Continuing Education, License Renewal, and Maintenance of Licensure
Domain 7 covers keeping a Kentucky license alive: the renewal cycle, the continuing education that supports it, and the consequences of letting it lapse.
Renewal
- Kentucky licenses renew on a fixed biennial cycle; the Board sets the deadline, fee, and process. Calendar the deadline - the Board is not required to chase you.
- Renewal typically requires attesting to continuing education completion and answering questions about discipline, impairment, and practice status.
- Practicing after expiration is unlicensed practice; it is not cured by paying the fee later.
Continuing education
- Hours must be earned during the licensing period, from approved providers and categories, and must include the ethics or jurisprudence content the Board requires. Confirm the current cycle length and hour count in the Board's regulation rather than relying on memory.
- Carryover between cycles is limited; do not assume unused hours bank automatically.
- Keep certificates and course descriptions for the period the Board can audit. Reporting hours you did not complete is a misrepresentation to the Board.
- Categories that often qualify beyond courses include teaching, publication, and clinical residency or specialty certification - check the regulation rather than assuming.
Lapse and reinstatement
- A late renewal typically carries a penalty fee; a license lapsed beyond the Board's threshold may require a reinstatement application and evidence of continued competence before practice resumes.
Worked example
A therapist takes 20 hours in one cycle and plans to carry 10 forward. Reasoning: the assumption is unsafe; unless the regulation expressly permits that carryover, the hours must be earned within the cycle and the shortfall made up before renewal.
Traps
- Counting BLS/CPR or unpaid orientation as continuing education without checking category rules.
- Assuming medical leave waives the requirement without an approved request.
- Treating renewal as automatic once CE is finished.