(a) No person shall engage in the practice of optometry in this state unless such person has first obtained a license from the Department of Public Health, but the provisions of this chapter shall not prevent a licensed optometrist from delegating optometric services to either a trained optometric assistant or to an optometric technician. Such delegated services shall be performed only under the supervision, control, and responsibility of the licensed optometrist, except that optometric assistants or optometric technicians shall not be authorized to refract eyes, detect eye health or prescribe spectacles, eyeglasses or contact lenses. A licensed optometrist may delegate to an optometric assistant, optometric technician or appropriately trained person the use and application of any ocular agent, provided such delegated service is performed only under the supervision, control and responsibility of the licensed optometrist. Optometric services that may be delegated to an optometric assistant or to an optometric technician may be delegated to an optometric assistant trainee, provided such services are performed only under the direct supervision, control and responsibility of the employing licensed optometrist.

(b) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a class D felony. For the purposes of this section, each instance of patient contact or consultation which is in violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a separate offense. Failure to renew a license in a timely manner shall not constitute a violation for the purposes of this section.

(c) For the purposes of this section: (1) “Optometric assistant” means a person who has either completed two hundred hours of on-the-job training, an affidavit in support of which shall be kept by the employing optometrist on the premises, or graduated from a vocational program in optometric technicianry; (2) “optometric assistant trainee” means a person who has completed less than two hundred hours of on-the-job training and who is under the direct supervision, control and responsibility of an employing, licensed optometrist when performing optometric services which may be delegated to optometric assistants and to optometric technicians; (3) “optometric technician” means a person who has either completed a two-year college program in optometric technicianry, or passed the national optometric technician registration examination given by The American Optometric Association; and (4) “appropriately trained person” means a person who has completed on-the-job training in the use and application of ocular agents under the supervision, control and responsibility of an employing, licensed optometrist, an affidavit in support of which shall be kept by the employing optometrist on the premises.

(1959, P.A. 616, S. 48; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 80-484, S. 153, 176; P.A. 84-526, S. 10; P.A. 88-362, S. 11; 88-364, S. 92, 123; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 05-36, S. 2; P.A. 06-196, S. 249; P.A. 13-258, S. 79.)

History: P.A. 77-614 replaced department of health with department of health services, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-484 transferred licensing power to department from board of examiners, deleting obsolete reference to registration with department as provided in Sec. 19-45; P.A. 84-526 amended section by changing penalty for violation of any provision of section to a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than five years, and added provisions that each instance of patient contact or consultation shall constitute a separate offense and failure to renew license in timely manner is not a violation for purposes of section; P.A. 88-362 authorized licensed optometrists to delegate optometric services to trained assistants and technicians and added Subsec. (b) defining “optometric assistant”, “optometric assistant trainee”, and “optometric technician”; P.A. 88-364 made technical changes in Subsec. (b); P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 05-36 amended Subsec. (a) by authorizing optometrists to delegate certain duties re ocular agents, designating existing language re penalties as new Subsec. (b) and making technical changes, redesignated existing Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c) and amended same by adding Subdiv. (4) defining “appropriately trained person”; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 13-258 amended Subsec. (b) to change penalty from fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than 5 years to a class D felony and make technical changes.