NAC641C.555. Complaints: Filing and resolution.

     1. A person may file an accusation with the Board concerning the acts or services provided by a counselor or certified intern. The Board will initially consider any accusation regarding a counselor or certified intern as an informal complaint. Such an informal complaint filed with the Board must be on a form provided by the Board. A complainant shall include in his or her informal complaint information that is sufficiently detailed so as to enable the respondent to prepare a response. If a complainant is the client of and is complaining about his or her treatment by a counselor or certified intern, the Board will provide the complainant with a form for a limited waiver of confidentiality regarding his or her records which the complainant must sign and return to the Board. Such an informal complaint will not be further reviewed or processed by the staff or legal counsel until the signed limited waiver is received by the staff.

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

     (a) Has been properly verified; and

     (b) Alleges sufficient facts to warrant further proceedings.

     3. If the Board’s staff determines that the informal complaint against a counselor or certified intern has been properly verified and alleges sufficient facts to warrant further proceedings, the staff shall notify the respondent by sending a copy or summary of the informal complaint to the counselor or certified intern by certified mail. The notification must set forth the potential violations of a provision of this chapter or chapter 641C of NRS arising in the informal complaint and request a response for the review by the Board before a hearing is set. The transmission of the copy or summary of the informal complaint will be deemed to be a notice of intended action pursuant to subsection 3 of NRS 233B.127. Service of the copy or summary of the informal complaint shall be deemed to be complete when a true copy of the document is deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid and addressed to the last known address on record with the Board of the person to be served.

     4. Upon the receipt of a copy or summary of an informal complaint that has been filed against him or her, a counselor or certified intern shall submit to the Board a written response to the informal complaint within 15 days after the date on which the informal complaint was served. A response to an informal complaint must respond to the allegations made in the informal complaint and be accompanied with all documentation that would be useful to the staff and legal counsel in their review of the allegations made in the informal complaint and the responses made by the counselor or certified intern to those allegations. Failure by a counselor or certified intern to cooperate with the Board during an investigation of an informal complaint, including, without limitation, failing to timely respond to the Board regarding a copy or summary of the informal complaint sent to the counselor by the staff pursuant to this subsection, is a ground for disciplinary action by the Board against the counselor or certified intern.

     5. If a counselor or certified intern fails to respond as required pursuant to subsection 4, he or she shall be deemed to have admitted the allegations in the informal complaint. Based on these admissions, the Board may impose appropriate discipline on the counselor or certified intern at the hearing on the informal complaint.

     6. In cases where a response is filed as required pursuant to subsection 4, the staff and legal counsel shall review the informal complaint and the responses made thereto, may enlist the aid of a member of the Board or other qualified persons in such review and may take any other reasonable action necessary to further the review. After their review of the informal complaint and the responses made thereto, the staff and legal counsel may:

     (a) Investigate the allegations and employ such people as they deem necessary to further the investigations;

     (b) Consult with experts in the appropriate field, including, without limitation, employing such persons for the purposes of an investigation or a hearing;

     (c) Investigate new leads and allegations that may come to their knowledge in the course of the investigation;

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

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

     7. If the staff and the legal counsel determine that the preliminary information from its investigation of an informal complaint reasonably indicates that a program in which a counselor or certified intern is employed or otherwise treating clients may have also violated any statutes or regulations applicable to the operation of the program, the staff and legal counsel may:

     (a) Coordinate with and seek the assistance of the Health Division of the Department of Health and Human Services in the investigation of the alleged violations; and

     (b) Request the Health Division to share with the staff and legal counsel any findings made by and information in the possession of the Division, to the fullest extent allowable under 42 C.F.R. Part 2.

     8. During an investigation of an informal complaint, the staff, legal counsel or investigator, if any, may demand that a counselor or certified intern produce his or her records or other evidence for inspection or copying, with or without prior notice to the counselor or certified intern, and with or without a subpoena. A counselor or certified intern shall not deny any such request for records or other evidence if the record or other evidence is not subject to the provisions of 42 C.F.R. Part 2. If a counselor or certified intern refuses or fails to cooperate with a request for records in violation of this section, the Board may immediately suspend his or her license or certificate until the counselor or certified intern complies with the request for records or other evidence. If the counselor or certified intern continues to refuse or fails to cooperate with a request for records or other evidence in violation of this section, the Board may take such further disciplinary action against the counselor or certified intern as the Board determines necessary.

     9. If the staff, legal counsel or investigator, if any, determines that a specific record or other specific evidence is material to or necessary for an investigation, the staff, legal counsel or investigator may remove the record or evidence and provide a copy of the record or evidence to the respondent. If a record or other evidence can be readily copied at the location where the record or evidence is located, the staff, legal counsel or investigator shall make a copy of the record and evidence at that location. If a record or other evidence cannot be readily copied at the location where the record or evidence is located, the staff, legal counsel or investigator may remove the record or evidence from that location to copy the record or evidence. If the staff, legal counsel or investigator removes a record or other evidence to be copied, the staff, legal counsel or investigator shall provide the person to whom the record or evidence being removed 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.

     10. When an investigation of an informal complaint is complete, the staff, legal counsel and investigator, if any, shall determine whether substantial evidence exists to sustain the alleged violation of a statute or regulation set forth in the informal complaint. If the staff, legal counsel and investigator determine that no allegation of a violation of a statute or regulation set forth in the informal complaint can be sustained, the staff shall notify, in writing, the complainant and the respondent of this determination. If the staff, legal counsel and investigator determine that a violation of a statute or regulation as alleged in the informal complaint can be sustained, the legal counsel shall:

     (a) Offer mediation, settlement agreements, stipulations of facts and liability or informal hearings; or

     (b) Prepare a notice of hearing and a formal complaint.

     11. A notice of hearing and a formal complaint must:

     (a) Be a plain statement of the facts and applicable provisions of statutes and regulations regarding the alleged acts of the respondent alleged to be in violation of the statutes and regulations governing the practice of counseling alcohol and drug abusers, the clinical practice of counseling alcohol and drug abusers or the practice of counseling problem gamblers;

     (b) Include the date, time and place that the Board will hear the matter, if this information is known at the time when the notice of hearing and a formal complaint is sent to the respondent; and

     (c) Be signed by the legal counsel and, if a member of the Board was active in the investigation, by that member of the Board.

     12. The staff shall send a notice of hearing and a formal complaint prepared pursuant to subsection 11 to the respondent named in the notice of hearing and the formal complaint by certified mail. Service of the notice of hearing and the formal complaint shall be deemed to be complete when a true copy of the documents are deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid and addressed to the last known address on record with the Board of the person to be served.

     13. A respondent who receives a notice of hearing and a formal complaint must file his or her answer to the notice of hearing and the formal complaint not later than 15 days after the date on which the notice of hearing and the formal complaint were served. An answer to a notice of hearing and a formal complaint filed by a respondent must include a response to each allegation and statement made in the notice of hearing and the formal complaint by either admitting to or denying the allegation or statement. If the counselor or certified intern fails to file an answer as required pursuant to this subsection, he or she shall be deemed to have admitted each allegation and statement contained in the notice of hearing and the formal complaint. Based on these admissions, the Board may enter a finding and impose appropriate discipline on the counselor or certified intern in the same manner as if the allegations had been proven by substantial evidence at a Board hearing held on the formal complaint.

     14. Not later than 10 days after the filing of the response by the respondent, the legal counsel and the respondent shall exchange a list of the evidence and witnesses that will be used at the hearing. A party may not present evidence it obtains after the date the exchange was required pursuant to this subsection unless it demonstrates to the Board that the evidence or witness was not available upon diligent investigation before the date the exchange was required and that the evidence or witness was given or communicated to the other party immediately after it was obtained.

     15. The Board may join two or more formal complaints into one formal complaint if:

     (a) The causes of action of each formal complaint are against the same person and deal with substantially the same or similar violations of statutes and regulations; and

     (b) The joining of the formal complaints will serve the best interest of the Board, complainants and respondent.

     (Added to NAC by Bd. of Exam’rs for Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselors by R097-00, eff. 8-9-2000; A by R126-01, 1-28-2002; A by Bd. of Exam’rs for Alcohol, Drug & Gambling Counselors by R157-03, 12-16-2003; R185-07, 12-17-2008)