1. 1. There is hereby established the "State Committee for Social Workers", which shall guide, advise, and make recommendations to the division and fulfill other responsibilities designated by sections 337.600 to 337.649. The committee shall approve any examination required by sections 337.600 to 337.649 and shall assist the division in carrying out the provisions of sections 337.600 to 337.649.
2. 2. The committee shall consist of seven members, including a public member appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. Each member of the committee shall be a citizen of the United States and a resident of this state. The committee shall consist of six licensed clinical social workers and one voting public member. At least two committee members shall be involved in the private practice of clinical social work. Any person who is a member of any clinical social worker advisory committee appointed by the director of the division of professional registration shall be eligible for appointment to the state committee for social work on August 28, 1997. The governor shall endeavor to appoint members from different geographic regions of the state and with regard to the pattern of distribution of social workers in the state. The term of office for committee members shall be four years and no committee member shall serve more than ten years. Of the members first appointed, the governor shall appoint two members, one of whom shall be the public member, whose terms shall be four years; two members whose terms shall be three years; two members whose terms shall be two years; and one member whose term shall be one year. The president of the National Association of Social Workers Missouri Chapter in office at the time shall, at least ninety days prior to the expiration of a term of a member of a committee member, other than the public member, or as soon as feasible after a vacancy on the committee otherwise occurs, submit to the director of the division of professional registration a list of five clinical social workers qualified and willing to fill the vacancy in question, with the request and recommendation that the governor appoint one of the five persons so listed, and with the list so submitted, the president of the National Association of Social Workers Missouri Chapter shall include in his or her letter of transmittal a description of the method by which the names were chosen by that association.
3. 3. A vacancy in the office of a member shall be filled by appointment by the governor for the remainder of the unexpired term.
4. 4. Each member of the committee shall be reimbursed for necessary and actual expenses incurred in the performance of the member's official duties. All staff for the committee shall be provided by the division.
5. 5. The committee shall hold an annual meeting at which it shall elect from its membership a chairperson and a secretary. The committee may hold such additional meetings as may be required in the performance of its duties, provided that notice of every meeting must be given to each member at least three days prior to the date of the meeting. A quorum of the board shall consist of a majority of its members.
6. 6. The governor may remove a committee member for misconduct, incompetency or neglect of the member's official duties after giving the committee member written notice of the charges against such member and an opportunity to be heard thereon.
7. 7. The public member shall be at the time of such member's appointment a citizen of the United States; a resident of this state for a period of one year and a registered voter; a person who is not and never was a member of any profession licensed or regulated pursuant to sections 337.600 to 337.649, or the spouse of such person; and a person who does not have and never has had a material, financial interest in either the providing of the professional services regulated by sections 337.600 to 337.649, or an activity or organization directly related to any profession licensed or regulated pursuant to sections 337.600 to 337.649. The duties of the public member shall not include the determination of the technical requirements to be met for licensure or whether any person meets such technical requirements or of the technical competence or technical judgment of a licensee or a candidate for licensure.

(L. 1997 S.B. 246, A.L. 1999 H.B. 343)