The opinion
. . -
E GENERAL
February 26, 1970
Dr. M. H. Crabb Opinion No. M- 587
Secretary
Texas State Board of Re: ,Authority of Texas State
Medical Examiners Board of Medlcal Examiners
1612 Summit Ave., Suite 303 to delegate authority to
Fort Worth, Texas 76102 other than a member of the
Board to hold and proctor
examinations for a medical
Dear Dr. Crabb: license.
You have requested an opinion from this office on the
following question:
"The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners
is requesting an Opinion as to whether or not
the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners may
delegate authority to someone not a member of
the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners to
hold and proctor examinations, the questions being
prepared and approved by the Texas State Board of
Medical Examiners, and the Texas State Board of
Medical Examiners grading all the papers."
With reference to subdelegation of power, that is, the
authority of an administrative agency to delegate power previously
delegated to it, we quote from 47 Texas Jurisprudence 2d, 149,
Public Officers, Section 114:
"It Is a general rule that public duties
must be performed and governmental powers ex-
ercised by the officer or body designated by
law; they cannot be delegated to others."
Therefore, we must look to the statutes which govern the
powers of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners to see if
there is any authority for the Board to delegate authority to
someone not a member of the Board to hold and proctor examinations.
Article 4501, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides, in part,
as follows:
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Dr. M. Ii.Crabb, page 2 (M-587)
"All applicants for license to practice
medicine in this State not otherwise licensed
under the provisions of law must successfully
pass an examination by the Texas State Board
of Medical Examiners. The Texas State Board
of Medical Examiners is authorized to adopt
and enforce rules of procedure not inconsls-
tent with the statutory requirements. . . .I'
(Emphasis added.)
Article 4503, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides, In
part, as follows:
"All examinations for license to practice
medicine shall be conducted in writing in the
English language, and In such manner as to be
entirely fair and impartial to all Individuals
and to every school or system of medicine. All
applicants shall be known to the examiners oz
by numbers, without names, or other method of
identification on examination papers by which
members of the Board may be able to identify
; cants or examinees, un a er the
general averages of the examinees' numbers in
the class have been determined, and license
granted or refused. Examinations shall be con-
ducted on anatomy, physiology, chemistry, histol-
ogy, pathology, bacteriology, diagnosis, surgery,
obstetrics, gynecology, hygiene, and medical
jurisprudence. Upon satisfactory examination
conducted as aforesaid under the rules of the
Board, applicants shall be granted license
to practice medicine. All questions and
answers, with the grades ached, aut en-
;
tica ed
shall be preserved In the executive office
of the Board for one year. . . qM (Emphasis
added .)
Although Article 4501, supra, provides that "the Board
is authorized to adopt and enforce rules,,ofprocedure not incon-
sistent with the statutory requirements& It is apparent that the
Legislature, In dealgnating the agency Texas State Board of
Medical Examiners, intended just what the name implies; that Is,
that the Board members personally should examine the applicants
for medical licenses, prescribe the examinations, give the ex-
aminations, and determine that the applicants pass such examination.
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Dr. M. PI.Crabb, page 3 (~-587)
It Is further set out In Article 4503, supra, on details
of examinations, that all applicants should be known to the ex-
aminers only by numbers, without names, or other method of ld-
entification on examination papers by which members of the
Board may be able to identify such applicants or examlnees.
We are of the opinion that questions concerning the
eligibility of an applicant to take such examination for a
medical license and the taking of the examination requires
the exercise of discretion, which may be made only by a Board
member.
We do not find any language in the statutes which
would authorize the Board of Medical Examiners to delegate the
holding and proctoring of examinations for a medical license to
an individual other than a Board member.
It is therefore the opinion of this office that the
Texas State Board of Medical Examiners does not have the au-
thority to delegate to someone not a member of the Texas State
Board of Medical Examiners the authority to hold and proctor
examinations for a medical license.
SUMMARY
Under the provisions of Articles 4501 and
4503, Vernon's Civil Statutes, the Texas State
Board of Medical Examiners does not have the
authority to delegate to other than a metier
of the Board, the duty of holding and proctoring
an examination for a medical license.
Prepared by John H. Banks
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Kerns Taylor, Chairman
W. E. Allen, Acting Co-Chairman
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Dr. M. I-I.
Crabb, page 4 (M-587)
Fisher Tyler
Malcolm Smith
Glenn Brown
Malcolm Quick
MEADE F. GRIFFIN
Staff Legal Assistant
NOLA WHITE
First Assistant
ALFRED WALKER
Executive Assistant
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