NAC590.654. Informal complaint: Filing and processing; notification of licensee; response; review and investigation; production and copying of records and other evidence.

     1. A person may file a complaint with the Board concerning the acts of or services provided by a licensee if:

     (a) The person wishes to file an accusation against the licensee and specifically requests that disciplinary action be taken against the licensee; or

     (b) The person filed a request for mediation pursuant to NAC 590.650 and the Board, the licensee and the person who filed the request for mediation were unable to resolve the matter raised in the request for mediation.

     2. The Board will process:

     (a) A citation issued by the Board pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 590.605; and

     (b) If the circumstances so warrant, a petition under NRS 233B.120,

Ê as a complaint filed pursuant to this section.

     3. The Board will initially consider any complaint filed against a licensee pursuant to this section as an informal complaint. The informal complaint must be verified by the affidavit of the complainant and be filed with the Board on a form provided by the Board. The complainant shall include with his or her informal complaint information that is sufficiently detailed so as to enable the licensee to prepare a response.

     4. Upon receipt of an informal complaint, the staff shall examine the informal complaint to determine whether it:

     (a) Has been properly verified; and

     (b) Alleges sufficient facts to warrant further proceedings.

     5. If the staff determines that an informal complaint has been properly verified and alleges sufficient facts, the staff shall notify the licensee of the informal complaint by sending a copy or summary of the informal complaint to the licensee by certified mail. The notification must set forth the potential violations of NRS 590.465 to 590.645, inclusive, or NAC 590.100 to 590.690, inclusive, raised in the informal complaint and request a written response from the licensee for review by the staff. The licensee shall submit a written response to the informal complaint or summary to the Board:

     (a) Not later than 15 days after the date on which the informal complaint or summary is personally served on the licensee; or

     (b) If the informal complaint or summary is not personally served on the licensee, not later than 15 days after the date on which the informal complaint or summary is deposited in the United States mail as certified mail addressed to the licensee at his or her address of record.

     6. A written response to an informal complaint or a summary must respond to the allegations made in the informal complaint or summary and be accompanied by all documentation that would be useful to the staff in its review of the allegations made in the informal complaint or summary and the responses of the licensee to those allegations. If a licensee fails to respond as required by this section, the licensee shall be deemed to have admitted the allegations in the informal complaint or summary. Based on these admissions, the Board may impose appropriate discipline on the licensee in the same manner as if the allegations had been proven by substantial evidence at a hearing on a formal complaint.

     7. Upon the filing of a written response pursuant to this section, the staff shall review the informal complaint and the responses made thereto, may enlist the aid of any member of the Board or other qualified person in conducting the review and may take any other reasonable action necessary to further the review. After its review of the informal complaint and the responses made thereto, the staff may:

     (a) Investigate the allegations and employ such persons as the staff deems necessary to further the investigation;

     (b) Consult persons with expertise in the appropriate field and employ those persons for the purposes of an investigation or a hearing;

     (c) Investigate new leads and allegations that the staff learns of in the course of the investigation;

     (d) Enlist the aid of any member of the Board or other qualified person in conducting the investigation; and

     (e) Take any other reasonable action necessary to further the investigation.

     8. During an investigation of an informal complaint, the staff or an investigator for the Board may demand that a licensee produce any record or other evidence for inspection or copying, with or without prior notice to the licensee and with or without a subpoena. A licensee shall not deny a request for a record or other evidence if the record or other evidence is not otherwise declared to be confidential by a specific statute. If a licensee refuses or fails to cooperate with a request for a record or other evidence in violation of this section, the Board may immediately suspend his or her license or certificate until the licensee complies with the request. If the licensee continues to refuse or to fail to cooperate with such a request in violation of this section, the Board may take such further disciplinary action against the licensee as the Board determines necessary.

     9. If the staff or investigator determines that a specific record or other specific evidence that the licensee is required to produce is material to or necessary for an investigation, the staff or investigator may remove the record or evidence and provide a copy of the record or evidence to the licensee. If a record or other evidence can be readily copied at the location where the record or evidence is located, the staff or investigator shall make a copy of the record or evidence at that location. If the record or other evidence cannot be readily copied at that location, the staff or investigator may remove the record or evidence from that location for copying.

     10. Upon the removal of a record or other evidence pursuant to this section, the staff or investigator shall provide the person to whom the record or evidence belongs with a receipt for the record or evidence and, not later than 5 business days after the record or evidence is removed, provide a copy of the record or evidence to that person.

     (Added to NAC by Bd. for Reg. of Liquefied Petrol. Gas by R014-03, eff. 2-18-2004)