[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
| [ Engrossed ] | [ Enrolled ] |
92_SB0534
LRB9203271LBgc
1 AN ACT concerning hearing instruments.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection
5 Act is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
6 (225 ILCS 50/8) (from Ch. 111, par. 7408)
7 Sec. 8. Applicant qualifications; examination.
8 (a) In order to protect persons with hearing
9 impairments, the Department shall authorize or shall conduct
10 an appropriate examination for persons who dispense, test,
11 select, recommend, fit, or service hearing instruments. The
12 frequency of holding these examinations shall be determined
13 by the Department by rule. Those who successfully pass such
14 an examination shall be issued a license as a hearing
15 instrument dispenser, which shall be effective for a 2-year
16 period.
17 (b) Applicants shall be:
18 (1) at least 18 years of age;
19 (2) of good moral character;
20 (3) a high school graduate or the equivalent;
21 (4) free of contagious or infectious disease; and
22 (5) a citizen or person who has the status as a
23 legal alien.
24 Felony convictions of the applicant and findings against
25 the applicant involving matters set forth in Sections 17 and
26 18 shall be considered in determining moral character, but
27 such a conviction or finding shall not make an applicant
28 ineligible to register for examination.
29 (c) Prior to engaging in the practice of fitting,
30 dispensing, or servicing hearing instruments, an applicant
31 shall demonstrate, by means of written and practical
-2- LRB9203271LBgc
1 examinations, that such person is qualified to practice the
2 testing, selecting, recommending, fitting, selling, or
3 servicing of hearing instruments as defined in this Act. An
4 applicant who fails to obtain a license within 12 months
5 after passing both the written and practical examinations
6 must take and pass those examinations again in order to be
7 eligible to receive a license.
8 The Department shall, by rule, determine the conditions
9 under which an individual is examined.
10 (d) Proof of having met the minimum requirements of
11 continuing education as determined by the Board shall be
12 required of all license renewals. Pursuant to rule, the
13 continuing education requirements may, upon petition to the
14 Board, be waived in whole or in part if the hearing
15 instrument dispenser can demonstrate that he or she served in
16 the Coast Guard or Armed Forces, had an extreme hardship, or
17 obtained his or her license by examination or endorsement
18 within the preceding renewal period.
19 (e) Beginning January 1, 2003 2001, persons applying for
20 an initial license must demonstrate having earned an
21 associate degree or its equivalent from an accredited
22 institution of higher education and meet the other
23 requirements of this Section. In addition, the applicant
24 must demonstrate the successful completion of 12 semester
25 hours or 18 quarter hours of academic undergraduate course
26 work in an accredited institution consisting of 3 semester
27 hours of anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing
28 mechanism, 3 semester hours of hearing science, 3 semester
29 hours of introduction to audiology, and 3 semester hours of
30 aural rehabilitation, or the quarter hour equivalent.
31 Persons licensed before January 1, 2003 2001 who have a valid
32 license on that date may have their license renewed without
33 meeting the requirements of this subsection.
34 (Source: P.A. 91-932, eff. 1-1-01.)
-3- LRB9203271LBgc
1 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2 becoming law.