No. 20-79
The State Board of Health has authority to determine policy for the Division of Health.
Cite as Mo. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 20-79
AMBULANCES:
DIVISION OF HEALTH:
REORGANIZATION ACT:
The State Board of Health has
authority to determine policy
for the Division of Health.
OPINION NO. 20
December 21, 1979
The Honorable Ralph Uthlaut, Jr.
State Senator, 23rd District
Route #1
New Florence, Missouri
63363
Dear Senator Uthlaut:
This opinion is in response to your question asking whether
under the Omnibus State Reorganization Act of 1974 the State Board
of Health has authority to make policy for the Division of Health
and, if so, whether the Board of Health has the authority to set
policy for the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services of the Division
of Health which administers the provisions of Sections 190.090
through 190.195, RSMo 1978.
The State Board of Health was established pursuant to the
provisions of Section 191.400.
Further, Section 191.410 provides in pertinent part:
The state board of health shall:
*
*
*
{2)
Be vested with all statutory
responsibilities of the division of health
other than those of an administrative
nature;
*
*
*
(4)
Advise the director in the
planning for and operation of the divi-
sion of health.
The Honorable Ralph Uthlaut, Jr.
Section 190.185, provides:
The state board of health of Missouri
shall adopt, amend, promulgate, and
enforce such rules, regulations and
standards with respect to all ambulances,
ambulance service, attendant mobile emer-
gency medical technicians, attendant-
drivers and certificated apprentices to be
licensed hereunder as may be designed to
further the accomplishment of the purpose
of this law in promoting safe and adequate
ambulance services in the interest of public
health, safety and welfare.
Subsection 3 of Section 13 of the Omnibus State Reorganiza-
tion Act of 1974 provides:
All the powers, duties and functions
of the division of health, chapters 191 and
192, RSMo, and others, are transferred by
type II transfer to the division of health
of the department of social services which
is hereby created.
The state board of health
shall be vested with all the statutory duties
and responsibilities assigned to it by law.
The director of the division of health shall
be appointed by the department director.
Subsection 7{b) of Section 1 of the Reorganization Act
provides in part:
. . . Supervision by the director of the
department under a type II transfer shall
not extend to substantive matters relative
to policies . • . of the transferred . • .
division . • . board . • • unit or program,
unless specifically provided by law.
The Reorganization Act became effective May 2, 1974.
Section
190.185, became effective July 1, 1974.
Section 191.410 became
effective in 1967.
-
2 -
The Honorable Ralph Uthlaut, Jr .
It is our view that the effect of the prov1s1ons which we
have quoted from the Reorganization Act is to preserve the
authority of the State Board of Health under the provisions which
we have quoted from Section 191.410 and that such provisions of
the Reorganization Act were clearly not intended to nullify the
subsequently effective provisions of Section 190.185, which we
have quoted above.
We thus conclude that the State Board of Health has authority
to determine policy for the Division of Health and that such
authority obviously includes determining policy for the Bureau of
Emergency Medical Services of the Division of Health .
CONCLUSION
It is the opinion of this office that the State Board of
Health has authority to determine policy for the Division of
Health .
The foregoing opinion which I hereby approve, was prepared
by my assistant, John C. Klaffenbach.
Very truly yours ,
Attorney General
-
3 -