Historical Review of the State Board of Sanitarian Registration

FIRST YEAR

• The Sanitarian Registration Law first went into effect August 15, 1977. The law was not mandatory and the Board experienced the first of several "grandfather" periods that would be a part of sanitarian registration in coming years.
• The first meeting was December 8, 1977. Boyd Marsh was elected as the first Chairman, Charles Terry was elected as Vice Chairman and Roger Suppes was elected as Secretary.
• During the first year the Board adopted the first set of rules that became effective June 1, 1978. The Board acquired space in the old state office building at 65 S. Front Street, and hired the first executive secretary (Ivan Baker) for 7.5 hours/week. Ivan's wife, Edith, provided secretarial support at 15 hours per week. During the first year the Board expended $5,397.50
• 892 sanitarians were registered the first year.

SECOND YEAR

• The Board was moved from a Special Fund and lost $25,000 to the General Revenue Fund. The Board had hoped to use the funds for continuing education and investigation activities in future years, but it was not to be.
• The Board established training agencies as providers of continuing education and established eighteen hours a year as the continuing education standard. This requirement is the highest or near highest of any profession licensed in Ohio.
• The Board conducted its first exam and 80% (8 out of 10) passed. The second year also saw the first registration by reciprocity. The second year also marked the disapproval of an applicant from Texas because Texas law was not equivalent to Ohio.

 

FIFTH YEAR

• Jean Mauger became the Board's executive secretary.
• 65% passed the registration examination.
• The Board was experiencing financial problems and the period was marked by budget reductions. There was general concern about the decline in the number of registered sanitarians in Ohio. Thoughts began to turn to mandatory registration.

SIXTH YEAR

• The Board focused on administrative streamlining and moved from four renewal periods to the two renewal periods that we have today.

EIGHTH YEAR

• In the eighth year, 1985, Lynn Jones was appointed executive secretary, and House Bill 632 was introduced by Representative Fred Deering to establish mandatory registration in July 1985.

TENTH YEAR

• In 1987, the tenth year of the Board's existence, mandatory registration became effective through Representative Deering's legislation. Since the bill contained an appropriation, the bill became effective immediately on July 20, 1987 with the signature of Governor Richard Celeste.
• Lynn Jones became the Board's first full time executive secretary. Previously all executive secretaries were employed through personal service contracts.
• There was a second "grandfather" and 92% of the applicants were approved. 56% were from local health departments. Surprisingly, 19% were from the Department of Agriculture (meat inspectors). 9% were from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and 8% were from the Ohio Department of Health. More than 50% of the applicants had a baccalaureate degree or higher, and the number of registered sanitarians went over 900 for the first time.

THIRTEENTH YEAR

• This year was marked by concerns over the passing point and not having sufficient sanitarians for employment. The passing point was changed from the arithmetic mean of all persons taking the exam throughout the country to one standard deviation below the mean. The percentage of individuals passing went from less than 50% to 76%.
• This was the first year that the exam was given three times a year rather than the traditional twice a year.
• The Board's appropriation exceeded $50,000 for the first time.

FIFTEENTH YEAR

• Linda Diamond became executive secretary.
• Approximately 80% of the applicants passed the examination.

SEVENTEETH YEAR

• In 1993-94 approximately 90% of the applicants passed the exam.
• Two attempts were made in the legislature to re-open the "grandfather". They were successfully stopped.

EIGHTEENTH YEAR

 

• During this year the legislature was successful in creating a third "grandfather" period.

NINETEENTH YEAR

• Lynn Jones was re-employed as executive secretary.
• The third "grandfather" was implemented and 61% of 178 applicants were approved versus 92% in the second "grandfather" in 1987