On or before May 1 of each year, the State Board of Medical Licensure shall mail a notice of renewal of license to every physician or osteopath to whom a license was issued or renewed during the current licensing year. The notice shall provide instructions for obtaining and submitting applications for renewal. The State Board of Medical Licensure is authorized to make applications for renewal available via electronic means. The applicant shall obtain and complete the application and submit it to the board in the manner prescribed by the board in the notice before June 30 with the renewal fee of an amount established by the board, but not to exceed Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00), a portion of which fee shall be used to support a program to aid impaired physicians and osteopaths. The payment of the annual license renewal fee shall be optional with all physicians over the age of seventy (70) years. Upon receipt of the application and fee, the board shall verify the accuracy of the application and issue to applicant a certificate of renewal for the ensuing year, beginning July 1 and expiring June 30 of the succeeding calendar year. That renewal shall render the holder thereof a legal practitioner as stated on the renewal form.
Any and all state or national criminal history records information obtained by the board that is not already a matter of public record shall be deemed nonpublic and confidential information restricted to the exclusive use of the board, its members, officers, investigators, agents and attorneys in evaluating the applicant's eligibility or disqualification for licensure, and shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. Except when introduced into evidence in a hearing before the board to determine licensure, no such information or records related thereto shall, except with the written consent of the applicant or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, be released or otherwise disclosed by the board to any other person or agency.
The board shall provide to the department the fingerprints of the applicant, any additional information that may be required by the department, and a form signed by the applicant consenting to the check of the criminal records and to the use of the fingerprints and other identifying information required by the state or national repositories.
The board shall charge and collect from the applicant, in addition to all other applicable fees and costs, such amount as may be incurred by the board in requesting and obtaining state and national criminal history records information on the applicant.