Chapter 07. Rules of Procedure for the Disciplinary Process

In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated.

Terms Defined.

Except as otherwise provided by law, the proceedings of the Board are confidential and that confidentiality may not be waived by the parties.

Office of Administrative Hearings proceedings involving the adjudication of a contested case and the administrative law judge's recommended decision are confidential. The respondent may not waive the confidentiality of the proceedings or of the patients whose medical or dental records or care are reflected in the record of the proceedings.

To the extent possible, even after a final order is issued by the Board, the parties shall refrain from revealing legal documents, oral statements, or information that would reveal the identity of any patients referred to in the Board's order.

Every party who appears at a formal hearing has the right to appear in proper person or by or with counsel.

If the matter goes to a hearing, the respondent shall be represented only by an attorney who has been admitted to the Maryland Bar or specially admitted to practice law under Maryland Rules, Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Maryland, Rule 14.

The administrative prosecutor assigned to a disciplinary matter by the Office of the Attorney General shall prosecute the disciplinary matter in Board proceedings.

In all proceedings, the Board shall be represented by and obtain advice from counsel assigned to it by the Office of the Attorney General.

The Board may commence proceedings or open an investigation under Health Occupations Article, §4-315, Annotated Code of Maryland, after the filing of a complaint:

If a person who is not a member of the Board files a complaint, the complaint shall:

The Board may accept a complaint for filing that substantially fulfills the requirements of this regulation.

Absent extenuating circumstances, the Board shall send a letter to the complainant or the complainant’s representative acknowledging receipt of the complaint within 45 days of its filing.

The letter referred to in §D of this regulation shall:

The Board may not bring disciplinary charges against a respondent based solely on events contained in a complaint the Board receives more than 6 years after:

The provisions of §F of this regulation may not apply to a complaint based on:

The Board shall log in and assign a case number to complaints that meet the requirements of this chapter.

Complaints that do not meet the requirements of this chapter shall be returned to the complainant with a brief explanation of why the complaint was returned.

Complaints shall be referred to the Board’s Triage Committee.

To the extent practicable, filed complaints shall be presented to the Board’s Triage Committee within 60 days of their receipt.

To the extent practicable, the Board’s staff shall remove the respondent’s name and address from complaint before the documents are reviewed by the Triage Committee.

The name and address of the respondent shall appear on documents that are referred from the:

After review of the complaint, the Triage Committee shall make recommendations to the Board’s Discipline Review Committee (DRC).

The Triage Committee may make the following recommendations to the DRC:

Participation in the Triage Committee is not a basis for recusal of a Board member, Board counsel, or the administrative prosecutor from further proceedings in a case.

The DRC shall:

When considering the recommendations of the Triage Committee, the DRC may vote to:

After receiving recommendations from the Triage Committee, the DRC, without Board approval, may vote to:

Complaints may be referred directly to the DRC without prior review by the Triage Committee.

The DRC may make the following recommendations to the Board:

For each complaint, after reviewing any completed investigative information or reports and considering the recommendation of the Triage Committee or Discipline Review Committee, if applicable, the Board shall:

The Board may refer a complaint or other disciplinary matter to the administrative prosecutor at any time, regardless of whether it has voted to charge a licensee with violations of the Maryland Dentistry Act or the regulations adopted by the Board.

If the Board investigates a complaint, the Board shall mail a copy of the complaint to the respondent unless:

Absent exigent circumstances, the Board shall grant a person at least 10 calendar days to:

Board investigations are warranted when there is evidence that the respondent or other person may have violated the Maryland Dentistry Act or the regulations adopted by the Board.

A matter that may serve as a basis for summary suspension under State Government Article, §10-226(c)(2), Annotated Code of Maryland, may be referred directly to:

The Board's DRC shall:

Participation in the Disciplinary Review Committee is not a basis for recusal of a Board member, Board counsel, or the administrative prosecutor from further proceedings in a complaint.

If the Board votes to refer a matter to an investigator, to the extent practicable, the complaint shall be assigned to an investigator within 3 business days of the Board’s vote.

An investigator shall provide periodic reports to the complainant or the complainant’s representative within the bounds of the Maryland Public Information Act or other applicable laws.

To the extent practicable, an investigator shall strive to complete an initial investigative report within 180 days after a complaint is assigned.

Factors that affect the length of time to complete an initial investigative report include but are not limited to:

An initial investigative report shall be presented to the Board within 90 days of its completion.

The failure to meet the goal of completing an initial investigative report within 180 days or the presentation to the Board of an initial investigative report within 90 days of its completion may not:

An initial investigative report may also be a final investigative report.

The Board shall advise the complainant or the complainant’s representative of the final disposition of a complaint within the bounds of the Maryland Public Information Act or other applicable laws.

To the extent practicable, the Board shall mail copies of final orders to the respondent or to the respondent’s counsel within 15 days.

If a complaint results in a final order against a respondent that is a public document under State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 6, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Board shall mail a copy of the final order to the complainant or the complainant’s representative within 15 days.

At the conclusion of a case the Board shall make reasonable efforts to return original medical records in its possession to the appropriate health care provider within 45 days.

If the Board issues charges or a notice of initial denial, the Executive Director or an officer of the Board shall hand deliver or send the charges or notice of initial denial to the respondent's last known business and home addresses by certified mail.

Charges or a notice of initial denial shall:

If the Board is unable to serve the charges or notice of initial denial upon the respondent as described in §A of this regulation, the Board nevertheless may proceed in prosecuting the case.

If the Board issues a notice of initial denial to an applicant for a license, the applicant may not withdraw the application without approval of the Board.

Discovery on Request. By written request served on the other party and filed with the Board or the Office of Administrative Hearings, as appropriate, a party may request another party to produce, within 15 calendar days, the following:

Mandatory Discovery.

Parties are not entitled to discovery of items other than those listed in §§A and B of this regulation.

Both parties have a continuing duty to supplement their disclosures of witnesses and documents.

Absent unforeseen circumstances which would impose an extraordinary hardship on a party, witnesses or documents may not be added to the list after:

The prohibition against adding witnesses or documents does not apply to witnesses or documents to be used for impeachment or rebuttal purposes.

Construction.

After service of charges or notice of initial denial, the Board shall offer a respondent the opportunity for a case resolution conference.

At any other time during disciplinary proceedings, the Board may offer or the respondent may request a case resolution conference to discuss a disciplinary matter. The Board may grant or deny the respondent's request.

Matters admitted, revealed, negotiated, or otherwise discussed at a case resolution conference are without prejudice and may not be used by the respondent, administrative prosecutor, or the Board in any subsequent proceedings, unless the information is otherwise discovered or available through another source.

The recommendations of the case resolution conference committee are not binding on the Board, which may:

If the respondent and the administrative prosecutor are unable to reach an agreement for settlement, the case resolution conference committee may offer a proposed settlement agreement to the parties.

If either the respondent or administrative prosecutor disagrees with the recommendation of the case resolution conference committee, either party may elect to proceed to a hearing in the matter regardless of whether the Board has ratified the recommendation of the case resolution conference committee.

Participation in a case resolution conference is not ordinarily a basis for recusal of a Board member, Board counsel, or Board prosecutor from further proceedings in a case.

Prehearing Conference. The Board may set a prehearing conference upon motion of either party, or on the Board's own motion.

The prehearing conference may be used to:

A motion shall be accompanied by a memorandum of points and authorities and shall be filed with the Board at least 15 days before the hearing. A copy shall be served on the opposing party.

A response shall be filed with the Board at least 7 days before the hearing and a copy served on the opposing party.

The Board may consider a motion on the day of the hearing.

Hearings shall be conducted under the contested case provision of State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 2 and Health Occupations Article, Title 4, Annotated Code of Maryland.

The Board may delegate its authority to hear contested cases to the Office of Administrative Hearings.

Proceedings are closed to the public and all records, including the recommended decision, are confidential and shall be sealed except as otherwise provided in a final Board order or as provided by law.

If a matter has been delegated to the Office of Administrative Hearings, the administrative law judge presiding over the proceedings shall issue to the Board a recommended decision containing proposed findings of fact, proposed conclusions of law, a proposed sanction, or any combination of them under the Board's delegation.

A licensee against whom the Board has issued a notice of initial denial has the burden to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the licensee is entitled to licensure or to receive the benefit sought which the Board has denied.

The State has the burden to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the licensee has committed a violation or violations of the Maryland Dentistry Act or of the rules and regulations promulgated under the Act.

If a matter has been delegated by the Board to the Office of Administrative Hearings, each party may file exceptions to the administrative law judge's proposed findings of fact, proposed conclusions of law, and proposed sanction, as set out in the recommended decision, before the Board makes a final decision.

Unless otherwise permitted by the Board, or as otherwise specified by the administrative law judge in the recommended decision, either party shall file written exceptions with the Board within 15 days after the issuance of the recommended decision.

Unless otherwise permitted by the Board, a party's written exceptions may not be longer than 25 double-spaced pages and shall state with particularity:

Unless otherwise permitted by the Board, within 15 days after a party's exceptions are filed with the Board, the opposing party may file a response to the exceptions.

Unless otherwise permitted by the Board, a party's response to the exceptions may not be longer than 25 double-spaced pages, and shall state with particularity a response to an exception and the relevant portions of the record supporting that response.

Unless otherwise permitted, the Board may not consider a party's reply to a response to exceptions.

Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties and permitted by the Board, an exceptions hearing shall be scheduled within 30 days after receipt of the parties' exceptions and any response to exceptions, and on a day on which the Board regularly meets.

An exceptions hearing shall be held before the Board.

The hearing shall be a nonevidentiary hearing to provide the parties with an opportunity for oral argument on the exceptions and response to exceptions.

The Board member presiding over the hearing shall determine all procedural issues and shall make any rulings reasonably necessary to facilitate the effective and efficient operation of the hearing.

The respondent and the administrative prosecutor ordinarily shall be limited to 30 minutes each in which to present oral argument.

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties and permitted by the Board, the parties may not, in any response to exceptions, or in the hearing on exceptions, reference any document or other evidence or offer any exhibit that is outside the record of the evidentiary hearing before the administrative law judge.

If neither party files exceptions within the time specified in Regulation .14 of this chapter, the Board shall consider only the recommended decision of the administrative law judge and the record of the evidentiary hearing in making its final decision.

After review of the record and deliberation, the Board shall issue a final order of either:

Within 15 days after the Board issues a final order, either party may file a motion for reconsideration with the Board, which the Board may grant.

There is no right to a hearing on a party's motion for reconsideration, and the Board may request a response to the motion from the opposing party.

The Board may require conditions for surrender of a license, including, but not limited to:

A letter of surrender is a final order of the Board and is a public document under State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 6, Annotated Code of Maryland.

Under State Government Article, §10-226(c)(2), Annotated Code of Maryland, the Board shall order the summary suspension of a license if the Board determines that there is a substantial likelihood that a licensee poses a risk of harm to the public health, safety, or welfare.

Notice of Intent to Summarily Suspend.

If the Board issues a notice of intent to summarily suspend a license, the Board shall offer the respondent the opportunity to appear before the Board to show cause why the respondent's license should not be suspended before the Board executes the order of summary suspension.

A Predeprivation Show Cause Hearing before the Board.

The Board member who presides over the hearing:

The members of the Board may be recognized by the presiding member to ask questions of either party appearing before the Board.

In extraordinary circumstances, the Board may, after consultation with Board counsel, order the summary suspension of a license without first issuing a notice of intent to summarily suspend license or providing a respondent with an opportunity for a predeprivation hearing if:

If the Board votes to issue an order of summary suspension, the Board shall refer the matter to the administrative prosecutor for prosecution.

An order of summary suspension of a license shall include, but is not limited to:

Service.

If the respondent requests a hearing under §C(3) of this regulation, the Board shall conduct the hearing as provided in Regulation .19B of this chapter.

In a show cause proceeding under Regulation .19B of this chapter, the respondent may present argument in opposition to the allegations presented in the order for summary suspension or which otherwise demonstrate that the public health, safety, or welfare is not at risk.

The administrative prosecutor bears the burden of demonstrating by a preponderance of the evidence that the health, safety, or welfare of the public imperatively requires the Board to summarily suspend the respondent's license.

If the Board issues a notice of intent to summarily suspend a license before summarily suspending a license, after the show cause hearing, it may vote to:

If the Board orders a summary suspension before a show cause hearing, at the conclusion of the hearing, the Board may vote to:

An order for summary suspension or any other order of the Board issued after the initiation of summary suspension proceedings are final orders of the Board and public documents under State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 6, Annotated Code of Maryland.

If the Board orders the summary suspension of a license under Regulation .19 of this chapter, the respondent shall be provided with the opportunity for an appeal. The appeal from a summary suspension shall be an evidentiary hearing under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The respondent may request an evidentiary hearing within 10 days after the Board issues the order of summary suspension.

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the Board shall provide a hearing within 45 days after the respondent's request.

An evidentiary hearing may be consolidated with a hearing on charges issued by the Board which include the facts which form the basis for the summary suspension.

The Board shall conduct an evidentiary hearing under the contested case provisions of State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 2, Annotated Code of Maryland.

If the Board has delegated the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings, the administrative law judge shall issue to the Board a recommended decision with proposed findings of fact, proposed conclusions of law, and a proposed disposition, or any combination of these under the Board's delegation of the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings.

If the hearing is one combined with charges, the administrative law judge's determination as to the merits of the summary suspension shall be based only on those parts of the record that were available to the Board at the time it voted for the summary suspension.

The parties may file exceptions to the recommended decision as provided in the State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 2, Annotated Code of Maryland.

An order issued by the Board after a postdeprivation evidentiary hearing is a final order of the Board and is a public document under State Government Article, Title 10, Subtitle 6, Annotated Code of Maryland.

If the Board imposes a period of probation as a sanction, the Board may impose conditions of probation which it considers appropriate, including:

A term of probation may be defined by a specific period of time or the successful completion of certain conditions or acts by the licensee.

A licensee seeking termination of probation shall do so only by petitioning the Board for termination of probation when the specific period of time has passed or when the licensee has successfully completed the conditions or acts required for termination, as provided in the Board's order.

If at any time the Board determines that the licensee is not in compliance with the conditions of probation, the Board shall:

If the Board issues charges for a violation of probation, the service shall be as provided in Regulation .07A of this chapter.

The charging document for a violation of probation shall:

If the respondent requests a hearing on the charge of a violation of probation, the Board, before the hearing, shall provide the respondent with a case resolution conference to discuss settlement of the matter. The case resolution conference shall be conducted as provided in Regulation .09 of this chapter.

The hearing shall be an evidentiary hearing held in the manner set forth in Regulation .12 of this chapter.

The burden of proof shall be as set forth in Regulation .13 of this chapter.

After a hearing, the Board shall issue a final order consisting of findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order. The order shall be a final order of the Board.

If the Board determines that a respondent has violated probation, the Board may:

Petition for Reinstatement.

Notice of Intent to Deny Reinstatement and Opportunity for a Hearing.

If the Board grants reinstatement of a license, the Board may impose any restrictions or conditions on the license or the licensee's practice that the Board considers appropriate.

A Board member or the Dental Compliance Officer may not participate in an investigation or a proceeding in which the impartiality of the Board member or Dental Compliance Officer might reasonably be questioned, including, but not limited to those investigations or proceedings in which the Board member or Dental Compliance Officer has or appears to have:

Participation by a Board member or Dental Compliance Officer in an investigation, disciplinary review committee, case resolution conference, or other administrative proceeding involving a respondent or applicant is not a basis for recusal in a contested case unless the Board member or Dental Compliance Officer has:

A Board member or the Dental Compliance Officer may make a voluntary determination to recuse oneself from further proceedings in a case.

A respondent who seeks recusal of one or more Board members shall name the Board member or members the respondent seeks to have recused and state with specificity on the record the reasons why the Board member or members should be recused. The Board may deliberate on the issue of recusal of the Board member or Board members and shall state its finding on the record.