{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-321.235","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 321.235","heading":"Powers and duties of board -- Personal immunity.","body":"(1) The board shall:\n(a) Administer and enforce this chapter and set and evaluate the qualifications of\napplicants for licensure, certification, permitting, and registration;\n(b) Promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A\nto effectively carry out and enforce the provisions of this chapter;\n(c) Promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A\nto establish the fee amounts for all fees required by this chapter and the fees\nfor services provided by the board. Fees may not exceed amounts necessary to\ngenerate sufficient funds to effectively carry out and enforce the provisions of\nthis chapter, including costs related to administration; overhead; staffing;\ninformation technology; investigations; inspections; administrative\nprocedures; court costs; supplies; equipment; travel; educational awards;\nreserve funds for capital, operational, and programmatic expenses; and\neducation and outreach efforts;\n(d) Promulgate a code of conduct governing the practice of veterinary medicine\nthat shall b e based upon generally recognized principles of professional\nconduct; and\n(e) Maintain jurisdiction over persons and premises, regardless of their licensure,\ncertificate, permit, or registration status relative to acts, omissions,\ncomplaints, grievances, a nd investigations which occurred during the\nlicensure, certification, permit, or registration period. The board shall also\nmaintain jurisdiction over registered facilities, irrespective of their registration\nstatus, relative to acts, omissions, complaints,  grievances, and investigations\nwhich occurred during the registration period. This jurisdiction shall be for\npurposes of enforcement of this chapter and any administrative regulations\npromulgated under this chapter, including the assessment and collection  of\nfines, costs, and attorneys' fees. Jurisdiction of the board shall also extend to\npersons engaging in the unauthorized practice of veterinary medicine,\nunauthorized practice of veterinary technology, unauthorized practice of\nanimal euthanasia, or unaut horized practice of an allied animal health\nprofessional on animals. Licensees, certificate holders, permittees, and\nregistrants shall not divest the board of jurisdiction by changing or\nrelinquishing licensure, certificate, permit, or registration status.\n(2) The board may:\n(a) Issue subpoenas, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of\naccounts, books, and records, examine witnesses, pay appropriate witness\nfees, administer oaths, and investigate allegations of practices violating this\nchapter;\n(b) Promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A:\n1. To establish and enforce minimum standards for:\na. Criteria of programs or other mechanisms to ensure the continuing\ncompetence of licensees, certificate holders, permittees, and\nregistrants;\nb. Codes of conduct for its licensees, certificate holders, permittees,\nand registrants; and\nc. The registration of  veterinary facilities, mobile facilities, and\nAAHP facilities;\n2. Regarding the limited scopes of allied animal health professional\npractices or procedures on animals and the permitting thereof, including:\na. Minimum requirements;\nb. Examination requirements and passing scores;\nc. Board oversight;\nd. Conditions for application, permitting, renewal, renewal grace\nperiods, and reinstatement;\ne. Limitations on practice; and\nf. Minimum standards; and\n3. To establish:\na. Specific duties and responsibilities of the board;\nb. Administration of licensure, certification, permitting, or\nregistration;\nc. Standards in veterinary medicine, medical records, and other\nmatters pertaining to veterinarians, veterinary technicians, animal\ncontrol agencies, animal euthanasia s pecialists, designated on -site\nmangers, allied animal health professionals, veterinary facilities,\nAAHP facilities, veterinarian managers, AAHP managers,\nregistered responsible parties, or unlicensed persons; and\nd. A code of conduct for each license, cert ificate, permit, or\nregistration class issued by the board;\n(c) Conduct investigations, inspections, and hearings, and keep records and\nminutes necessary to carry out the function of this chapter;\n(d) Enter and inspect any property or premises for the purp ose of investigating\neither actual or suspected veterinary practices, including practice vehicles and\nmobile facilities, at any time for the purpose of ascertaining compliance or\nnoncompliance with this chapter, or any administrative regulation that may be\npromulgated under this chapter, in accordance with protocols established in\nthis chapter and by the board in an administrative regulation;\n(e) Evaluate the qualifications for and authorize the issuance of licenses,\ncertificates, permits, and registrations to qualified candidates and premises;\n(f) Renew or deny licenses, certificates, permits, and registrations, require\ncontinuing education as a condition for renewal, and promulgate\nadministrative regulations regarding the issuance and renewal of retired an d\ninactive licenses, certificates, permits, and registrations;\n(g) Limit, reprimand, suspend, or revoke licenses, certificates, permits, and\nregistrations, or impose supervisory or probationary conditions upon\nlicensees, certificate holders, permittees, or  registrants, or impose\nadministrative disciplinary fines, issue written reprimands, or any\ncombination thereof;\n(h) Issue a notice to comply or a notice of violation to any person for violations of\nany provision of this chapter or administrative regulatio ns promulgated\npursuant to this chapter. A \"notice to comply\" or \"NC\" may be issued during\nthe inspection process to request additional information needed to determine\ncompliance or as a notice to correct a minor violation found during the\ninspection. Fail ure to take corrective action may lead to the issuance of a\n\"notice of violation\" or \"NOV.\" A notice of violation means that a business or\nperson is operating in violation of the law and subject to penalty pursuant to\nthis chapter. Each day or part of a day that the violation continues is a separate\nviolation subject to daily penalties. A notice of violation shall contain:\n1. A citation to the statutory or regulatory requirement that has been or is\nbeing violated;\n2. A description of the circumstances surrounding the violation, set forth in\ncommon and concise language;\n3. Measures required to correct the violation;\n4. A reasonable time for correction, if the respondent cannot take measures\nto correct the violation immediately; and\n5. Notice of rights of appeal;\n(i) Advise, consult, and cooperate with other agencies of the Commonwealth,\nother states, the federal government, interstate and interlocal agencies, and\naffected persons, groups, and industries;\n(j) Seek injunctive relief in Franklin Circuit Court to stop the unlawful practice\nof veterinary medicine or practice of veterinary technology by unlicensed\npersons, or against any person for the enforcement of this chapter or any\nadministrative regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter;\n(k) Appoint from its own membership or staff one (1) or more members or\npersonnel to act as representatives of the board at any meeting within or\noutside the Commonwealth; and\n(l) Implement an educational award program to a ward scholarships or\neducational awards as determined by the board, to a person in the act of\nadvancing toward, or having completed a degree in, veterinary medicine or\nveterinary technology from an approved veterinary medical program or\napproved veterinary technology program, and may take any other appropriate\naction to effectuate the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act in accordance with\nthe following:\n1. The selected awardee or awardees shall agree to sign an award contract\nguaranteeing to provide food anima l or rural veterinary services or to\nprotect public health in a veterinary resource shortage area identified by\nthe board. Failure of an awardee to comply with the terms of the award\ncontract shall be cause for the board to seek reimbursement of the\naward;\n2. The board shall establish the required members of an educational award\nreview committee through an administrative regulation and may contract\nwith other state agencies, entities, and nonprofit organizations for the\nendowment, management, and administra tion of the educational award\nprogram. The requirements for the educational awards program,\nincluding application requirements, criteria for selecting applicants,\ncriteria for identifying veterinary resource shortage areas, and criteria\nfor prioritizing un derserved areas, shall be determined by the board in\nadministrative regulation. However, nothing contained in this section\nshall be construed as requiring the board to endow or award any\nscholarship or educational award; and\n3. Educational award monies shall be collected as a portion of veterinarian\nand veterinary technician renewal fees. No more than fifteen percent\n(15%) of the monies collected during a single veterinarian renewal\nperiod may be applied to the educational awards program.\n(3) As a part of a ny board investigation under this section or KRS 321.351, the board\nmay require an applicant, credential holder, or any other person engaging in a\nveterinary practice or activity regulated by the board under this chapter to submit to\na criminal background investigation conducted in accordance with KRS 321.189.\n(4) Members of the board, its agents, and employees shall be immune from personal\nliability in any action, civil or criminal, which is based upon any official act or acts\nperformed by them in good faith.","path":["KRS Chapter 321"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53941","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:16Z","sha256":"a58910e65e7db964316ec7fb2da2821e1c1a183b3699d37af376e94fb86a6b08","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-321.230","next":"us-ky/krs-321.236"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}