§436B-2  General definitions.  As used in this chapter:

     "Board" means any board or commission which is created and authorized by statute to issue a professional or vocational license, and is established within or transferred to the department for administrative purposes or subject to the administrative control or supervision of the director.

     "Department" means the department of commerce and consumer affairs.

     "Director" means the director of commerce and consumer affairs.

     "Executive secretary" or equivalent expressions means the individual employed by the department subject to chapter 76, who shall assist the licensing authority in administering this chapter, its licensing laws, rules, and orders, and who shall perform such other ministerial duties and delegated functions as authorized by law.

     "Forfeit" or "forfeiture" means the immediate and automatic termination or cancellation without any prior consultation with the licensee of a license issued by a board, caused by a licensee's voluntary or involuntary failure to comply with the requirements for maintaining or renewing a license.

     "License" means the permission to engage in a profession or vocation granted by the applicable licensing authority to a person who has satisfied every requirement for licensure, and shall include any registration, certificate, or other document issued by the licensing authority reflecting proof of permission.

     "Licensee" means the person in whose name the licensing authority grants a license.

     "Licensing authority" or "authority" means the director, or any licensing board or commission under the administrative control of the director pursuant to section 26-9(c), authorized by statute to grant or to deny licenses.

     "Licensing laws" means the applicable chapter providing for the regulation, licensing, and practice of a profession or vocation by the licensing authority.

     "Person" includes an individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation, association, business, trust, or any organized group of persons or legal entity, or any combination thereof.

     "Program" means any regulatory program in which the director is authorized by law to grant or to deny a license to a person seeking permission to engage in a profession or vocation.

     "Reinstate" or "reinstatement" means the permission to engage in a profession or vocation granted by the applicable licensing authority to a person whose license has been previously suspended by the licensing authority.

     "Renew" or "renewal" means the permission to engage in a profession or vocation granted by the applicable licensing authority to a licensee who has applied for an extension of a current and valid license.

     "Restore" or "restoration" means the permission to engage in a profession or vocation granted by the applicable licensing authority to a person whose license has been previously forfeited by the licensing authority. [L 1991, c 111, pt of §2; am L 1992, c 202, §7; am L 2000, c 253, §150]