| (a) Vehicle Inscription Information.
(1) Exemption. As specified in §554.009 of the
Act and §721.003 of the Transportation Code, vehicles assigned
to or used by the compliance or investigation divisions for enforcement
of pharmacy laws and rules are exempt from bearing the inscription
required by §721.002 of the Transportation Code. These vehicles
are to be used primarily in the inspection of pharmacies and the investigation
of violations of state and federal laws and rules relating to the
practice of pharmacy. In addition, as specified in §554.009 of
the Act, the vehicles may be registered with the Texas Department
of Motor Vehicles in an alias name for investigative personnel.
(2) Purpose. The purpose of exempting these vehicles
from the inscription requirements of §721.002 of the Transportation
Code is to increase the effectiveness of agency field employees in
detecting and investigating violations of state and federal laws relating
to the practice of pharmacy, thereby allowing compliance and investigative
personnel to accomplish their tasks undetected, and to provide a greater
degree of safety for these staff and the state property being used
in the enforcement and a greater degree of case integrity.
(b) Restrictions on Assignments of Vehicles.
(1) Each agency vehicle will be assigned to an individual
field employee.
(2) The agency may assign a vehicle to a board member
or an individual administrative or executive employee:
(A) on a temporary basis if field personnel are not
available to assume responsibility for the car; or
(B) on a regular basis only if the agency makes a written
documented finding that the assignment is critical to the needs and
mission of the agency.
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