(a) The board may revoke or suspend an existing valid license, disqualify a person from receiving or renewing a license, or deny to a person the opportunity to be examined for a license because of a person's conviction of a felony or misdemeanor if the crime directly relates to the practice of physical therapy. Those crimes which the board considers to be directly related to the duties and responsibilities of a licensed physical therapist or physical therapist assistant shall include, but are not limited to:
  (1) any felony which involves an act of fraud, dishonesty, or deceit;
  (2) any criminal violation of the Act or other statutes regulating or pertaining to physical therapy or the medical profession;
  (3) any crime involving moral turpitude;
  (4) murder;
  (5) assault;
  (6) burglary;
  (7) robbery;
  (8) theft;
  (9) rape or sexual abuse;
  (10) patient/client abuse;
  (11) injury to an elderly person;
  (12) child molestation, abuse, endangerment, or neglect;
  (13) felony conviction for driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or driving while ability is impaired;
  (14) sale, distribution, or illegal possession of narcotics, controlled substances, or dangerous drugs;
  (15) tampering with a governmental record;
  (16) offenses which include attempting or conspiring to commit any of the offenses in this subsection.
(b) In determining whether a crime not listed previously relates to physical therapy, the board will consider:
  (1) the nature and seriousness of the crime;
  (2) the relationship of the crime to the purposes for requiring a license to practice physical therapy;
  (3) the extent to which a license might offer opportunities to engage in further criminal activity of the same type as that in which the person was previously engaged;
  (4) the relationship of the crime to the ability, capacity, or fitness required to perform the duties and to discharge the responsibilities of a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant; and
  (5) any correlation between the elements of the crime and the duties and responsibilities of a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant.
(c) In review of a complaint alleging that the respondent/applicant has been convicted of a crime which directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant, the board shall consider the following evidence in determining the respondent's/applicant's present fitness to practice physical therapy:
  (1) the extent and nature of the person's past criminal activity;
  (2) the age of the person at the time of commission of the crime;
  (3) the amount of time that has elapsed since the person's last criminal activity;
  (4) the conduct and work activity of the person before and after the criminal activity;
  (5) evidence of the person's rehabilitation or rehabilitative effort while incarcerated or after release;
  (6) evidence of the person's compliance with any condition of community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision, including letters of recommendation from prosecution, law enforcement, and correctional officers who prosecuted, arrested, or had custodial responsibility for the person; letters from the sheriff or chief of police where the person resides; and other persons having contact with the convicted person; and
  (7) other evidence of the person's fitness, including letters of recommendation, records of steady employment, provision for dependents, payment of all court costs, supervision fees, fines, and restitution if ordered as a result of the person's conviction.
(d) The burden and expense of providing and presenting the foregoing documentation to the board shall be solely that of the respondent/applicant.
(e) A licensee or applicant is required to report to the board a felony of which he is convicted within 60 days after the conviction occurs.

Source Note: The provisions of this §343.9 adopted to be effective January 7, 1992, 16 TexReg 7645; amended to be effective January 12, 1993, 18 TexReg 64; amended to be effective September 1, 2023, 48 TexReg 4256