Board authority, rulemaking, and administrative procedure
Board authority questions test who may act, under what procedure, and what a licensee can challenge. The Board derives power from statute; it cannot create jurisdiction by policy.
Core rules
- The Board licenses, renews, investigates complaints, and imposes discipline authorized by MCA Title 37, chapter 12.
- Rulemaking follows the Montana Administrative Procedure Act, including notice, public comment, adoption, and filing; a rule inconsistent with statute is vulnerable.
- Contested cases also follow MAPA: adequate notice, opportunity to be heard, an impartial decision-maker, a record, and a written decision. The Board may use hearing officers but remains responsible for the final order.
- Ex parte communications about contested facts are improper; procedural deadlines matter.
- Emergency or summary action requires the statutory standard, such as imminent danger, and a prompt post-deprivation hearing.
Worked example
The Board wants to require a new malpractice-insurance disclosure immediately. It emails licensees a new form and begins enforcing it. The missing step is MAPA rulemaking: notice and comment, statutory authority, and filing. A policy memo is not a valid rule if it binds licensees.
Traps
- Treating a Board newsletter as law.
- Assuming a hearing officer's proposal is automatically final.
- Ignoring service or deadline rules because the Board will understand.
- Confusing rulemaking, which is prospective, with discipline of an individual.