Minnesota Legislature
Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 1995, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
CHAPTER 206-S.F.No. 1170
An act relating to occupations and professions;
requiring licensure or certification of geoscientists;
adding geoscientists to the board of architecture,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture,
and interior design; providing for certain duties for
the board; providing for signatures on certain
documents; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
Statutes 1994, sections 214.01, subdivision 3; 214.04,
subdivision 3; 319A.02, subdivision 2; 326.02,
subdivisions 1, 4, 4a, and by adding a subdivision;
326.03, subdivisions 1 and 4; 326.04; 326.05; 326.06;
326.07; 326.08, subdivision 2; 326.09; 326.10,
subdivisions 1, 2, and 7; 326.11, subdivision 1;
326.111, subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6; 326.12;
326.13; and 326.14.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 214.01,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3. [NON-HEALTH-RELATED LICENSING BOARD.]
"Non-health-related licensing board" means the board of teaching
established pursuant to section 125.183, the board of barber
examiners established pursuant to section 154.22, the board of
assessors established pursuant to section 270.41, the board of
architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape
architecture, geoscience, and interior design established
pursuant to section 326.04, the board of accountancy established
pursuant to section 326.17, the board of electricity established
pursuant to section 326.241, the private detective and
protective agent licensing board established pursuant to section
326.33, the board of boxing established pursuant to section
341.01, and the peace officer standards and training board
established pursuant to section 626.841.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 214.04,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3. [OFFICERS; STAFF.] The executive director of each
health-related board and the executive secretary of each
non-health-related board shall be the chief administrative
officer for the board but shall not be a member of the board.
The executive director or executive secretary shall maintain the
records of the board, account for all fees received by it,
supervise and direct employees servicing the board, and perform
other services as directed by the board. The executive
directors, executive secretaries, and other employees of the
following boards shall be hired by the board, and the executive
directors or executive secretaries shall be in the unclassified
civil service, except as provided in this subdivision:
(1) dentistry;
(2) medical practice;
(3) nursing;
(4) pharmacy;
(5) accountancy;
(6) architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape
architecture, geoscience, and interior design;
(7) barber examiners;
(8) cosmetology;
(9) electricity;
(10) teaching;
(11) peace officer standards and training;
(12) social work;
(13) marriage and family therapy; and
(14) dietetics and nutrition practice.
The executive directors or executive secretaries serving
the boards are hired by those boards and are in the unclassified
civil service, except for part-time executive directors or
executive secretaries, who are not required to be in the
unclassified service. Boards not requiring full-time executive
directors or executive secretaries may employ them on a
part-time basis. To the extent practicable, the sharing of
part-time executive directors or executive secretaries by boards
being serviced by the same department is encouraged. Persons
providing services to those boards not listed in this
subdivision, except executive directors or executive secretaries
of the boards and employees of the attorney general, are
classified civil service employees of the department servicing
the board. To the extent practicable, the commissioner shall
ensure that staff services are shared by the boards being
serviced by the department. If necessary, a board may hire
part-time, temporary employees to administer and grade
examinations.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 319A.02,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. "Professional service" means personal service
rendered by a professional pursuant to a license or certificate
issued by the state of Minnesota to practice medicine and
surgery pursuant to sections 147.01 to 147.22, chiropractic
pursuant to sections 148.01 to 148.105, registered nursing
pursuant to sections 148.171 to 148.285, optometry pursuant to
sections 148.52 to 148.62, psychology pursuant to sections
148.88 to 148.98, dentistry pursuant to sections 150A.01 to
150A.12, pharmacy pursuant to sections 151.01 to 151.40,
podiatric medicine pursuant to Laws 1987, chapter 108, sections
1 to 16, veterinary medicine pursuant to sections 156.001 to
156.14, architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape
architecture, geoscience, and certified interior design pursuant
to sections 326.02 to 326.15, accountancy pursuant to sections
326.17 to 326.229, or law pursuant to sections 481.01 to 481.17,
or pursuant to a license or certificate issued by another state
pursuant to similar laws.
Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.02,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION REGISTRATION
MANDATORY.] In order to safeguard life, health, and property,
and to promote the public welfare, any person in either public
or private capacity practicing, or offering to practice,
architecture, professional engineering, land surveying, or
landscape architecture, or professional geoscience, or using the
title certified interior designer in this state, either as an
individual, a copartner, or as agent of another, shall be
licensed or certified as hereinafter provided. It shall be
unlawful for any person to practice, or to offer to practice, in
this state, architecture, professional engineering, land
surveying, or landscape architecture, or professional
geoscience, or to use the title certified interior designer, or
to solicit or to contract to furnish work within the terms of
sections 326.02 to 326.15, or to use in connection with the
person's name, or to otherwise assume, use or advertise any
title or description tending to convey the impression that the
person is an architect, professional engineer (hereinafter
called engineer), land surveyor, landscape
architect, professional geoscientist (hereinafter called
geoscientist), or certified interior designer, unless such
person is qualified by licensure or certification under sections
326.02 to 326.15.
Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.02, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 3a. [PRACTICE OF PROFESSIONAL GEOSCIENCE.] (a) A
person is considered to be practicing professional geoscience
within the meaning of sections 326.02 to 326.15 who holds out as
being able to perform or who does perform any technical
professional services, the adequate performance of which
requires professional geoscience education, training, and
experience in the application of special knowledge of the
mathematical, physical, chemical, biological, and earth sciences
to such services or creative work as consultation,
investigation, evaluation, planning, mapping, and inspection of
geoscientific work and its responsible supervision.
A person is considered to practice or offer to practice
professional geoscience, within the meaning and intent of
sections 326.02 to 326.15 who practices any of the geoscience
disciplines defined by the board; who by verbal claim, sign,
advertisement, letterhead, card, or in any other way represents
oneself to be a professional geoscientist; through the use of
some other title implies that the person is a professional
geoscientist; or who presents oneself as able to perform or who
does perform any geoscience services or that constitutes the
practice of a professional geoscience discipline as defined by
the board.
"Geoscience" means the science which includes treatment of
the earth and its origin and history; the investigation,
measurement or sampling, of the earth's constituent rocks,
natural and induced fields of force, minerals, fossils, solids,
soils, fluids including surface and underground waters, gases,
and other materials; and the study, interpretation, and analysis
of the natural agents, forces, and processes which cause changes
in the earth.
Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent a
professional engineer, as defined in sections 326.02 to 326.15,
from acquiring engineering data involving soil, rock,
groundwater, and other earth materials; evaluating physical and
chemical properties of soil, rock, groundwater, and other earth
materials for engineering; and from utilizing these data for
analysis, design, and construction. Nothing in this subdivision
shall be construed to permit a professional geoscientist to
engage in the practice of professional engineering,
architecture, landscape architecture, or land surveying or to
use the title "certified interior design" as those terms are
defined in this section. Nothing in this subdivision shall be
construed to regulate persons who take soil samples for the
purpose of providing recommendations on crop production.
Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.02,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [PRACTICE OF LAND SURVEYING.] Land surveying
means the application of the principles of mathematics, physical
and applied sciences and law to measuring and locating lines,
angles, elevations and natural or artificial features in the
air, on the surface of the earth, underground and on the beds of
bodies of water for the purpose of:
(a) monumenting property boundaries;
(b) planning, designing, and platting of land and
subdivisions including the topography, alignment and grades of
streets; and
(c) preparing and perpetuating maps, record plats and
property descriptions.
Any person who offers to perform, holds out as being able
to perform, or who does perform land surveying for others shall
be practicing land surveying.
Nothing contained in the provisions of sections 326.02 to
326.15, shall prohibit a licensed professional engineer,
architect, or landscape architect, or professional geoscientist
from doing any work included in the practice of engineering,
architecture and, landscape architecture, and professional
geoscience, if the work does not involve the establishment or
reestablishment of property corners or property lines.
Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.02,
subdivision 4a, is amended to read:
Subd. 4a. [PRACTICE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE.] Any person
shall be deemed to be practicing landscape architecture, within
the meaning of sections 326.02 to 326.15, who holds out as being
able to perform or who does perform any professional service in
connection with the development of land areas where the dominant
purpose of the service is the preservation, enhancement or
determination of proper land uses, natural land features, ground
cover and planting, naturalistic and aesthetic values, the
settings, approaches or environment for structures or other
improvements, and the consideration and determination of
inherent problems of the land relating to erosion, wear and
tear, blight and hazards. This practice shall include the
location and arrangement of tangible objects and features
incidental and necessary to the purposes outlined but shall not
include the design of structures or facilities with separate and
self-contained purposes as ordinarily included in the practice
of engineering or architecture or the preparation of boundary
surveys or final land plats, as ordinarily included in the
practice of land surveying.
Nothing contained in sections 326.02 to 326.15 concerning
landscape architects shall be construed:
(a) To apply to a professional engineer duly registered
under the laws of this state;
(b) To apply to an architect registered under the laws of
this state;
(c) To apply to a land surveyor registered under the laws
of this state;
(d) To prevent a registered architect or professional
engineer from doing landscape planning and designing;
(e) To exclude nursery operators or other small business
people from the preparation of landscape plans appropriate to
the normal operation of their business;
(f) To authorize a landscape architect to engage in the
practice of architecture, engineering, or land surveying, or
geoscience;.
No person shall use the designation landscape architect or
any title or device indicating or representing that the person
is a landscape architect or is practicing landscape architecture
unless the person is registered under the provisions of sections
326.02 to 326.15.
Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.03,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [PLANS; DOCUMENTS.] No person, except an
architect, engineer, land surveyor, landscape
architect, geoscientist, or certified interior designer,
licensed or certified as provided for in sections 326.02 to
326.15 shall practice architecture, professional engineering,
land surveying, or landscape architecture, or professional
geoscience, or use the title certified interior designer,
respectively, in the preparation of plans, specifications,
reports, plats or other architectural, engineering, land
surveying, landscape architectural, geoscientific, or interior
design documents, or in the observation of architectural,
engineering, land surveying, landscape
architectural, geoscientific, or interior design projects. In
preparation of such documents, reasonable care shall be given to
compliance with applicable laws, ordinances, and building codes
relating to design.
Sec. 9. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.03,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [EXCEPTION FOR PERSONS ELECTED IN OFFICE.] The
provisions hereof shall not apply to any person holding an
elective office when in discharging the duties thereof such
person is required to do work or perform service of the
character of work or service usually done or performed by an
architect, engineer, land surveyor or, landscape architect, or
geoscientist.
Sec. 10. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.04, is
amended to read:
326.04 [BOARD OF ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, LAND SURVEYING,
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, GEOSCIENCE, AND INTERIOR DESIGN.]
To carry out the provisions of sections 326.02 to 326.15
there is hereby created a board of architecture, engineering,
land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience, and interior
design (hereinafter called the board) consisting of 20 21
members, who shall be appointed by the governor. Three members
shall be licensed architects, five members shall be licensed
engineers, one member two members shall be a licensed landscape
architect architects, two members shall be licensed land
surveyors, one member two members shall be a certified interior
designer designers, two members shall be licensed geoscientists,
and eight five members shall be public members. Not more than
one member of said the board shall be from the same branch of
the profession of engineering. The first certified interior
designer member and seventh and eighth members shall be
appointed as soon as possible and no later than 60 days after
August 1, 1992, and shall serve for a term to end on January 1,
1994. The first professional geoscientist members shall be
appointed as soon as possible and no later than October 1,
1995. One of these members shall serve for a term to end
January 1, 1997. The other member shall serve for a term to end
January 1, 1999. The second licensed landscape architect and
certified interior designer members shall be appointed to
succeed the two public members whose terms end on January 1,
1996. The second licensed landscape architect and certified
interior designer members shall be appointed by the governor no
later than October 1, 1995, and shall serve a term to end on
January 1, 2000. During the time from the appointment of these
members until January 1, 1996, the board shall consist of 23
members. Membership terms, compensation of members, removal of
members, the filling of membership vacancies, and fiscal year
and reporting requirements shall be as provided in sections
214.07 to 214.09. The provision of staff, administrative
services and office space; the review and processing of
complaints; the setting of board fees; and other provisions
relating to board operations shall be as provided in chapter 214.
Sec. 11. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.05, is
amended to read:
326.05 [QUALIFICATIONS OF BOARD MEMBERS.]
Each member of the board shall be a resident of this state
at the time of appointment. Each member except the public
members shall have been engaged in the practice of the relevant
profession for at least ten years and shall have been in
responsible charge of work for at least five years. Each such
member shall be a member in good standing of a recognized
society of architects, engineers, land surveyors, landscape
architects, geoscientists, or interior designers; and, except as
provided in section 326.06, shall be a licensed architect,
licensed engineer, licensed land surveyor, licensed landscape
architect, licensed geoscientists, or certified interior
designer. The certified interior design member must have passed
the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications test.
Sec. 12. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.06, is
amended to read:
326.06 [GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF BOARD.]
Each member of the board shall receive a certificate of
appointment from the governor, and, before beginning a term of
office, shall file with the secretary of state the
constitutional oath of office. The board shall adopt and have
an official seal, which shall be affixed to all licenses
granted; shall make all rules, not inconsistent with law, needed
in performing its duties; and shall fix standards for
determining the qualifications of applicants for certificates,
which shall not exceed the requirements contained in the
curriculum of a recognized school of architecture, landscape
architecture, engineering, geoscience, or interior design. The
board shall make rules to define classes of buildings with
respect to which persons performing services described in
section 326.03, subdivision 2, may be exempted from the
provisions of sections 326.02 to 326.15, by a finding of no
probable risk to life, health, property or public welfare.
Sec. 13. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.07, is
amended to read:
326.07 [BOARD, MEETINGS OF, OFFICERS, QUORUM.]
The board shall hold meetings at such times as the bylaws
of the board may provide. Notice of all meetings shall be given
in such manner as the bylaws may provide. The board shall elect
annually from its members a chair, a vice-chair, a secretary and
a treasurer. A quorum of the board shall consist of not less
than ten 11 members, of whom four shall be architects, landscape
architects, land surveyors, or certified interior designers,
three four engineers or geoscientists, and three public members.
Sec. 14. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.08,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [MEMBERS.] Any member of the board, the executive
secretary of the board, or the attorney for the board may be
authorized by the board to attend any architectural,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architectural,
geoscientific, or interior design conference or meeting held
outside of this state, the major purpose of which is the
consideration of problems directly associated with the
registration or licensing of architects, professional engineers,
land surveyors, landscape architects, professional
geoscientists, or certified interior designers.
Sec. 15. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.09, is
amended to read:
326.09 [RECORDS OF BOARD.]
The board shall keep a record of its proceedings and a
register of all applicants for licensing, showing for each the
date of application, name, age, educational and other
qualifications, place of business, and the place of residence,
whether or not an examination was required and whether the
applicant was rejected or a license granted, and the date of
such action. The books and register of the board shall be prima
facie evidence of all matters recorded therein. A roster
showing the names and places of business or of residence of all
licensed architects, engineers, land surveyors, landscape
architects, geoscientists, and certified interior designers
shall be prepared by the executive secretary of the board during
the month of July, of each even numbered year. Roster
supplements listing newly licensed persons shall be published
semiannually between publications of the biennial roster.
Rosters may be printed out of the funds of the board, as
provided in section 326.08.
Sec. 16. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.10,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [ISSUANCE.] (a) The board shall on
application therefor on a prescribed form, and upon payment of a
fee prescribed by rule of the board, issue a license or
certificate as an architect, engineer, land surveyor, landscape
architect, geoscientist, or certified interior designer. A
separate fee shall be paid for each profession licensed.
(1) To any person over 25 years of age, who is of good
moral character and repute, and who has the experience and
educational qualifications which the board by rule may prescribe.
(2) To any person who holds an unexpired certificate of
registration or license issued by proper authority in the
District of Columbia, any state or territory of the United
States, or any foreign country, in which the requirements for
registration or licensure of architects, engineers, land
surveyors, landscape architects, geoscientists, or certified
interior designers, respectively, at the time of registration or
licensure in the other jurisdiction, were equal, in the opinion
of the board, to those fixed by the board and by the laws of
this state, and in which similar privileges are extended to the
holders of certificates of registration or licensure issued by
this state. The board may require such person to submit a
certificate of technical qualification from the National Council
of Architectural Registration Boards in the case of an
architect, from the National Council of Engineering Examiners in
the case of an engineer, from the National Council of Landscape
Architects Registration Board in the case of a landscape
architect, and from the National Council for Interior Design
Qualifications in the case of a certified interior designer.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), for one year from the
effective date of rules adopted by the board with respect to the
discipline of professional geoscience, the board may accept as
evidence that the applicant is qualified for licensing in the
discipline of professional geoscience:
(1) a record of graduation with a baccalaureate degree from
a school or college having accreditation defined by the board
and a geoscience or associated science curriculum approved by
the board; and
(2) at least five years of active professional practice in
the discipline of professional geoscience as approved by the
board.
Sec. 17. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.10,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [EXAMINATION.] The board may subject any
applicant for licensure to such examinations as may be deemed
necessary to establish qualifications.
In determining the qualifications in such cases of
applicants for licensure as architects, a majority vote of the
architect members of the board only shall be required; in
determining the qualifications in such cases of applicants for
licensure as engineers, a majority vote of the engineer members
of the board only, shall be required; in determining the
qualifications of applicants for registration as land surveyors,
the affirmative vote of the land surveyor member and of one
engineer of the board only, shall be required; in determining
the qualifications of applicants for licensure as landscape
architects, the affirmative vote of the landscape architect
member of the board and of one architect member or one civil
engineer member of the board only, shall be required; and in
determining the qualifications of applicants for certification
as certified interior designers, the affirmative vote of the
interior designer member of the board, of two public members,
and of one architect or engineer member of the board only, is
required; and in determining the qualifications of applicants
for registration as geoscientists, only the affirmative vote of
the two geoscientist members of the board is required.
Sec. 18. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.10,
subdivision 7, is amended to read:
Subd. 7. [ENGINEER-IN-TRAINING; LAND SURVEYOR-IN-TRAINING;
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT-IN-TRAINING; GEOSCIENTIST-IN-TRAINING.] (1)
An applicant for certification as an engineer-in-training who is
a graduate with a bachelor of engineering degree from a school
or college having an engineering curriculum accredited by the
engineers' council for professional development or whose
education, in the opinion of the board, is equivalent thereto,
shall receive from the board, upon passing an examination in
fundamental engineering subjects, a certificate stating that the
applicant has passed such examination and that the applicant's
name has been recorded as an engineer-in-training.
(2) An applicant for certification as a land
surveyor-in-training who has had a minimum of four years of
qualifying experience of a character satisfactory to the board,
of which a formal education in an accredited engineering or land
surveying curriculum may constitute a part thereof, shall
receive from the board, upon passing a written examination in
the fundamentals of mathematics and the basic principles of land
surveying, a certificate stating that the applicant has passed
such examination and that the applicant's name has been recorded
as a land surveyor-in-training.
(3) Any applicant for certification as a landscape
architect-in-training who is a graduate with a degree from a
school or college having a landscape architecture curriculum
accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architects
committee on education or who has had equivalent education or
experience or a combination thereof of a grade and character
acceptable to the board shall receive from the board, upon
passing an examination in fundamental landscape architectural
subjects, a certificate stating that the applicant has passed
that examination and that the applicant's name has been recorded
as a landscape architect-in-training.
(4) An applicant for certification as a
geoscientist-in-training who is a graduate with a baccalaureate
degree from a school or college having accreditation defined by
the board and a geoscience or associated science curriculum
approved by the board, shall receive from the board, upon
passing the appropriate examination in fundamental geoscience
subjects for the applicant's discipline as approved by the
board, a certificate stating that the applicant's name has been
recorded as a geoscientist-in-training with the appropriate
geoscientist-in-training legend as approved by the board.
Sec. 19. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.11,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION.] The board shall
have the power to revoke or suspend the license or certificate
of any architect, engineer, land surveyor, landscape
architect, geoscientist, or certified interior designer, who is
found guilty by the board of any fraud or deceit in obtaining a
license or certificate, or of attaching the licensee's or
certificate holder's seal or signature to any plan,
specification, report, plat, or other architectural,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architectural,
geoscientific, or interior design document not prepared by the
person signing or sealing it or under that person's direct
supervision, or of gross negligence, incompetency, or misconduct
in the practice of architecture, engineering, land surveying,
landscape architecture, geoscience, or interior design, or upon
conviction of any violation of sections 326.02 to 326.15 or
amendments thereof, or of any crime involving moral turpitude or
upon adjudication of insanity or incompetency.
Sec. 20. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.111,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [GENERALLY.] (a) If the board, or the
complaint committee if authorized by the board, has a reasonable
basis to believe that a person has engaged in an act or practice
constituting the unauthorized practice of architecture,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience,
or the unauthorized use of the title certified interior
designer, or a violation of a statute, rule, or order that the
board has issued or is empowered to enforce, the board, or the
complaint committee if authorized by the board, may proceed as
described in subdivisions 2 and 3.
(b) The board shall establish a complaint committee to
investigate, mediate, or initiate administrative or legal
proceedings on behalf of the board with respect to complaints
filed with or information received by the board alleging or
indicating the unauthorized practice of architecture,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience,
or the unauthorized use of the title certified interior
designer, or a violation of statute, rule, or order that the
board has issued or is empowered to enforce. The complaint
committee shall consist of five members of the board, with no
more than one from each of the professions licensed by the
board, and no more than two public members.
(c) Except as otherwise described in this section, all
hearings shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 14.
Sec. 21. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.111,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [LEGAL ACTION.] (a) When necessary to prevent the
unauthorized practice of architecture, engineering, land
surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience, or the
unauthorized use of the title certified interior designer, or a
violation of a statute, rule, or order that the board has issued
or is empowered to enforce, the board, or the complaint
committee if authorized by the board, may bring an action in the
name of the state in the district court in Ramsey county or in
any county in which jurisdiction is proper to enjoin the act,
practice, or violation and to enforce compliance with the
statute, rule, or order. Upon a showing that a person has
engaged in an act or practice constituting the unauthorized
practice of architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape
architecture, geoscience, or the unauthorized use of the title
certified interior designer, or a violation of a statute, rule,
or order that the board has issued or is empowered to enforce, a
permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other
appropriate relief shall be granted.
(b) For purposes of injunctive relief under this
subdivision, irreparable harm exists when the board shows that a
person has engaged in an act or practice constituting the
unauthorized practice of architecture, engineering, land
surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience, or the
unauthorized use of the title certified interior designer, or a
violation of a statute, rule, or order that the board has issued
or is empowered to enforce.
(c) Injunctive relief granted under paragraph (a) does not
relieve an enjoined person from criminal prosecution by a
competent authority or from disciplinary action by the board
with respect to the person's license, certificate, or
application for examination, license, or renewal.
Sec. 22. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.111,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3. [CEASE AND DESIST ORDERS.] (a) The board, or the
complaint committee if authorized by the board, may issue and
have served upon a person an order requiring the person to cease
and desist from the unauthorized practice of architecture,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience,
or the unauthorized use of the title certified interior
designer, or violation of the statute, rule, or order. The
order shall be calculated to give reasonable notice of the
rights of the person to request a hearing and shall state the
reasons for the entry of the order.
(b) Service of the order is effective if the order is
served on the person or counsel of record personally or by
certified mail to the most recent address provided to the board
for the person or counsel of record.
(c) Unless otherwise agreed by the board, or the complaint
committee if authorized by the board, and the person requesting
the hearing, the hearing shall be held no later than 30 days
after the request for the hearing is received by the board.
(d) The administrative law judge shall issue a report
within 30 days of the close of the contested case hearing
record, notwithstanding Minnesota Rules, part 1400.8100, subpart
3. Within 30 days after receiving the report and any exceptions
to it, the board shall issue a further order vacating,
modifying, or making permanent the cease and desist orders as
the facts require.
(e) If no hearing is requested within 30 days of service of
the order, the order becomes final and remains in effect until
it is modified or vacated by the board.
(f) If the person to whom a cease and desist order is
issued fails to appear at the hearing after being duly notified,
the person is in default and the proceeding may be determined
against that person upon consideration of the cease and desist
order, the allegations of which may be considered to be true.
Sec. 23. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.111,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [ACTIONS AGAINST APPLICANTS AND LICENSEES.] (a)
The board may, by order, deny, refuse to renew, suspend,
temporarily suspend, or revoke the application, license, or
certification of a person; censure or reprimand that person;
condition or limit the person's practice; refuse to permit a
person to sit for examination; or refuse to release the person's
examination grades if the board finds that the order is in the
public interest and the applicant, licensee, or certificate
holder:
(1) has violated a statute, rule, or order that the board
has issued or is empowered to enforce;
(2) has engaged in conduct or acts that are fraudulent,
deceptive, or dishonest whether or not the conduct or acts
relate to the practice of architecture, engineering, land
surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience, or certified
interior design, providing that the fraudulent, deceptive, or
dishonest conduct or acts reflect adversely on the person's
ability or fitness to engage in the practice of architecture,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience,
or certified interior design;
(3) has engaged in conduct or acts that are negligent or
otherwise in violation of the standards established by Minnesota
Rules, chapters 1800 and 1805, where the conduct or acts relate
to the practice of architecture, engineering, land surveying,
landscape architecture, geoscience, or use of the title
certified interior designer;
(4) has been convicted of or has pled guilty or nolo
contendere to a felony, an element of which is dishonesty or
fraud, whether or not the person admits guilt, or has been shown
to have engaged in acts or practices tending to show that the
applicant or licensee is incompetent or has engaged in conduct
reflecting adversely on the person's ability or fitness to
engage in the practice of architecture, engineering, land
surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience, or use of the
title certified interior designer;
(5) employed fraud or deception in obtaining a certificate,
license, renewal, or reinstatement or in passing all or a
portion of the examination;
(6) has had the person's architecture, engineering, land
surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience, or interior
design license, certificate, right to examine, or other similar
authority revoked, suspended, canceled, limited, or not renewed
for cause in any state, commonwealth, or territory of the United
States, in the District of Columbia, or in any foreign country;
(7) has had the person's right to practice before any
federal, state, or other government agency revoked, suspended,
canceled, limited, or not renewed;
(8) failed to meet any requirement for the issuance or
renewal of the person's license or certificate;
(9) has attached the person's seal or signature to a plan,
specification, report, plat, or other architectural,
engineering, land surveying, landscape
architectural, geoscientific, or interior design document not
prepared by the person sealing or signing it or under that
person's direct supervision; or
(10) with respect to temporary suspension orders, has
committed an act, engaged in conduct, or committed practices
that may, or has in the opinion of the board, or the complaint
committee if authorized by the board, resulted in an immediate
threat to the public.
(b) In lieu of or in addition to any remedy provided in
paragraph (a), the board may require, as a condition of
continued licensure, possession of certificate, termination of
suspension, reinstatement of license or certificate,
examination, or release of examination grades, that the person:
(1) submit to a quality review of the person's ability,
skills, or quality of work, conducted in such fashion and by
such persons, entity, or entities as the board may require
including, but not limited to, remedial education courses; and
(2) complete to the satisfaction of the board such
continuing professional education courses as the board may
specify by rule.
(c) Service of the order is effective if the order is
served on the licensee, certificate holder, applicant, person,
or counsel of record personally or by certified mail, to the
most recent address provided to the board for the licensee,
certificate holder, applicant, person, or counsel of record.
The order shall state the reasons for the entry of the order.
(d) All hearings required by this section shall be
conducted in accordance with chapter 14, except with respect to
temporary suspension orders, as provided for in subdivision 5,
paragraph (d).
Sec. 24. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.111,
subdivision 6, is amended to read:
Subd. 6. [VIOLATIONS; PENALTIES; COSTS OF PROCEEDING.] (a)
The board may impose a civil penalty not to exceed $2,000 per
violation upon a person who commits an act or practice
constituting the unauthorized practice of architecture,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience,
or the unauthorized use of the title certified interior
designer, or violates a statute, rule, or order that the board
has issued or is empowered to enforce.
(b) The board may, in addition, impose a fee to reimburse
the board for all or part of the cost of the proceedings
resulting in disciplinary action authorized by this section, the
imposition of civil penalties, or the issuance of a cease and
desist order. The fee may be imposed when the board shows that
the position of the person who commits an act or practice
constituting the unauthorized practice of architecture,
engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience,
or the unauthorized use of the title certified interior
designer, or violates a statute, rule, or order that the board
has issued or is empowered to enforce is not substantially
justified, unless special circumstances make an award unjust,
notwithstanding the provisions of Minnesota Rules, part
1400.8401. The costs include, but are not limited to, the
amount paid by the board for services from the office of
administrative hearings, attorney fees, court reporters,
witnesses, reproduction of records, board members' per diem
compensation, board staff time, and expense incurred by board
members and staff.
Sec. 25. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.12, is
amended to read:
326.12 [LICENSE OR CERTIFICATE AS EVIDENCE; SEAL.]
Subdivision 1. [JUDICIAL PROOF.] The issuance of a license
or certificate by the board shall be evidence that the person
named therein is entitled to all the rights and privileges of a
licensed architect, licensed engineer, licensed land surveyor,
licensed landscape architect, licensed geoscientist, or
certified interior designer while the license or certificate
remains unrevoked or has not expired or has not been suspended.
Subd. 2. [SEAL.] Each licensee or certificate holder may,
upon registration, obtain a seal of a design approved by the
board, bearing the licensee's or certificate holder's name and
the legend "licensed architect," "licensed professional
engineer," "licensed land surveyor," "licensed landscape
architect," the appropriate licensed professional geoscientist
legend as defined by the board, or "certified interior
designer." Plans, specifications, plats, reports, and other
documents prepared by a licensee or certificate holder may be
stamped with the seal during the life of the license or
certificate. A rubber stamp facsimile thereof may be used in
lieu of the seal on tracings from which prints are to be made or
on papers which would be damaged by the regular seal. It shall
be unlawful for any one to stamp or seal any document with the
stamp or seal after the license of the registrant named thereon
has expired, been revoked or suspended, unless said license or
certificate shall have been renewed or reissued.
Subd. 3. [CERTIFIED SIGNATURE.] Each plan, specification,
plat, report, or other document which under sections 326.02 to
326.15 is prepared by a licensed architect, licensed engineer,
licensed land surveyor, licensed landscape architect, licensed
geoscientist, or certified interior designer must bear the
signature of the licensed or certified person preparing it, or
the signature of the licensed or certified person under whose
direct supervision it was prepared. Each signature shall be
accompanied by a certification that the signer is licensed under
sections 326.02 to 326.15, by the person's license number, and
by the date on which the signature was affixed. The provisions
of this paragraph shall not apply to documents of an intraoffice
or intracompany nature. A government agency or local unit of
government need sign and certify only the title page or first
page of a highway construction document that is described in
this subdivision; provided that all other pages must have
printed or stamped on them a facsimile signature and the
information required by this subdivision. The stamp or printed
signature has the same force and effect as an actual signature.
Sec. 26. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.13, is
amended to read:
326.13 [PRACTICE EXEMPT.]
Practice of architecture, engineering, landscape
architecture, or land surveying, or geoscience, or use of the
title certified interior designer in this state prior to
licensure by the board shall be permitted under the following
conditions and limitations:
(1) By any person or firm not a resident of and having no
established place of business in this state, or any person or
firm resident in this state, but whose arrival in the state is
recent; provided, however, such person or a person connected
with such firm:
(a) is registered or licensed and qualified to practice
such profession in a state or country to which the board grants
registration or licensure by comity in accordance with the
provisions of section 326.10, subdivision 1, clause (2); and
(b) shall have filed an application for licensure as an
architect, an engineer, a geoscientist, or a certified interior
designer shall have paid the fee provided for in section 326.10,
and shall have been notified by the board that the applicant
meets the requirements for licensure or certification in this
state and is entitled to receive a license or certificate;
(c) notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) and
prior to the notification provided for therein, an applicant who
meets the requirements of paragraph (a) shall be permitted to
practice in this state provided that such practice is limited
solely to solicitation of work within the terms of sections
326.02 to 326.15;
(2) Practice as an architect, an engineer, a land surveyor,
or a landscape architect, or geoscientist, or use of the title
certified interior designer by any person not a resident of, and
having no established place of business in, this state, as a
consulting associate of an architect, an engineer, a land
surveyor, or a landscape architect, or a geoscientist, or use of
the title certified interior designer licensed or certified
under the provisions of sections 326.02 to 326.15; provided, the
nonresident is licensed or certified and qualified to practice
the profession in a state or country to which the board grants
licensure or certification by comity in accordance with the
provisions of section 326.10, subdivision 1, clause (2);
(3) Practice as an architect, an engineer, a land surveyor,
or a landscape architect, or a geoscientist, or use of the title
certified interior designer solely as an officer or employee of
the United States;
(4) Practice as a geoscientist by a person who would be
qualified under sections 326.02 to 326.15 by virtue of
experience and education while (i) engaged in exploration,
development, extraction, and reclamation of minerals and mineral
deposits or energy resources including sand, gravel, peat,
industrial minerals, metallic minerals, iron ore, coal, oil, and
gas and other mineral fuels; (ii) an employee of a corporation
or agency engaged in such exploration, development, extraction,
and reclamation of minerals and mineral deposits; (iii) acting
in accordance with the provisions of section 82B.035,
subdivision 3; 103I.205, subdivision 4; or 103I.601, subdivision
2; or (iv) engaged in academic geoscience research.
Sec. 27. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 326.14, is
amended to read:
326.14 [CORPORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS AUTHORIZED.]
A corporation, partnership or other firm may engage in work
of an architectural or engineering character, in land surveying
or, in landscape architecture, or in geoscience, or use the
title of certified interior designer in this state, provided the
person or persons connected with such corporation, partnership
or other firm in responsible charge of such work is or are
licensed or certified as herein required for the practice of
architecture, engineering, land surveying, and landscape
architecture, and geoscience, and use of the title of certified
interior designer.
Sec. 28. [APPROPRIATION.]
$85,000 in fiscal year 1996 and $70,000 in fiscal year 1997
are appropriated from the general fund to the board of
architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape
architecture, and geoscience for the purposes of sections 1 to
27.
Presented to the governor May 22, 1995
Signed by the governor May 22, 1995, 7:40 p.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes