(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (c), (d), and (e), the board shall automatically revoke the license of any person who, at any time after January 1, 1947, has been required to register as a sex offender pursuant to the provisions of Section 290 of the Penal Code, regardless of whether the related conviction has been appealed. The board shall notify the licensee of the license revocation and of his or her right to elect to have a hearing as provided in subdivision (b).

(b) Upon revocation of the physician’s and surgeon’s certificate, the holder of the certificate may request a hearing within 30 days of the revocation. The proceeding shall be conducted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(c) This section shall not apply to a person who is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 of the Penal Code solely because of a misdemeanor conviction under Section 314 of the Penal Code.

(d) (1) Five years after the effective date of the revocation and three years after successful discharge from parole, probation, or both parole and probation if under simultaneous supervision, an individual who after January 1, 1947, and prior to January 1, 2005, was subject to subdivision (a), may petition the superior court, in the county in which the individual has resided for, at minimum, five years prior to filing the petition, to hold a hearing within one year of the date of the petition, in order for the court to determine whether the individual no longer poses a possible risk to patients. The individual shall provide notice of the petition to the Attorney General and to the board at the time of its filing. The Attorney General and the board shall present written and oral argument to the court on the merits of the petition.

(2) If the court finds that the individual no longer poses a possible risk to patients, and there are no other underlying reasons for which the board pursued disciplinary action, the court shall order, in writing, the board to reinstate the individual’s license within 180 days of the date of the order. The board may issue a probationary license to a person subject to this paragraph subject to terms and conditions, including, but not limited to, any of the conditions of probation specified in Section 2221.

(3) If the court finds that the individual continues to pose a possible risk to patients, the court shall deny relief. The court’s decision shall be binding on the individual and the board, and the individual shall be prohibited from filing a subsequent petition under this section based on the same conviction.

(e) This section shall not apply to a person who has been relieved under Section 290.5 of the Penal Code of his or her duty to register as a sex offender, or whose duty to register has otherwise been formally terminated under California law.

(f) If the related conviction of the certificate holder is overturned on appeal, the revocation ordered pursuant to this section shall automatically cease. Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit the board from pursuing disciplinary action based on any cause other than the overturned conviction.

(g) The other provisions of this article setting forth a procedure for the revocation of a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate shall not apply to proceedings conducted pursuant to this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 775, Sec. 74. (SB 798) Effective January 1, 2018.)