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Description |
The State Board of Barber Examiners was established by the General Assembly in 1929 to regulate the profession of barbering in North Carolina. The governor was to appoint three professional barbers to the board, each with at least five years of in-state experience. Members were to serve staggered terms of six years each. The State Board of Barber Examiners was to maintain an office in Raleigh and select its own officers, including a full-time, paid, and bonded secretary to maintain records and collect and remit all fees and dues as required by law. Records of actions and proceedings, including certification approvals, refusals, and suspensions, were to be open to public inspection. An annual report was to be made to the governor. The board was to conduct examinations at least quarterly for certification of barbers and apprentices. Certification was good for one year, renewable annually on payment of a registration fee. Apprentices were to work at least eighteen months under the supervision of a registered barber before applying for full certification. (This requirement was reduced to twelve months in 1975.) Barbers in practice for more than eighteen months prior to the effective date of this legislation could be certified without the examination. Temporary permits could be granted to barbers moving into the state before their fitness to practice was determined. Certification was not required for licensed physicians and surgeons, commissioned medical and surgical officers in the armed forces, registered nurses, college students practicing barbering to defray school expenses, undertakers, and practitioners in women's beauty shops. Certification could be denied, suspended, or revoked for any of the following reasons: (1) conviction of a felony, (2) gross malpractice or incompetency, (3) continued practice by a person with an infectious disease, (4) false or deceptive advertising, (5) habitual drunkenness or drug addiction, (6) employment of an unregistered apprentice barber, (7) employment of an uncertified barber, (8) obtaining a certificate of registration by fraud, (9) failure to display the certificate in a prominent place in the barber's shop, and (10) the willful and continued violation of State Board of Health rules. The State Board of Health was given authority to make reasonable rules concerning the sanitary management of barber shops and barber schools and to carry out inspections. The 1929 law applied only to barber shops operating in towns with populations of two thousand inhabitants or more and within a one-mile radius of such towns. Shops in smaller towns could come under these regulations voluntarily. The law was amended in 1937 to cover the entire state. In 1931 the board was given the right to adopt its own health and sanitary rules and to suspend, revoke, and refuse to issue registrations for those in violation of such regulations. In 1941 the General Assembly permitted the State Board of Barber Examiners to employ agents, assistants, and attorneys as needed. Certificates of clean health could be requested from barbers at any time. Originally board members were to receive compensation for time spent on their duties and reimbursement for expenses, to come from fees collected. In 1943 board members were granted an annual salary. During World War II it was difficult for registered barbers serving in the armed forces to renew certificates, so the 1945 General Assembly allowed servicemen who had been registered barbers at least one year prior to entering service or prior to the beginning of the war to renew their certificates within three years after the end of hostilities without requiring reexamination. The same session also implemented a revamped licensing and regulating process for barber schools and colleges. Required courses, specified in law, were to last six months or 1,248 hours (increased to 1,528 hours in 1979). Certification examinations continued to be set by the board. In 1947 certification was standarized for graduates from out-of-state barber schools. The 1957 General Assembly required the governor, with the approval of the Advisory Budget Commission, to fix the salaries of board members and the executive secretary, who no longer had to be a member of the board. The Governmental Evaluation Commission (or "Sunset" Commission) set up in 1977 to evaluate the effectiveness and accountability of state agencies and commissions, recommended that the State Board of Barber Examiners be terminated no later than 1 July 1981. A new State Board of Barber Examiners was officially established by legislation in 1979. Few changes were made in the new board. The governor was to appoint three experienced members to four-year, staggered terms. He could remove any member for just cause and appoint new members to fill the unexpired terms. Continuing duties of the board included: (1) to oversee inspections of barber shops and schools and appoint all inspectors; (2) to adopt all sanitary rules and regulations; (3) to review licensing laws of other states for reciprocity of certification; and (4) to conduct examinations not less than four times a year for certification of applicants. All board members were to submit reports of their individual activities to the full board. Members were to be compensated by the state treasurer for actual expenses and travel. An annual audit of the board was to be made by the State Auditor's Office. Previous exemptions were continued, with the additon of persons licensed by the State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners. In May 1981 the composition of the board was changed to four members: three licensed barbers and a representative of the general public who was not a barber. Members were to serve no more than two complete, consecutive three-year terms. REFERENCES: P.L., 1929, c. 119. P.L., 1931, c. 32. P.L., 1933, c. 95. P.L., 1937, c. 138, s. 2. P.L., 1941, c. 375, ss. 4, 7. S.L., 1943, c. 53, s. 2. S.L., 1945, c. 830, ss. 5, 8. S.L., 1947, c. 1024. S.L., 1957, c. 813, ss. 1-2. S.L., 1975, c. 68, s. 1. S.L., 1977, c. 712, s. 3. S.L., 1979, c. 695. S.L., 1981, c. 457, s. 2. S.L., 1983, c. 717, s. 15. S.L., 1987, c. 210. G.S. 86A-1 through 86A-25 [1992]. |
