polishes, cuts and mounts ophthalmic lenses, and who opens or maintains an optics establishment, office or production shop for said purposes; Provided, however, That all establishments, offices or shops that comply with the dispositions and regulations herein may announce and sell to the public ophthalmic lenses and/or eyeglasses, with or without focus.
(d) Board of Directors. — Board of Directors of the Opticians Association of Puerto Rico which is hereby created by means of this chapter.
(e) Board of Examiners. — The Board of Examiners of Opticians.
(f) Regulation. — The regulations, norms and statutes of the Opticians Association of Puerto Rico, adopted pursuant to this chapter.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546a - Referendum

Those persons authorized to practice the profession of optician in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are hereby constituted as a juridical entity or quasi-public corporation under the name of Opticians Association of Puerto Rico, with headquarters in the city of San Juan, as long as it is so approved by the majority of same in a referendum, as set forth further on within this chapter.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546b - Powers

The Opticians Association of Puerto Rico shall have the following powers:
(a) To perpetually subsist under said name, to sue and be sued as a juridical person, to be the representing voice or instrument of the professional opticians of Puerto Rico, by all legal means and regarding all matters over which it wishes to express itself, including appearing as amicus curiae before courts and public agencies.
(b) To bind itself legally, as well as to acquire rights and goods, both movable and immovable, by donation, legacy, tribute among its own members, purchase, or any other legal means, and to mortgage, sell, transfer and dispose of same in any legal manner and form.
(c) To elect the members of its Board of Directors and designate its functionaries and officers.
(d) To designate the office personnel that shall manage the operation of the Association, as well as to contract the services of a legal advisor.
(e) To draft and adopt regulations that shall be compulsory for all the members, as adopted and implemented by the Assembly that shall be constituted for their approval, or otherwise instead of said Assembly, as drafted and implemented by the Board of Directors to be set forth herein further on; as well as to amend said regulations in the manner and under the requirements instituted within same.
(f) To adopt and use a seal.
(g) To offer safety to its members by means of the creation or adoption of a mutual protection plan, friendly societies or charitable funds, pensions or retirement plans, or by any other means to provide for needy members or those who are forced to retire due to physical disabilities or advanced age, the widow or widower and dependents of those who die, prior evidence to the satisfaction of the Association that said survivors are truly bereft.
(h) To protect the public interest and the members receiving or investigating of its own accord any grievances or matters on problems pertaining to the profession, such as allegations of improper conduct or breaches of ethical principles, on disagreements that may arise between opticians and patients, or between opticians, or between opticians and others regarding the optician, the materials, [i]n Puerto Rico. The Association shall refer the grievances that are submitted to it along with its recommendations to the Board of Examiners for the latter to dispose upon as set forth by law.
(i) To exercise the incidental faculties necessary and convenient pursuant to its creation and subsequent maintenance and operations.
(j) To investigate motu proprio at the request of any member, natural or juridical person, or establishment dedicated to the optics service that incur [sic] in violations against the practice of optics, pursuant to the legislation in effect.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546c - Obligatory membership

After the first General Assembly constituting the Association is held, [no] optician who is not a member of the Association may practice the profession of optician in Puerto Rico.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546d - Members

Those persons to whom the Board of Examiners of Opticians of Puerto Rico issues a license for the practice of the optician profession in Puerto Rico shall be members of the Association.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546e - Administration

First, the resolutions and valid agreements of the General Assembly and second, the valid agreements and decisions of its Board of Directors shall govern the destiny and decisions of the Association in all matters that, by regulation, are not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Assembly and which are within the general and incidental sphere of the ministerial administrative powers and functions which generally concern the Board of Directors.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 7.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546f - Governing board—Composition

The Board of Directors of the Association shall consist of a president, a vice-president, one secretary, one treasurer, and also, one representative from each of the Senate Districts of Puerto Rico. These officers shall remain in office for a term of two years. The immediately previous president of the Association shall be a member of the Board of Directors until such a time as he is replaced by the next salient [sic] president. An optician shall be elected by majority vote in a general assembly to occupy said office among the members of the Board of Directors, solely for the first Board of Directors, because at this time there is yet no ex-president.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 8.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546g - Governing board—President and Vice-President; election

The President and the Vice-President shall be elected according to the procedure the Association sets forth by regulation. The remaining members of the Board of Directors shall be elected by the general assembly.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 9.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546h - Regulation

A regulation shall hereby be created to govern matters that are not included herein, such as: the responsibilities and procedures of all organisms and officers of the Association; convocations, dates, quorum, procedures and requirements of ordinary and extraordinary assemblies and sessions of the Board of Directors, election of directors and officers, commissions and committees, budget and investment of funds, disposition of the assets of the Association; creation of positions and methods for filling them. The regulation shall also provide for the Association to hold an ordinary assembly annually.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 10.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546i - Fee and quorum

The annual membership fee of the Association shall be set by majority vote in the Constitutional Assembly provided in this chapter. This membership fee may be varied from time to time if so provided by a majority of two-thirds (2 / 3) of the members attending an assembly held for such purposes.
The minimum quorum for changing the membership fee shall be [s]et forth by the regulation, and shall not be less than one-fourth (1 / 4) of the total active members.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 11.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546j - Inactivation request

Any member who ceases to exercise the profession of optician to engage in other activities, retire from professional practice, or to leave Puerto Rico shall continue to be a member of the Association by means of the provisions set forth in this chapter or may otherwise submit a request to cease to be a member to the Board of Directors. Any member who chooses said [option] shall not be bound to pay membership fees during the term of voluntary inactivity, but neither shall same exercise the profession nor enjoy the Association membership benefits.
The member shall also notify the Board of Examiners including a copy of the inactivation notice and request for the license to be likewise inactivated during the same term, and said member shall not be able to return to the exercise of the profession nor to the membership until said license is reactivated and the required memberships are paid. There shall be no effectiveness from any inactivation request which has not been sent to notify the Board of Examiners.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 12.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546k - Suspension

Lack of payment of the annual membership fee by any member by the final due date for such payment set forth in the regulation shall entail the suspension of said Association membership and of the license for the exercise of the optics profession, which shall be decreed by the Board of Examiners at the request of the Association. The procedure for such suspensions shall be set forth by means of regulation by the Board of Examiners and the final decision of the Board of Examiners may be legally reviewed by the party adversely affected, pursuant to the dispositions provided herein.
For the term of the suspension, the person may not exercise the optics profession, even if qualified to do so with respect to all other matters as a member of the Association. However, the Board of Examiners shall totally reinstate the person, once all payments due at the date of the suspension are made. Provisional or permanent suspensions that are final and firm, decreed against an optician by the Board of Examiners for the causes provided herein shall entail an automatic suspension of the optician as a member of the Association for the duration of the suspension decreed by said Board of Examiners.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 13.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546l - Actions

The Association shall request from the corresponding court an injunction, writ of inhibition, or any other pertinent recourse to cease and desist from acts or practices contrary to the purposes provided herein, or which are prejudicial or in violation of its dispositions or the determination of suspension of license for the practice of the optics profession decreed by the Board of Examiners.
The Association shall file, without need for bonds, the appropriate action at the corresponding court against any person who, without a valid optician license issued by the Board of Examiners, practices the optician profession within this jurisdiction, as well as against any optician who, in spite of having been suspended from the practice of the profession by the Board of Examiners, pursuant to and by any of the causes imposed by law, attempts to continue, or in effect does continue practicing the optician profession. Such an order to cease and desist shall also be requested and made extensive and applicable to any person, partner, partnership, employer, corporation, organism, cooperative, instrumentality and entity, and to agents and employees thereof, who under any agreement have been using or intend to use, or avail themselves of a suspended or unlicensed optician, as well as of persons who are not opticians and do not have a valid license for the exercise of the profession, for same to immediately abstain or cease and desist from such a practice.
The Association may opt for the use of the services of its legal advisor, or may contract private legal representation when deemed necessary for same to represent it in this type of legal action.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 14.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546m - Powers and responsibilities

The Association shall have, without being limited to, the following powers and responsibilities:
(a) To maximize its efforts to enhance the honor and dignity of the optics profession, and to disclose, increase and honor said image by all means within its reach.
(b) To contribute to the permanence, progress and furtherance of the optics profession in Puerto Rico, as well as of those crafts and industries related to same, and to publish and circulate newspapers, magazines, books, articles and printed material, and prepare or sponsor and present programs about optics utilizing any of the existing communications media.
(c) To give orientations to the citizenry about the optics profession.
(d) To render the reports and advice requested by the Government and cooperate with the municipal, state and federal governments and their agencies, public instrumentalities and regulating organisms in all matters pertaining to optics that are of mutual interest or to the benefit of the public in general.
(e) To protect the optics profession and opticians, defending their rights and challenging all acts that are detrimental to the profession, including resorting to the courts against those persons natural or juridical who are responsible for or originate such acts, and to intervene, if deemed appropriate, in those matters pertaining to the optics profession, or with opticians who warrant the participation of the Board of Directors, according to the latter.
(f) To promote good relations among its members, with the entities and associations of other professions.
(g) To establish the headquarters of the Opticians Association of Puerto Rico.
(h) To arrange for the offering of study programs and continued education courses for its members with accredited universities. Such courses shall have the endorsement of the Board of Examiners.
(i) To obtain group life insurance policies, health insurance, retirement, pension and disability plans in behalf of its members.
(j) To further legislation or arrange for amendments to the legislation that governs admissions to and the practice of optics in Puerto Rico, and to oversee that said legislation continues to promote the progress and development of the optics profession and practice.
(k) To maintain a high level of professionalism and professional ethics among the members, and to denounce any devious practice of the optics profession.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 15.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546n - Nature

The Opticians Association of Puerto Rico is hereby created as a nonprofit entity and shall be the representative organism of the optics profession and of all licensed opticians authorized to practice the profession in Puerto Rico, and as such, shall be exempt from the payment of any taxes, municipal license fees, excise taxes and any other type of taxation within this jurisdiction.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 16.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546o - Illegal practice

Any person who practices the optician profession without being duly enrolled as a member of the Opticians Association, or who having been so, has provisionally or permanently lost the membership, shall incur in the offense of illegal practice of the optician profession enacted herein.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 17.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546p - Objection to use of contributions

Opticians shall be entitled to object the use made by the Association of their contributions to produce ideological activities. For such purposes, the Opticians Association shall structure a procedure to be followed, by means of regulation, within the applicable constitutional parameters.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 18.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546q - Referendum committee

Within thirty (30) days after this act takes effect, and for the indicated purpose, the Board of Examiners shall name a Referendum Committee comprised by fifteen (15) members who are opticians, with representation from all Senate Districts of Puerto Rico.
The Referendum Committee shall be chaired by the President of the Board of Examiners and shall have the main duties of giving orientation to all opticians regarding the referendum, its motives and consequences, and of holding same pursuant to the provisions herein. The Referendum Committee shall design and adopt mechanisms, regulations, ballots and procedures deemed necessary for consultation and scrutiny. The Referendum Committee shall be supervised in all functions by the Board of Examiners, and its decisions shall be final.
Upon the designation of the Referendum Committee, the Board of Examiners shall provide said Committee with a list including the name, address and license number of each optician authorized to practice the profession in Puerto Rico and entitled to membership in the Association. Within forty-five (45) days after its designation, the Referendum Committee shall proceed to consult said opticians by certified mail with copy through regular mail for the referendum to be held pursuant to this section. The consultation of each optician shall enclose a copy of this act. In addition, the consultation of each optician shall be preceded by the publication of a notification stating that the referendum shall be held and for which purpose. Said publication shall be issued on at [least] two (2) occasions, in one (1) newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico. Only replies received within thirty (30) days from the publication of the last notification of the holding of the referendum and its purposes shall be valid and scrutinized. The replies shall only be affirmative or negative rather than conditional, and shall be written and signed, indicating the license number, by the consulted member on the ballot. The ballots shall be delivered by hand or sent by mail to the Referendum Committee at the address indicated by same on the ballot, and shall be subject to the free inspection of any optician who requests to do so from the Referendum Commission, under whose custody said ballots shall remain until the first meeting of the Constitution Assembly in the event of an affirmative result for the association, or until such a date as set forth by regulation in the event of a negative result.
For the approval of compulsory membership, the affirmative vote of one half plus one of the opticians authorized to practice the optics profession in Puerto Rico is hereby required. After the scrutiny by the Referendum Committee concludes, it shall remit the results in writing to the Governor of Puerto Rico and to the Board of Examiners. The Referendum Committee is hereby authorized to receive donations to defray the expenses of the referendum set forth herein.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 19.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 27B - Opticians Association of Puerto Rico (§§ 546 — 546r) › § 546r - Constitution Assembly

If the results of the Referendum provided herein are not affirmative, the Committee referenced in § 546q of this title shall then become the Convocations Committee of the Constitution Assembly of the Opticians Association of Puerto Rico. As such, and within thirty (30) days after issuing the notification provided in the § 546q of this title, it shall convene by certified mail all the opticians that to that date are entitled to become members of the Association to the Constitution Assembly for the purpose of electing the first Board of Directors of the Association, and to dispose on the regulation of the institution being created. The Constitution Assembly shall be held fifteen (15) days after the publication of the referenced convocation in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in Puerto Rico. If those attending said Constitution Assembly do not constitute a simple majority of fifty percent (50%) plus one (1) of the opticians in Puerto Rico, said Assembly shall not be held; but those who attend may designate by majority the location and date for a new convocation, which shall be held for the same purposes and in the same manner as the previous one, without allowing less than thirty (30) days to elapse between one and the other.
One-fourth (1 / 4) of the opticians entitled to be members of the Association shall constitute quorum for the second Constitution Assembly, and the agreements adopted or actions taken by the majority of the attendees shall be valid. If quorum is not met on said second convocation, the Assembly shall not be held. However, the Referendum Committee shall provide the subsequent convocations to the Constitution Assembly and the quorum to be required thereof.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 20.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 551 - Definitions

Unless otherwise apparent from the context, the following terms are defined as follows:
(a) This chapter shall be recognized as the Act to Regulate the Practice of the Profession of Cosmetology (Beauty Specialist), also known as “hair stylists” or “beauticians”, and wherever beauty specialists are referred to herein it shall be understood to refer also to the aforesaid terms.
(b) Person. — Includes individuals, firms, companies, partnerships and corporations.
(c) Secretary. — Refers to the Secretary of State of Puerto Rico.
(d) License holder. — Shall mean the person, as above defined, engaged in the practice of the profession of cosmetology (beauty specialist) in any of the phases thereof.
(e) To engage in the profession of cosmetology (beauty specialist) or beautician. — Refers to any person who is authorized by a license issued by the Board of Examiners, as defined herein, to work by any manner or means, with aid of the hands or of mechanical devices or applications, electric or otherwise; or through the use of tonics, lotions, creams, cosmetics, or beauty preparations or compounds, to wave, dye, give or take away color, trim, arrange, comb, permanently wave or clean the hair of any person, or stimulate its growth; to clean or give stimulation to the scalp, the face, the neck or the arms of said person; or to beautify the hands or the nails thereof; or perform any other similar work for her beauty; and the said phrase also includes the person offering to render said services, and the person in fact rendering them.
(f) Board of Examiners. — The Board of Examiners of hair specialists and other terms of general usage in Puerto Rico, which is created by this chapter.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 2; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 552 - License required

On and after June 30, 1951, no person may engage in Puerto Rico in the practice of the profession of cosmetology (beauty specialist) or claim qualification therefor, without first obtaining a license therefor in accordance with the provisions hereof.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 3; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 553 - Powers

In addition to his other powers and faculties, the Secretary of State shall have power to:
(a) Appoint the number of assistants, inspectors, and other employees, required to enforce the provisions of this chapter and to prescribe their duties and [set] their compensation in conformity with the appropriation therefor made.
(b) Examine the requirements and qualifications of persons applying for a license under this chapter.
(c) Require all persons licensed under this chapter to submit to a physical examination by a physician assigned therefor by the Department of Health of Puerto Rico.
(d) Keep a register of the licenses issued, suspended, or cancelled.
(e) Promulgate regulations to serve as a basis for said examination, and to furnish copy thereof to interested persons, upon payment of a reasonable fee therefor.
(f) [Set] the standards, not in conflict with the provisions hereof, that may be necessary in regard to the form and content of license applications, issuance thereof, investigation of applicants, requirements to be met by them, and any other matters incidental to the powers and duties prescribed by this chapter, or required for the proper administration and enforcement hereof, and to amend said standards and regulations.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 4, eff. Jan. 1, 1951.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 554 - Board of Examiners

In order to comply with the provisions of this chapter, a Board of Examiners of Beauticians is hereby created which shall be composed of five members appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico with the advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico for a period of two (2) years, and until their successors have been appointed and take office. Said members shall have active professional experience in the exercise of the beautician profession; three of these shall have practiced this profession for a period of not less than five years. The members shall be U. S. citizens and residents of the Commonwealth. The members of the Board shall elect a chairperson from among themselves. The Board of Examiners thus constituted shall meet at least one a year and all those other times it is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The members of the Board including public employees and officers, shall be entitled to a per diem of fifty dollars ($50) for each day they render their services to the Board plus compensation for mileage from their domicile to the official site of the Board and back, as established in the regulations of the Department of the Treasury. As of July 1, 1999, the members of the Board shall receive per diems equal to the minimum per diem established for members of the Legislature, up to a maximum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per year, except for the Chairperson of the Board who shall receive per diems equal to one hundred and thirty-three percent (133%) of the per diems received by the remaining members of the Board.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 5; May 3, 1951, No. 201, p. 520, § 1; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145; May 6, 1983, No. 25, p. 47; Aug. 2, 1995, No. 95, § 1; Mar. 20, 1999, No. 96, § 1; Jan. 4, 2000, No. 7, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 557 - Sanitary provisions

Beauty parlors and academies shall comply with the sanitary provisions and regulations of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 8, eff. Jan. 1, 1951.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 558 - Licenses, exhibition and duplication

(a) Every license, with the exception of provisional licenses, shall have lifetime effect.
(b) No license may be negotiated, assigned or transferred.
(c) Any license issued in conformity with this chapter shall be posted in a conspicuous place of the beauty parlor where the holder thereof engages in the practice of his profession of beautician.
(d) Duplicates of licenses lost or mutilated may be issued upon application therefor and upon the payment of the fee prescribed in this chapter. The license so renewed shall have stamped along the whole width of the license the fact that it is a duplicate, and it shall bear the same number as the original license.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 9; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 559 - Fees

(a) The fees for the issuance of a license to engage in the profession of cosmetology (beauty specialist) shall be five dollars ($5).
(b) The fees for the right to take an examination in conformity with this chapter shall be ten dollars ($10). If the applicant meets the requirements for the issuance of the license as a result of said examination, the fees for said examination shall include the fee for the license issued for the purpose.
(c) The fees for the issuance of duplicates of licenses shall be one dollar ($1).
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 10; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 560 - Reimbursement

The fees received by the Secretary of State under this section may be reimbursed within a term of three (3) years on and after the receipt thereof, upon presentation of satisfactory evidence to the effect that:
(a) Said fees were received in excess of the amount required by law, in which case the reimbursement shall be for the difference between the money paid and the amount [set].
(b) The license applied for was denied.
(c) The person filing the license application died prior to the issuance thereof.
(d) The person in whose favor the license was issued joined the army or was drafted into the federal active military, naval or maritime service or into a branch or division thereof, in which case the reimbursement shall be proportionate to the number of unexpired months as of the date of military enlistment or drafting.
Such reimbursements shall, after they are approved by the Secretary of State and countersigned by the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico, be paid from the funds received under this chapter.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 11, eff. Jan. 1, 1951.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 561 - Cancellation or suspension of license—Grounds

A license to engage in the profession of cosmetology (beauty specialist) may be cancelled or suspended by the Secretary of State for one or more of the following reasons:
(a) For refusal to undergo the physical examination required by law.
(b) The practice of the profession by a person suffering from an infectious or transmissible disease.
(c) Habitual drunkenness or addiction to habit-forming drugs.
(d) Fraud or bribery in the obtention of a license or of the permission to undergo an examination therefor.
(e) False statement in connection with a material aspect of an application, declaration, or certification required under this chapter.
(f) Incompetence.
(g) Failure to place the license in a conspicuous place, as provided by this chapter.
(h) Violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or of the standards or regulations promulgated hereunder, or of the applicable laws and regulations.
(i) When a license for the practice of the profession is cancelled the same shall not recover its original force and effect nor shall [it] be issued anew until one (1) year has elapsed from the date of the suspension.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 12; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 562 - Cancellation or suspension of license—Preferment of charges; holding of hearings and findings thereon

No license shall be suspended or revoked until a hearing has been held before the official or employee therefor designated by the Secretary of State, after summoning the holder of the license with at least ten (10) days’ notice. The summons shall be served in person or by registered mail with return receipt requested, and shall state the date and the place of the hearing, with reference to the charges preferred against the holder of the license. The holder shall be heard in his own defense either personally or by counsel, and may present witnesses and testify in his own defense. A stenographic record shall be taken of the hearing. The hearing may be adjourned from time to time. The person presiding thereover shall render to the Secretary of State a written report containing his findings, and shall make the recommendations permitting a resolution of the case. The Secretary of State shall review the findings and recommendations submitted, and after a conscientious examination shall enter an order admitting, modifying, or rejecting the said recommendations, dismissing the charges, or suspending or revoking the license. To this end the Secretary of State, or the employee designated by him, may receive declaration under oath or subpoena witnesses. He may likewise subpoena for the presentation of books, documents, registers, records, checks, stub books or any other documentary evidence he may consider pertinent to the matter under investigation.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 13, eff. Jan. 1, 1951.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 563 - Cancellation or suspension of license—Judicial review

The findings of the Secretary of State suspending, denying or revoking a license may be reviewed through proceedings filed in accordance with the codes and rules of procedure of Puerto Rico.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 14, eff. Jan. 1, 1951.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 564 - Penalties

Any person who directly or indirectly engages in the profession of cosmetology (beauty specialist), or who claims or alleges to be authorized without a license therefor; and any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter, or who following the suspension or cancellation of his license continues in the practice of the said profession, or who directly or indirectly employs, permits, or authorizes a person to practice the said profession without a license therefor shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than six (6) months or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both penalties. Each violation shall be considered a separate offense.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 15; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 565 - Official actions as evidence

The official actions of the Secretary of State, of the Board of Examiners of Beauticians and of the personnel assigned thereto in regard to violations of this chapter shall constitute prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein and shall, as such, be admitted in all legal actions or other judicial or administrative proceedings.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 16, eff. Jan. 1, 1951.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 566 - Disposition of funds

The funds received in the enforcement of this chapter shall be covered into the general funds of the Commonwealth Treasury.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 17; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 29 - Board of Examiners of Beauticians (§§ 551 — 567) › § 567 - Construction

This chapter shall not be applicable to or affect, or prevent the domestic practice, without compensation, of any of the activities defined therein, and likewise no provision hereof shall be construed in the sense of preventing the application of facial creams and lotions by persons under the direction of a licensed beautician who engages in the sale or advertising of cosmetics for the account of the manufacturer of said cosmetics or lotions.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 431, p. 1102, § 18; June 13, 1968, No. 82, p. 145.