Virginia Law

A. A consent agreement may be proposed by a licensee in lieu of adverse action. The proposed consent agreement shall be submitted no later than five work days prior to the conference unless different arrangements are agreed upon with the chair. In no case may a proposed consent agreement be submitted later than the day of the informal conference.

B. An acceptable consent agreement shall contain the following specific elements:

1. Dates of key actions, such as letter of sanction, timely appeal, the informal conference (if already held), and the names of the parties;

2. The assertion that all violations detailed in the letter of denial or revocation have been corrected or will be corrected by a time specified in the proposed agreement;

3. A description in detail of the case-specific systemic solution proposed that addresses the causes of the past history of violations, including the methods the licensee has in place to prevent violations and to monitor results;

4. A stipulation by the licensee to the validity of the violations enumerated in the specified correspondence and waiver of right to hearing under the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) solely with respect to those violations;

5. The duration of the consent agreement, including the information that the period begins when the division director signs;

6. A statement that when the division director signs the agreement, signifying final acceptance, the division director is also agreeing to rescind the outstanding adverse action and that the licensee is agreeing to withdraw all appeals to that action; and

7. A statement outlining conditions for termination of the final agreement for cause and the nature of the licensee's appeal rights in that event.

C. Throughout the duration of the consent agreement, licensing staff will make frequent inspections to determine whether the terms of the consent agreement are being implemented and whether its intended results are being achieved.