THE MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

The Joint Committee on
Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review

Report # 378

A Program Evaluation and Financial Compliance Audit of the State Board of Barber Examiners

July 14, 1998

Introduction

In response to citizen's complaints, PEER evaluated the operations of the State Board of Barber Examiners.

Overview

The Legislature created the Board of Barber Examiners in 1930 to regulate the barbering profession in Mississippi. The board is designed to meet the consuming public's expectation to be protected from the spread of infections and diseases while receiving acceptable barber services from competent and skilled professionals.

State law provides the board with authority to regulate the state's barbering profession. Individuals cannot practice barbering in Mississippi unless they are licensed by the board and shops cannot operate without a board license. Accordingly, individuals cannot teach at barber schools in the state without an instructor's license.

Although the board has established examination and inspection processes, these have not adequately regulated Mississippi's barbering profession. As a result, the board cannot ensure the public that barbers have demonstrated the required knowledge and skills or that barbers consistently adhere to sanitary standards.

In the area of examination and licensure, the board does not consistently verify the completeness and accuracy of educational and training information submitted by licensure applicants. The board's testing process for barbers and barber instructors is not valid and reliable because it does not fully comply with recognized testing standards for professional regulatory boards.

With regard to inspections and investigations, the board cannot ensure that its inspections are conducted on a regular basis and in a uniform manner because the board has not established formal policies and procedures for such inspections. Also, the board violates state law by its failure to adopt rules and regulations for the recording, investigating, and resolution of complaints against barber licensees.

The Board of Barber Examiners has not adequately accounted for the board's funds or developed policies to manage the board's affairs. For example, the board has not collected or made timely deposits of license fees in a manner consistent with state law. The board has not accounted for or safeguarded its fee collections in accordance with state accounting regulations or accepted business practices. As a result, the board's administrator misappropriated approximately $2,266 in board funds. With regard to agency management, the board has not established adequate management policies and procedures to assist it in regulating the barbering profession.

Recommendations

The following summarize PEER's legislative and administrative recommendations concerning the Board of Barber Examiners.

• 1. The Legislature should amend MISS. CODE ANN. Section 73-5-1 to revise the method of appointment of the five members to the Board of Barber Examiners. The Governor should appoint three barber members, one appointed from each of the three Supreme Court Districts in the state, and two at-large board members.

  One of the at-large board members should be a barber or barber instructor. The second at-large board member should be a consumer representative with financial management experience who is not a licensed barber or barber instructor or affiliated with the barbering business.

  The section should prohibit the appointment of more than one board member who is an owner of or connected in any way with a barbering school. The section should also prohibit any school-affiliated board member from being involved in the development or grading of exams.

• 2. The Legislature should review the penalty provisions of MISS. CODE ANN. Section 73-5-29.

• 3. The Legislature should amend MISS. CODE ANN. Section 73-5-17 by deleting the requirement that the board administer written, practical, and oral examinations to applicants. State law should require the board to administer examinations that measure job competency and are in compliance with professional testing standards such as those advocated by the Council on Licensure, Enforcement, and Regulation (CLEAR).

• 4. The Board of Barber Examiners should ensure that each individual meets all statutory and regulatory requirements prior to receiving a barber license and that documentation of fulfillment of statutory requirements is on file.

• 5. Should the Board of Barber Examiners elect to use the services of a standardized testing agency to develop examinations, the board should conduct a competitive bidding process for testing services and require testing agencies to submit proposals which document that they have complied with CLEAR's professional testing standards.

• 6. The Board of Barber Examiners should request Board of Health officials to review and update the Board of Health sanitation regulations; review its policy position regarding inspections; officially adopt detailed inspection standards which describe the sanitation conditions that merit certain inspection ratings; conduct on-site training to ensure that inspectors consistently rate barber shops using the board-approved standards; review inspection status reports during its regular meetings; and develop a citation form for inspectors' use which outlines fines issued.

• 7. The Board of Barber Examiners should develop regulations and maintain records for the processing, investigation, and resolution of complaints filed with the board, as required by MISS. CODE ANN. Section 73-5-7 (3).

• 8. The board should request assistance from the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) in establishing accounting and cash control functions, as provided for in CODE Section 27-104-3 (a) and (b). The Executive Director of the PEER Committee staff should refer a copy of this report to the DFA Executive Director.

• 9. The board should follow state regulations for internal control of cash receipts, including timely depositing of funds; holding cash in secure areas; and maintaining a division of labor between personnel who receive, deposit, and account for cash.

• 10. The board should deposit its funds into the Treasury by the second day after receipt as outlined in MISS. CODE ANN. Section 7-9-21.

• 11. The board should properly enforce statutory penalties for past due license fees and refunding amounts to barbers which were charged in error after July 1, 1997.

• 12. The Department of Audit should conduct a financial audit of the Board of Barber Examiners to determine that all funds have been accounted for.

• 13. To control the licensing function properly, the Board of Barber Examiners should:
  • - ensure that license forms are properly accounted for and safeguarded from theft and misuse;

  • - using existing resources, develop a computerized license recordkeeping system to bill barbers for license fees due, issue timely past due notices, compute past due amounts, and maintain a complete account for each barber;

  • - maintain an accurate list of active and inactive barbers, including contact information;

  • - develop an updated barber handbook; and,

  • - maintain annual statistics on barber licensing.

• 14. The Board of Barber Examiners should develop a policy manual which includes approved board policies and procedures for all programs and should keep the manual updated.

The report contains detailed recommendations on pages 25 through 28.

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