The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) has responsibility for operational and performance reviews of State agencies and programs. Under the Legislative Program Review and Evaluation Act, some of those reviews arc selected from among one of the seven functional areas of State government according to a schedule adopted by the General Assembly.

This evaluation is the first of two reports being prepared on occupational and professional regulation which is encompassed within the Commerce and Resources function. The series was scheduled by Senate Joint Resolution 50 enacted by the 1980 General Assembly. Subcommittees of the House of Delegates and Senate committees on General Laws are cooperating in the evaluation process.

Occupational and professional regulation is one method used by the Commonwealth to protect the public from incompetent or unscrupulous practitioners. This report addresses performance characteristics of each of the 28 regulatory boards organized within the Department of Commerce and the Department of Health Regulatory Boards. More than 220,000 persons and 70 professions are regulated by these boards.

Baseline data is provided for each board and areas of special legislative interest have been highlighted. In some cases, recommendations have been made to improve the performance of a particular board or to achieve compliance with statutory statements of policy regarding the degree or purpose of regulation.