Section 15.01. Definitions.

  In this chapter:

(1g)  “Affiliated credentialing board" means a part-time body that meets all of the following conditions:

(a) Is attached to an examining board to regulate a profession that does not practice independently of the profession regulated by the examining board or that practices in collaboration with the profession regulated by the examining board.

(b) With the advice of the examining board to which it is attached, sets standards of professional competence and conduct for the profession under the affiliated credentialing board's supervision, reviews the qualifications of prospective new practitioners, grants credentials, takes disciplinary action against credential holders and performs other functions assigned to it by law.

(1r)  “Board" means a part-time body functioning as the policy-making unit for a department or independent agency or a part-time body with policy-making or quasi-judicial powers.

(2)  “Commission" means a 3-member governing body in charge of a department or independent agency or of a division or other subunit within a department, except for the Wisconsin waterways commission which shall consist of 5 members, the elections commission which shall consist of at least 6 members, the ethics commission which shall consist of at least 6 members, and the parole commission which shall consist of 8 members. A Wisconsin group created for participation in a continuing interstate body, or the interstate body itself, shall be known as a “commission", but is not a commission for purposes of s. 15.06 . The parole commission created under s. 15.145 (1) shall be known as a “commission", but is not a commission for purposes of s. 15.06 .

(3)  “Committee" means a part-time body appointed to study a specific problem and to recommend a solution or policy alternative with respect to that problem, and intended to terminate on the completion of its assignment. Because of their temporary nature, committees shall be created by session law rather than by statute.

(4)  “Council" means a part-time body appointed to function on a continuing basis for the study, and recommendation of solutions and policy alternatives, of the problems arising in a specified functional area of state government, except the council on physical disabilities has the powers and duties specified in s. 46.29 (1) and (2) , the state council on alcohol and other drug abuse has the powers and duties specified in s. 14.24 , and the electronic recording council has the powers and duties specified in s. 706.25 (4) .

(5)  “Department" means the principal administrative agency within the executive branch of Wisconsin state government, but does not include the independent agencies under subch. III .

(6)  “Division," “bureau," “section," and “unit" means the subunits of a department or an independent agency, whether specifically created by law or created by the head of the department or the independent agency for the more economic and efficient administration and operation of the programs assigned to the department or independent agency. The office of credit unions in the department of financial institutions, the office of the inspector general in the department of children and families, the office of the inspector general in the department of health services, and the office of children's mental health in the department of health services have the meaning of “division" under this subsection. The office of the long-term care ombudsman under the board on aging and long-term care and the office of educational accountability in the department of public instruction have the meaning of “bureau" under this subsection.

(7)  “Examining board" means a part-time body which sets standards of professional competence and conduct for the profession under its supervision, prepares, conducts and grades the examinations of prospective new practitioners, grants licenses, investigates complaints of alleged unprofessional conduct and performs other functions assigned to it by law. “Examining board" includes the board of nursing.

(8)  “Head", in relation to a department, means the constitutional officer, commission, secretary or board in charge of the department. “Head", in relation to an independent agency, means the commission, commissioner or board in charge of the independent agency.

(9)  “Independent agency" means an administrative agency within the executive branch created under subch. III .

1977 c. 29 , 274 ; 1979 c. 34 ; 1983 a. 27 , 189 , 371 , 410 , 538 ; 1985 a. 29 , 120 , 180 ; 1987 s. 27, 342, 399; 1989 a. 31 , 107 , 202 ; 1991 a. 39 , 269 , 315 ; 1993 a. 16 , 107 , 210 , 215 ; 1995 a. 27 ss. 74 and 9145 (1) ; 1995 a. 442 , 462 ; 1997 a. 27 , 237 ; 2001 a. 16 , 105 , 109 ; 2005 a. 25 , 421 ; 2007 a. 20 ; 2009 a. 28 ; 2011 a. 32 , 38 ; 2013 a. 20 ; 2015 a. 55 , 118 .