Each person currently engaged in training to become a licensed hearing aid dealer or fitter shall apply to the state speech and hearing professionals board for a hearing aid dealer’s and fitter’s trainee permit. The board shall issue to each applicant within thirty days of receipt of a properly completed application and payment of an application fee set by the board in rules adopted under section 4747.04 of the Revised Code, a trainee permit if such applicant meets all of the following criteria:

(A) Is at least eighteen years of age;

(B) Is the holder of a diploma from an accredited high school or a certificate of high school equivalence issued by the department of education;

(C) Is free of contagious or infectious disease.

The board shall not deny a trainee permit issued under this section to any individual based on the individual’s past criminal history unless the denial is in accordance with section 9.79 of the Revised Code.

In considering a renewal of an individual’s trainee permit, the board shall not consider any conviction or plea of guilty prior to the issuance of the initial trainee permit. However, the board may consider a conviction or plea of guilty if it occurred after the individual was initially granted the trainee permit, or after the most recent trainee permit renewal. The board shall comply with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code when denying an individual for a trainee permit or renewal. Additionally, the board may grant an individual a conditional trainee permit that lasts for one year. After the one-year period has expired, the permit is no longer considered conditional, and the individual shall be considered to be granted a full trainee permit.

Each trainee permit issued by the board expires one year from the date it was first issued, and may be renewed once if the trainee has not successfully completed the qualifying requirements for licensing as a hearing aid dealer or fitter before the expiration date of such permit. The board shall issue a renewed permit to each applicant upon receipt of a properly completed application and payment of a renewal fee set by the board in rules adopted under section 4747.04 of the Revised Code. No person holding a trainee permit shall engage in the practice of dealing in or fitting of hearing aids except while under supervision by a licensed hearing aid dealer or fitter.