(A) There is created the State Board of Pharmacy to be composed of nine members, appointed by the Governor with advice and consent of the Senate, one of whom must be a lay member from the State at large, one of whom must be a pharmacist from the State at large, and seven of whom must be pharmacists representing each of the seven congressional districts. However, if no hospital pharmacist is selected to represent any of the seven congressional districts, the Governor shall appoint a hospital pharmacist as the pharmacist at large.
(B) The pharmacist at large and the lay member shall serve coterminously with the appointing Governor and until their successors are appointed and qualify. The board shall conduct an election to nominate three pharmacists from each congressional district to be submitted to the Governor for consideration for appointment. The Governor shall appoint one pharmacist to represent each congressional district from among the nominees submitted for that district. The election shall provide for participation by all pharmacists currently licensed and residing in the congressional district for which the nomination is being made. The pharmacists must be residents of the congressional district they represent, licensed, in good standing to practice pharmacy in this State, and actively engaged in the practice of pharmacy in this State. The members of the board representing the seven congressional districts shall serve terms of six years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. No member may serve more than two successive terms of office except that a member serving an unexpired term may be reelected and reappointed for two successive terms.
(C) Before December first in the year in which the term expires for a member representing a congressional district, a qualified pharmacist desiring to be a candidate for the board shall submit to the administrator of the board a biography and a petition bearing the signatures of a minimum of fifteen pharmacists practicing in that pharmacist's congressional district. The administrator shall prepare ballots for mailing to all pharmacists licensed and residing in the congressional district for which the nomination is being made. The ballots must be in a form so as to make tabulation quick and easy and shall contain the names of the nominees in alphabetical order. Enclosures to accompany the ballots shall include the envelope in which the ballot is to be sealed and an envelope addressed to the secretary of the board. The addressed envelope shall contain a statement headed "information required" on which must be typed or printed the name of the voter and a space for the voter's signature certifying that the voter:
(1) is the person whose name appears on the statement;
(2) is eligible to vote in this election;
(3) has personally cast the ballot.
(D) All ballots must be mailed by the administrator before January fifteenth to the last known mailing address of all pharmacists residing in the congressional district for which the nomination is being made and must be returned to the administrator postmarked before February fifteenth and received by the office before February twenty-fifth. The administrator of the board shall certify these ballots to be true and valid.
(E) Before March first, the board shall certify in writing to the Governor the name of the three persons winning the election and the name of the person the nominee replaces on the board, and the member, when appointed by the Governor, takes office the first of July of that year.
(F) Notwithstanding subsection (B), if a nominee is judged unfit by the Governor, the board must be informed and other nominees must be submitted in like manner.
(G) Vacancies must be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the unexpired portion of the term.
(H) The Governor may remove a member of the board who is guilty of continued neglect of board duties or who is found to be incompetent, unprofessional, or dishonorable. No member may be removed without first giving the member an opportunity to refute the charges filed against that member.
HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 366, Section 1; 2012 Act No. 222, Section 6, eff June 7, 2012.
Editor's Note
Prior Laws:1926 (34) 32; 1932 Code Section 5168; 1942 Code Section 5168; 1952 Code Section 56-1301; 1962 Code Section 56-1301; 1972 (57) 2582; 1981 Act No. 120, Sections 2, 3; 1984 Act No. 416; 1994 Act No. 402, Section 1; 1976 Code Section 40-43-10.
2012 Act No. 222, Section 15, provides as follows:
"SECTION 15. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person elected or appointed to serve, or serving, as a member of any board, commission, or committee to represent a congressional district, whose residency is transferred to another district by a change in the composition of the district, may serve, or continue to serve, the term of office for which he was elected or appointed; however, the appointing or electing authority shall appoint or elect an additional member on that board, commission, or committee from the district which loses a resident member on it as a result of the transfer to serve until the term of the transferred member expires. When a vacancy occurs in the district to which a member has been transferred, the vacancy must not be filled until the full term of the transferred member expires."
Effect of Amendment
The 2012 amendment substituted "nine" for "eight", "seven" for "six", and removed "Provided," in subsection (A); and, substituted "seven" for "six" with regards to congressional districts in subsection (B).