A. There is created the nine-member “New Mexico board of dental health care”. The board shall consist of five dentists, two dental hygienists and two public members. The dentists shall be actively practicing and have been licensed practitioners and residents of New Mexico for a period of five years preceding the date of appointment. The dental hygienist members shall be members of the committee and shall be elected annually to sit on the board by those sitting on the committee. The appointed public members shall be residents of New Mexico and shall have no financial interest, direct or indirect, in the professions regulated in the Dental Health Care Act.

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B. The governor may appoint the dentist members from a list of names submitted by the New Mexico dental association. There shall be one member from each district. All board members shall serve until their successors have been appointed. No more than one member may be employed by or receive remuneration from a dental or dental hygiene educational institution.

C. Appointments for dentists and public members shall be for terms of five years. Dentists’ appointments shall be made so that the term of one dentist member expires on July 1 of each year. Public members’ five-year terms begin at the date of appointment.

D. Any board member failing to attend three board or committee meetings, either regular or special, during the board member’s term shall automatically be removed as a member of the board unless excused from attendance by the board for good cause shown. Members of the board not sitting on the committee shall not be required or allowed to attend committee disciplinary hearings.

E. No board member shall serve more than two full terms on any state-chartered board whose responsibility includes the regulation of practice or licensure of dentistry or dental hygiene in New Mexico. A partial term of three or more years shall be considered a full term.

F. In the event of any vacancy, the secretary of the board shall immediately notify the governor, the board and committee members and the New Mexico dental association of the reason for its occurrence and action taken by the board, so as to expedite appointment of a new board member.

G. The board shall meet at least four times every year and no more than two meetings shall be public rules hearings. Regular meetings shall not be more than one hundred twenty days apart. The board may also hold special meetings and emergency meetings in accordance with rules of the board upon written notice to all members of the board and the committee.

H. Members of the board shall be reimbursed as provided in the Per Diem and Mileage Act N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-8-1 to 10-8-8 and shall receive no other compensation, perquisite or allowance; however, the secretary-treasurer may be compensated at the discretion of the board.

I. A simple majority of the board members currently serving shall constitute a quorum, provided at least two of that quorum are not dentist members and three are dentist members.

J. The board shall elect officers annually as deemed necessary to administer its duties and as provided in its rules.