Section 43-15-3 - State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers; members; funding; employees(a) The State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors existing on June 30, 2021, is continued in existence thereafter as the Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board, and the members serving on the board on June 30, 2021, shall continue to serve out their respective terms of office on the Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board until their respective successors are appointed and qualified.(b) The board shall consist of six professional engineers, two professional land surveyors, and a member appointed from the public at large who has no connection with the professions of engineering and land surveying, all of whom shall be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate for a term of five years. Of the professional engineers appointed to the board, one shall be a structural engineer, one shall be a mechanical engineer, one shall be an electrical engineer, two shall be civil or sanitary engineers, and one shall be from any discipline of engineering. Each member of the board shall be a citizen of the United States and a resident of this state.(c) Each member shall hold office until his or her successor has been duly appointed and qualified. All successors shall be appointed in the same manner as the original appointment.(d) A vacancy on the membership of the board shall be filled by appointment by the Governor, in the same manner as the original appointment to the position vacated, for the unexpired term.(e) Professional engineers appointed to the board shall have been engaged in the practice of engineering in their respective disciplines for at least 12 years and shall have been in responsible charge of important engineering work in their respective disciplines for at least five years. Professional land surveyors appointed to the board shall have been engaged in the practice of land surveying for at least 12 years and shall have been in responsible charge of important land surveying work for at least five years. Responsible charge of engineering or land surveying teaching may be construed as responsible charge of important engineering or land surveying work, respectively.(f) The Governor may remove any member of the board for misconduct, incompetency, neglect of duty, or any other sufficient and just cause.(g) On and after July 1, 2021, the board shall be a separate and distinct budget unit as defined in Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 12 of Title 45, the "Budget Act"; provided, however, that the board shall be an attached agency for administrative purposes only to the Secretary of State as provided in Code Section 50-4-3 and shall not be considered a division as that term is defined in Code Section 43-1-1. The board shall neither be under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State nor be under the direction of the director of the professional licensing boards division of the Secretary of State. The board shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter 1 of this title.(h) The responsibility for enforcement of the provisions of this chapter shall be vested in the board, and the board shall have all of the duties, powers, and authority granted by or necessary for the administration and enforcement of this chapter.(i) The board shall in its discretion appoint and fix the compensation of an executive director who shall be a full-time employee of the board and shall serve at the pleasure of the board. The executive director shall be charged with such other duties and powers as provided in Code Section 43-15-5 or as delegated by the board.(j) The board members, executive director, and other employees of the board shall be allowed reimbursement for travel and other expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, the same as other state officers and employees.(k) The venue of any action involving members of the board shall be the county in which is found the primary office of the board. Any notice or legal process necessary to be served upon the board may be served upon the executive director, but the executive director shall not be considered a member of the board in determining the venue of any such action, and no court shall have jurisdiction over any such action solely by virtue of the executive director residing or maintaining a residence within its jurisdiction.Amended by 2022 Ga. Laws 835,§ 3, eff. 5/9/2022.Amended by 2018 Ga. Laws 417,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2018.