New Hampshire OPLC outlines licensing, enforcement and backlog cleanup plan

Deanna Juris, executive director of the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, told the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee that the office’s mission is to “safeguard public health, safety, welfare, environment, and then public trust” and that the office follows the plain language of law: “If the law says it, we do it. If it doesn’t, we don’t.”

Juris laid out OPLC’s organizational structure and the three operational pillars she said the office runs: licensing and board administration (including customer service), enforcement (investigations and prosecutions) and operations (finance, HR, IT and contracts). She said the office provides administrative support to 57 boards, 7 advisory bodies and 50 full licensing boards, and identified key staff: Nicholas Fry, general counsel; Heather Kelly, director of operations; Bethany Cottrell, director of licensing and board administration; and Sarah Rogers, director of enforcement.

The presentation emphasized recent…