Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 20 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND INSURANCE › Division 2030 - Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects › Chapter 12 - Complaints › Section 20 CSR 2030-12.010 - Public Complaint Handling and Disposition Procedure

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule is being amended to reduce unnecessary
				  regulatory restrictions.
(1) The
				Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land
				Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects shall receive and process each
				complaint made against any licensee or certificate holder of the board or
				unlicensed individual or entity, which complaint alleges certain acts or
				practices which may constitute one (1) or more violations of the provisions of
				Chapter 327, RSMo, and/or the board rules. Any member of the public or the
				profession or any federal, state, or local official may make and file a
				complaint with the board. Complaints from sources without the state of Missouri
				are to be processed in the same manner as those originating within Missouri. No
				member of the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land
				Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects who files a complaint with
				this board while s/he holds that office may participate in further board
				deliberations or activity concerning the matters alleged within that complaint.
				The executive director or any staff member of the board may file a complaint
				pursuant to this rule in the same manner as any member of the public.
(2) Complaints should be mailed or delivered
				to the following address: Missouri Board for Architects, Professional
				Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects,
				PO Box 184, Jefferson City, MO 65102. However, all complaints received by the
				board at its administrative office in any manner will be processed. Complaints
				may be made based upon personal knowledge or upon information and belief,
				reciting information received from other sources.
(3) All complaints shall be made in writing
				and fully identify the complainant by name and address. Complaints may be made
				on forms provided by the board and are available upon request. Oral or
				telephone communications will not be considered or processed as complaints, but
				the person making such communications will be provided with a complaint form
				and requested to complete it and return it to the board. Any member of the
				administrative staff of the board may make and file a complaint based upon
				information and belief, in reliance upon oral, telephone, or written
				communications received by the board, unless those communications are believed
				by the staff member to be false.
(4) Each complaint received under this rule
				shall be logged in consecutive order in a book maintained by the board for that
				purpose. The logbook shall contain a record of each complainant's name and
				address; the name and address of the subject(s) of the complaint; the date each
				complaint is received by the board; a brief statement of the acts complained
				of, including the name of any person injured or victimized by the alleged acts
				or practices; a notation whether the complaint resulted in its dismissal by the
				board of informal charges being filed with the Administrative Hearing
				Commission; and the ultimate disposition of the complaint. This logbook shall
				be a closed record of the board, but will be available for inspection at the
				board's office only by state senators, representatives, or by qualified
				officials within the executive branch of Missouri government having
				supervisory, auditing, reporting, or budgetary responsibilities or control over
				the board. A state senator, representative, or qualified official will be
				permitted to inspect the logbook only upon receipt of a written request from
				such official which specifically assures that the request is directly related
				to their duties as a state senator, representative, or official of the
				executive branch of Missouri government.
(5) Each complaint shall be acknowledged in
				writing and investigated by the board. When the complaint is received, the
				board will write the complainant informing him/her of the fact and stating that
				the matter is being referred to the board for consideration at its next
				regularly scheduled meeting. Upon resolution of the complaint, the board will
				inform the complainant in writing of the ultimate disposition of the complaint,
				excluding judicial appeals and provide the complainant with copies of the
				decisions, if any, of the Administrative Hearing Commission and the board at
				that time. The provisions of this subsection are not applicable to complaints
				filed by staff members of the board, based on information and belief, acting in
				reliance on third-party information received by the board.
(6) Both the complaint and any information
				obtained as a result of the investigation of the complaint shall be considered
				a closed record of the board not available for inspection by the public. During
				the investigative state, the board and its executive staff shall keep the
				complaint and the fact of its existence confidential to the extent practicable.
				However, a copy of the complaint and any attachments shall be provided to any
				person who is the subject of that complaint or his/her legal counsel, upon
				written request to the board.
(7)
				This rule does not limit the board's authority to file a complaint with the
				Administrative Hearing Commission charging a licensee or certificate holder of
				the board with any actionable conduct or violation, whether or not such a
				complaint exceeds the scope of the acts charged in a preliminary public
				complaint filed with the board and whether or not any public complaint has been
				filed with the board.
(8) The board
				interprets this rule, as required by law, to exist for the benefits of those
				members of the public who submit complaints to the board and for those persons
				or entities within the legislative and executive branches of government having
				supervisory or other responsibilities or control over the professional
				licensing boards. This rule is not deemed to protect or inure to the benefit of
				those licensees or certificate holders or other persons against whom the board
				has instituted or may institute administrative or judicial proceedings
				concerning possible violations or the provisions of Chapter 327,
				RSMo.
*Original authority: 327.041, RSMo 1969, amended 1981,
					 1986, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001 and 620.010, RSMo 1973, amended 1981, 1983,
					 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999,
					 2001.