(1) Division created. (a) There is hereby created a division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies, the head of which is the director of professions and occupations. The executive director of the department shall appoint the director in accordance with section 13 of article XII of the state constitution. Except as provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section, the director shall appoint other personnel as necessary for the efficient operation of the division.
(b) Subject to available appropriations, the director shall give good-faith consideration to the recommendations of any type 1 board or commission relating to the employment of the primary administrator to assist the board or commission, whether the person is designated as an executive secretary, a program administrator, or another title or position.
Supervision and support. The division has supervision and control of the type 2 entities within the division pursuant to the "Administrative Organization Act of 1968", article 1 of title 24. For type 1 entities, the division shall provide necessary management support.
Approval of rules. The supervision and control of, and the management support for, boards, commissions, and programs by the department of regulatory agencies and the division also includes the approval or disapproval of rules of the boards, commissions, and director relating to the examination and licensure, certification, or registration of applicants to ensure that the rules are fair and impartial.
Staff. Subject to subsection (1) of this section, each board, commission, or program may employ and pay out of money appropriated to it by the general assembly only that number of employees and subordinate officers as are certified by it and approved by the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies to be necessary. All salaries to be paid to the employees and subordinate officers shall be within the appropriation made therefor by the general assembly.
Office space. (a) Each board, commission, and program shall be provided with suitable offices in the capitol buildings group if space is available in any of the buildings and, if not, then in a suitable office building in the city and county of Denver selected by the executive director of the department of personnel. It is lawful and proper for two or more of the boards, commissions, or programs to be assigned space in the same office room or suite, if the grouping or joint occupancy, in the opinion of the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies, will not unreasonably interfere with the efficient operation of the boards, commissions, or programs so grouped or joined.
(b) Each board, commission, or program to which office space is provided shall pay into the general fund of the state, out of the money the general assembly appropriates to the division for use by the board, commission, or program, a monthly or annual charge for rental, heat, light, telephone, collection, legal, and other state services made available to the board, commission, or program. The executive director of the department of personnel, with the approval of the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies, may fix the amount of the charges, which must not be more than twenty-five percent of the money appropriated by the general assembly to the division for use by a board, commission, or program.
Per diem. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, each member of a board or commission is entitled to receive a per diem allowance of fifty dollars for each day spent in attendance at board or commission meetings, hearings, or examinations and to be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of the member's official duties. The per diem compensation for board or commission members must not exceed that sum in any fiscal year that the state personnel board approves for employees not under the state personnel system. The general assembly shall annually appropriate money from the division of professions and occupations cash fund, created in section 12-20-105 (3), for the payment of per diem compensation and expenses. A state employee shall not receive per diem compensation for services performed during normal working hours, when on paid administrative leave, or when otherwise prohibited by fiscal rules adopted by the state controller.
Periodic evaluation of division functions. The department of regulatory agencies shall analyze and evaluate the division and its functions as set forth in this title 12. The department shall conduct the analysis and evaluation in accordance with section 24-34-104 (5) and shall submit its report and recommendations for legislation, if any, in accordance with that section. The department shall initially analyze and evaluate the division and submit its report by October 15, 2015, and shall analyze and evaluate the division every ten years thereafter. This section does not require the repeal of the division or its functions as specified in this title 12.
Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 730, § 1, effective October 1.
Editor's note: Subsection (1) is similar to former § 24-34-102 (1); subsection (2) is similar to former § 24-34-102 (2); subsection (3) is similar to former § 24-34-102 (3); subsection (4) is similar to former § 24-34-102 (4); subsection (5)(a) is similar to former § 24-34-102 (5); subsection (5)(b) is similar to former § 24-34-102 (6); subsection (6) is similar to former § 2434-102 (13); and subsection (7) is similar to former § 24-34-102 (15), as those sections existed prior to 2019.