(a) The department may, upon receipt of an application and fee of one hundred ninety dollars, issue a certificate as a dietitian-nutritionist to any applicant who has presented to the commissioner satisfactory evidence that (1) such applicant is certified as a registered dietitian by the Commission on Dietetic Registration, or (2) such applicant has (A) successfully passed a written examination prescribed by the commissioner, and (B) received a master’s degree or doctoral degree, from an institution of higher education accredited to grant such degree by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, with a major course of study which focused primarily on human nutrition or dietetics and which included a minimum of thirty graduate semester credits, twenty-one of which shall be in not fewer than five of the following content areas: (i) Human nutrition or nutrition in the life cycle, (ii) nutrition biochemistry, (iii) nutrition assessment, (iv) food composition or food science, (v) health education or nutrition counseling, (vi) nutrition in health and disease, and (vii) community nutrition or public health nutrition.

(b) No certificate shall be issued under this section to any applicant against whom a professional disciplinary action is pending or who is the subject of an unresolved professional complaint.

(c) (1) Any individual who has been convicted of any criminal offense may request, at any time, that the commissioner determine whether such individual’s criminal conviction disqualifies the individual from obtaining a certificate issued or conferred by the commissioner pursuant this section based on (A) the nature of the conviction and its relationship to the individual’s ability to safely or competently perform the duties or responsibilities associated with such license, (B) information pertaining to the degree of rehabilitation of the individual, and (C) the time elapsed since the conviction or release of the individual.

(2) An individual making such request shall include (A) details of the individual’s criminal conviction, and (B) any payment required by the department. The commissioner may charge a fee of not more than fifteen dollars for each request made under this subsection. The commissioner may waive such fee.

(3) Not later than thirty days after receiving a request under this subsection, the commissioner shall inform the individual making such request whether, based on the criminal record information submitted, such individual is disqualified from receiving or holding a certificate issued pursuant to this section.

(4) The department is not bound by a determination made under this section, if, upon further investigation, the commissioner determines that the individual’s criminal conviction differs from the information presented in the determination request.