1. (a) The following procedure shall apply when renewing a license annually.

   1. (1) Each licensee will be asked to respond, under penalty of perjury, to the question if he or she has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor of which the board has not previously been informed. If the licensee responds in the negative and pays the required license fee, a renewal license will be issued in accordance with established procedures. If the licensee responds affirmatively and pays the required license fee, the board may submit identifying information on board letterhead to the Texas Department of Public Safety and other appropriate agencies requesting conviction records on the individual.
   2. (2) The board will review the conviction records and either approve or deny the application for a renewal license as the evidence warrants. The board will refund any renewal fee submitted if the application is denied. The board may suspend or revoke or refuse to renew an annual license on the basis of a prior conviction pursuant to a hearing as provided for in the Act.

2. (b) In the event the board suspends or revokes a valid license or denies an individual a license or certificate or the opportunity to sit for the uniform CPA examination or voids the grades of a candidate because of an individual's prior conviction of a crime and the relationship of the crime to the license and certificate pursuant to a hearing as provided for in the Act the board shall notify the person in writing:

   1. (1) of the reasons for the suspension, revocation, denial, or disqualification;
   2. (2) that the individual, after exhausting administrative appeals, may file an action in district court in Travis County, for review of the evidence presented to the board and its decision in accordance with the Act;
   3. (3) that an individual must begin the judicial review within 30 days after the board's decision is final and appealable; and
   4. (4) that the earliest date an individual may appeal is when a motion for rehearing is denied, or when the time for filing a motion for rehearing has expired and no motion has been filed.

Source Note:The provisions of this §525.2 adopted to be effective February 17, 2008, 33 TexReg 1118.