(a) There is hereby created a California Board of Occupational Therapy, hereafter referred to as the board. The board shall enforce and administer this chapter.

(b) The members of the board shall consist of the following:

(1) Three occupational therapists who shall have practiced occupational therapy for five years.

(2) One occupational therapy assistant who shall have assisted in the practice of occupational therapy for five years.

(3) Three public members who shall not be licentiates of the board, of any other board under this division, or of any board referred to in Section 1000 or 3600.

(c) The Governor shall appoint the three occupational therapists and one occupational therapy assistant to be members of the board. The Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each appoint a public member. Not more than one member of the board shall be appointed from the full-time faculty of any university, college, or other educational institution.

(d) All members shall be residents of California at the time of their appointment. The occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistant members shall have been engaged in rendering occupational therapy services to the public, teaching, or research in occupational therapy for at least five years preceding their appointments.

(e) The public members may not be or have ever been occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants or in training to become occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants. The public members may not be related to, or have a household member who is, an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant, and may not have had, within two years of the appointment, a substantial financial interest in a person regulated by the board.

(f) The Governor shall appoint two board members for a term of one year, two board members for a term of two years, and one board member for a term of three years. Appointments made thereafter shall be for four-year terms, but no person shall be appointed to serve more than two consecutive terms. Terms shall begin on the first day of the calendar year and end on the last day of the calendar year or until successors are appointed, except for the first appointed members who shall serve through the last calendar day of the year in which they are appointed, before commencing the terms prescribed by this section. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term. The board shall annually elect one of its members as president.

(g) The board shall meet and hold at least one regular meeting annually in the Cities of Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The board may convene from time to time until its business is concluded. Special meetings of the board may be held at any time and place designated by the board.

(h) Notice of each meeting of the board shall be given in accordance with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(i) Members of the board shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be entitled to reasonable travel and other expenses incurred in the execution of their powers and duties in accordance with Section 103.

(j) The appointing power shall have the power to remove any member of the board from office for neglect of any duty imposed by state law, for incompetency, or for unprofessional or dishonorable conduct.

(k) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2022, and as of that date is repealed.

(l) Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section renders the board subject to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 454, Sec. 17. (AB 1706) Effective January 1, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2022, by its own provisions.)