Board publishes proposed licensing rule, lowers several fees and handles dozens of enforcement dockets

At its meeting, the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners advanced several regulatory and administrative items for public notice, completed officer elections and committee appointments, and disposed of a number of enforcement cases.

The board voted to publish proposed changes to Title 22, Part 24, Chapter 571 (licensing) in the Texas Register. Michelle Phelps presented the drafting process and said staff and the rules committee had worked with TDLR to modernize and consolidate language. The board approved the proposal for publication with non-substantive/grammatical edits to be submitted to staff by a stated deadline.

The board also authorized publication of a revised fee schedule (Title 22, Part 24, §577.15) that reduces several licensing fees from the temporary higher levels put in place to fund the agency’s database build. Examples announced by staff: veterinarian initial application fee reduced (from prior level noted in packet), LVT initial application reduced (from 65 to 58), LVT renewal reduced (from 80 to 64), and equine dental provider fees adjusted (from 125 to 114 initial; renewals from 120 to 99). Staff said the fee reductions were designed to preserve a modest operating cushion while lowering costs for licensees.

The board held elections for the executive committee: Glenn Kreiner was elected vice president by voice vote and Miss Whitehead was re-elected secretary; the chair noted the governor appoints the board chair. Committee appointments for Enforcement, Finance, Licensing and Rules were announced by the chair.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of July 2025 minutes — motion carried (voice vote) - Election: Vice president — Glenn Kreiner — approved (voice vote) - Election: Secretary — Miss Whitehead — approved (voice vote) - Approve publishing proposed rule changes to 22 TAC §571 — approved (motion and second; non-substantive edits to be handled by staff) - Approve publishing fee schedule changes to 22 TAC §577.15 — approved (motion carried) - Approval of multiple agreed orders and case dispositions — mixed; several agreed orders approved, several cases were referred to informal conference and others dismissed (see actions[] for case-by-case listing)

Case actions (selected from the docket)

- Agreed orders accepted: CP24492, CP24339, CP24078, CP24391, CP25290, CP25307, CP25361 (the board announced acceptance of multiple agreed orders; one multi-case vote recorded a 5–4 tally on a grouped agreed order set) - Referred to informal conference: CP24596 (moved to informal conference); CP25189 and CP25190 (referred together to informal conference) - Dismissed or approved per staff recommendation: multiple cases were approved for dismissal from informal conference and medical review as listed in the meeting packet; those approvals were adopted by general motion unless pulled for executive session

Board procedure and recusals

Board counsel and staff identified cases pulled for executive session; several members recused themselves from votes on specific cases (examples: Dr. Mjugemba, Dr. Dola and Ms. Allen recused on enumerated matters). The board repeatedly moved the unpulled cases in grouped motions; staff identified which matters required executive-session discussion for sensitive investigatory or legal reasons.

What the actions mean

- Publishing the proposed rule chapter begins the formal notice-and-comment rulemaking process; no rule changes take effect until final adoption and statutory timelines are met. - Publishing the fee schedule begins the public-notice step; the board’s memo said the reductions were intended to be permanent until further board action and to preserve an operating cushion. - Agreed orders accepted by the board finalize negotiated disciplinary settlements listed in the orders; referred matters will proceed to informal conference for further board consideration.

The board set its 2026 meeting dates (third Tuesday of January, April, July and October) and asked members to submit agenda items through staff during the normal posting window.