Domestic violence education; require for persons licensed to provide mental health services.

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To: Public Health and Human
Services
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Nelson

HOUSE BILL NO. 1419

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 73-30-9, 73-30-29, 73-31-9, 1
73-31-13, 73-53-11, 73-53-13, 73-54-17 AND 73-54-27, MISSISSIPPI 2
CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS, 3
PSYCHOLOGISTS, SOCIAL WORKERS AND MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS 4
TO COMPLETE THREE CREDIT HOURS OF GRADUATE-LEVEL COURSES RELATED 5
TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BEFORE RECEIVING A LICENSE AND TO COMPLETE 6
TWO HOURS OF CONTINUING EDUCATION RELATING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AS 7
A CONDITION OF LICENSE RENEWAL; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Section 73-30-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 10
amended as follows: 11
73-30-9. (1) The board shall issue a license as a 12
provisional licensed professional counselor, without regard to 13
race, religion, sex or national origin, to each applicant who 14
furnishes satisfactory evidence of the following: 15
(a) The applicant has completed an application on a 16
form prescribed by the board accompanied by a nonrefundable 17
application fee of Fifty Dollars ($50.00). 18
(b) The applicant is at least twenty-one (21) years of 19
age. 20
(c) The applicant is of good moral character. 21
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(d) The applicant is a citizen of the United States, or 22
has an immigration document to verify legal alien work status in 23
the United States. The immigration document must be current and 24
issued by the United States Immigration Bureau. 25
(e) The applicant is not in violation of any of the 26
provisions of this article and the rules and regulations adopted 27
hereunder. 28
(f) (i) The applicant shall have a minimum acceptable 29
graduate semester hour or acceptable quarter-hour master's degree 30
as determined by the board primarily in counseling or a related 31
counseling field from a regionally or nationally accredited 32
college or university program in counselor education or a related 33
counseling program subject to board approval. All applicants 34
shall provide official transcripts of all graduate work. 35
(ii) The applicant shall have completed three (3) 36
credit hours of graduate-level courses related to domestic 37
violence. 38
(g) The applicant must pass the examination approved by 39
the board, as set forth in Section 73-30-7(5). 40
(h) A provisional license issued under this section 41
shall require that the individual confine one's practice to a 42
board-approved site and accrue counseling experience under the 43
supervision of a board-qualified supervisor. 44
(i) The limited license shall be renewable for not more 45
than four (4) years, with a nonrefundable license fee in the 46
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amount provided in Section 73-30-29. Licensees may appeal to the 47
board for an extension of the renewal period. 48
(j) Each applicant for licensure shall apply to undergo 49
a fingerprint-based criminal history records check of the 50
Mississippi central criminal database and the Federal Bureau of 51
Investigation criminal history database. Each applicant shall 52
submit a full set of the applicant's fingerprints in a form and 53
manner prescribed by the board, which shall be forwarded to the 54
Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of 55
Investigation Identification Division for this purpose. 56
(2) The board shall issue a license or the privilege to 57
practice as a licensed professional counselor, without regard to 58
race, religion, sex or national origin, to each applicant who 59
furnishes satisfactory evidence of the following: 60
(a) The applicant has completed an application on a 61
form prescribed by the board accompanied by a nonrefundable full 62
application fee of Fifty Dollars ($50.00). 63
(b) The applicant is at least twenty-one (21) years of 64
age. 65
(c) The applicant is of good moral character. 66
(d) The applicant is a citizen of the United States, or 67
has an immigration document to verify legal alien work status in 68
the United States. The immigration document must be current and 69
issued by the United States Immigration Bureau. 70
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(e) The applicant is not in violation of any of the 71
provisions of this article and the rules and regulations adopted 72
hereunder. 73
(f) The applicant shall have a minimum acceptable 74
graduate semester hour or acceptable quarter-hour master's degree 75
as determined by the board primarily in counseling or a related 76
counseling field from a regionally or nationally accredited 77
college or university program in counselor education or a related 78
counseling program subject to board approval. All applicants 79
shall provide official transcripts of all graduate work. 80
(g) The applicant for licensure must pass the 81
examination approved by the board, as set forth in Section 82
73-30-7(5). 83
(h) The applicant has had post graduate supervised 84
experience in professional counseling acceptable to the board. 85
Applicant shall submit verification of supervised experience. 86
Each application or filing made under this section shall 87
include the social security number(s) of the applicant in 88
accordance with Section 93-11-64. 89
(i) The board shall require each first-time applicant 90
for licensure or the initial privilege to practice and may require 91
applicants for license renewal to undergo a fingerprint-based 92
criminal history records check of the Mississippi central criminal 93
database and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history 94
database. Each applicant for licensure and each renewal applicant 95
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as required by the board shall apply to undergo a 96
fingerprint-based criminal history records check of the 97
Mississippi central criminal database and the Federal Bureau of 98
Investigation criminal history database. Each applicant shall 99
submit a full set of the applicant's fingerprints in a form and 100
manner prescribed by the board, which shall be forwarded to the 101
Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of 102
Investigation Identification Division for this purpose. 103
(3) The board shall administer the privilege to practice in 104
accordance with the Professional Counseling Compact. 105
SECTION 2. Section 73-30-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 106
amended as follows: 107
73-30-29. (1) Except as provided in Section 33-1-39, the 108
renewal of license fee or privilege to practice fee for licensed 109
professional counselors under this article shall be Two Hundred 110
Twenty Dollars ($220.00) per biennial licensing renewal period, 111
and the renewal of license fee for provisional licensed 112
professional counselors under this article shall be Fifty Dollars 113
($50.00) per annual licensing renewal period. 114
(2) Provisional licensed professional counselor licenses 115
will be renewed annually on or before June 30. The evidence of 116
the following must be received in the office of the board on or 117
before June 30 of the year of renewal by every license holder who 118
intends to continue to practice: Each active provisional licensed 119
professional counselor licensee must accrue six (6) continuing 120
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education hours during the preceding license period, two (2) of 121
which must involve topics in professional ethics or legal issues 122
in the delivery of counseling services. 123
(3) Licensed professional counselor licenses will be renewed 124
biennially on or before June 30 of the applicable year. The 125
evidence of the following must be received in the office of the 126
board on or before June 30 of the year of renewal by every license 127
holder who intends to continue to practice: Each active licensed 128
professional counselor licensee must accrue twenty-four (24) 129
continuing education hours during the preceding license period, 130
six (6) of which must involve topics in professional ethics or 131
legal issues in the delivery of counseling services and two (2) of 132
which must involve topics relating to domestic violence. 133
SECTION 3. Section 73-31-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 134
amended as follows: 135
73-31-9. (1) All fees from applicants seeking licensing 136
under this article and all license renewal fees received under 137
this article shall be nonrefundable. The board may charge a late 138
fee for nonrenewal by June 30 of each year. 139
(2) The board shall charge an application fee to be 140
determined by the board, but not to exceed Seven Hundred Dollars 141
($700.00), to applicants for licensing, and shall charge the 142
applicant for the expenses incurred by the board for examination 143
of the applicant. The board may increase the application fee as 144
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necessary, but may not increase the fee by more than Fifty Dollars 145
($50.00) above the amount of the previous year's fee. 146
(3) Except as provided in Section 33-1-39, every licensed 147
psychologist in this state shall annually pay to the board a fee 148
determined by the board, but not to exceed Seven Hundred Dollars 149
($700.00); and the credentialing coordinator shall thereupon issue 150
a renewal of the license for a term of one (1) year. The board 151
may increase the license renewal fee as necessary, but may not 152
increase the fee by more than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) above the 153
amount of the previous year's fee. The license of any 154
psychologist who fails to renew during the month of June in each 155
and every year shall lapse; the failure to renew the license, 156
however, shall not deprive the psychologist of the right of 157
renewal thereafter. The lapsed license may be renewed within a 158
period of two (2) years after the lapse upon payment of all fees 159
in arrears. A psychologist wishing to renew a license that has 160
been lapsed for more than two (2) years shall be required to 161
reapply for licensure. 162
(4) Every odd-numbered year, no psychologist license shall 163
be renewed unless the psychologist shows evidence of a minimum of 164
twenty (20) clock hours of continuing education activities 165
approved by the board and a minimum of two (2) hours of continuing 166
education credits relating to domestic violence. 167
(5) All fees and any other monies received by the board 168
shall be deposited in a special fund that is created in the State 169
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Treasury and shall be used for the implementation and 170
administration of this article when appropriated by the 171
Legislature for that purpose. The monies in the special fund 172
shall be subject to all provisions of the state budget laws that 173
are applicable to special fund agencies, and disbursements from 174
the special fund shall be made by the State Treasurer only upon 175
warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer upon requisitions 176
signed by the chairman or executive secretary of the board. Any 177
interest earned on this special fund shall be credited by the 178
State Treasurer to the fund and shall not be paid into the State 179
General Fund. Any unexpended monies remaining in the special fund 180
at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General 181
Fund. The State Auditor shall audit the financial affairs of the 182
board and the transactions involving the special fund at least 183
once a year in the same manner as for other special fund agencies. 184
SECTION 4. Section 73-31-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 185
amended as follows: 186
73-31-13. The board shall issue a license as a psychologist 187
to each applicant who files an application upon a form and in the 188
manner as the board prescribes, accompanied by the fee as is 189
required by this article; and who furnishes evidence satisfactory 190
to the board that he or she: 191
(a) Is at least twenty-one (21) years of age; and 192
(b) Is of good moral character. The applicant must 193
have successfully been cleared for licensure through an 194
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investigation that consists of a determination as to good moral 195
character and verification that the prospective licensee is not 196
guilty of or in violation of any statutory ground for denial of 197
licensure. For the purposes of this article, good moral character 198
includes an absence of felony convictions or misdemeanor 199
convictions involving moral turpitude as established by a criminal 200
background check. Applicants shall undergo a fingerprint-based 201
criminal history records check of the Mississippi central criminal 202
database and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history 203
database. Each applicant shall submit a full set of the 204
applicant's fingerprints in a form and manner prescribed by the 205
board, which shall be forwarded to the Mississippi Department of 206
Public Safety (department) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation 207
Identification Division for this purpose; and 208
(c) Is not in violation of any of the provisions of 209
this article and the rules and regulations adopted under this 210
article, and is not currently under investigation by another 211
licensure board; and 212
(d) Holds a doctoral degree in psychology from an 213
institution of higher education that is: regionally accredited by 214
an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of 215
Education, or authorized by Provincial statute or Royal Charter to 216
grant doctoral degrees. From a program accredited by the American 217
Psychological Association, or the Canadian Psychological 218
Association, and from a program that requires at least one (1) 219
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year of continuous, full-time residence at the educational 220
institution granting the doctoral degree. For graduates from 221
newly established programs seeking accreditation or in areas where 222
no accreditation exists, applicants for licensure shall have 223
completed a doctoral program in psychology that meets recognized 224
acceptable professional standards as determined by the board. For 225
applicants graduating from doctoral level psychology training 226
programs outside of the United States of America or Canada, 227
applicants for licensure shall have completed a doctoral program 228
in psychology that meets recognized acceptable professional 229
standards as determined by the board; and 230
(e) Has completed three (3) credit hours of 231
graduate-level courses related to domestic violence; 232
( * * *f) Has completed a supervised internship from a 233
program accredited by the American Psychological Association or 234
the Canadian Psychological Association that meet the standards of 235
training as defined by the board. The internship shall be 236
comprised of at least one thousand eight hundred (1,800) hours of 237
actual work, to include direct service, training and supervisory 238
time; and 239
( * * *g) Demonstrates professional knowledge by 240
passing written (as used in this paragraph, the term "written" 241
means either paper and pencil or computer-administered or 242
computerized testing) and oral examinations in psychology 243
prescribed by the board; except that upon examination of 244
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credentials, the board may, by unanimous consent, consider these 245
credentials adequate evidence of professional knowledge. 246
Upon investigation of the application and other evidence 247
submitted, the board shall, not less than thirty (30) days before 248
the examination, notify each applicant that the application and 249
evidence submitted is satisfactory and accepted or unsatisfactory 250
and rejected; if rejected, the notice shall state the reasons for 251
the rejection. 252
The place of examination shall be designated in advance by 253
the board, and the examination shall be given at such time and 254
place and under such supervision as the board may determine. The 255
examination used by the board shall consist of written tests and 256
oral tests, and shall fairly test the applicant's knowledge and 257
application thereof in those areas deemed relevant by the 258
board. All examinations serve the purpose of verifying that a 259
candidate for licensure has acquired a basic core of knowledge in 260
the discipline of psychology and can apply that knowledge to the 261
problems confronted in the practice of psychology within the 262
applicant's area of practice. 263
The board shall evaluate the results from both the written 264
and oral examinations. The passing scores for the written and 265
oral examinations shall be established by the board in its rules 266
and regulations. If an applicant fails to receive a passing score 267
on the entire examination, he or she may reapply and shall be 268
allowed to take a later examination. An applicant who has failed 269
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two (2) successive examinations by the board may not reapply until 270
after two (2) years from the date of the last examination failed. 271
The board shall keep the written examination scores, and an 272
accurate transcript of the questions and answers relating to the 273
oral examinations, and the grade assigned to each answer thereof, 274
as part of its records for at least two (2) years after the date 275
of examination. 276
Persons licensed in another state or jurisdiction applying 277
for the authority to practice interjurisdictional telepsychology 278
must meet the requirements set out in the Psychology 279
Interjurisdictional Compact provided for in Section 73-31-51. 280
Each application or filing made under this section shall 281
include the social security number(s) of the applicant in 282
accordance with Section 93-11-64. 283
SECTION 5. Section 73-53-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 284
amended as follows: 285
73-53-11. (1) In addition to the duties set forth elsewhere 286
in this article and in Sections 73-54-1 through 73-54-39, the 287
board is authorized to: 288
(a) Review the quality and availability of social work 289
services provided in this state and make recommendations for 290
change to the Legislature; 291
(b) Recommend to the appropriate law enforcement 292
official the bringing of civil actions to seek injunctions and 293
other relief against individuals engaged in the unlicensed 294
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practice of social work or marriage and family therapy for 295
violations of this article or Sections 73-54-1 through 73-54-39; 296
(c) Adopt, amend or repeal any rules or regulations 297
necessary to carry out the purposes of this article and Sections 298
73-54-1 through 73-54-39 and the duties and responsibilities of 299
the board; 300
(d) Examine and determine the qualifications and 301
fitness of applicants for licenses to practice social work and 302
marriage and family therapy in this state and prepare or approve 303
and conduct all examinations of applicants for licensure; 304
(e) Issue, renew, deny, suspend or revoke licenses to 305
practice social work and marriage and family therapy in this state 306
or otherwise discipline individuals licensed by the board; 307
(f) Investigate alleged or suspected violations of the 308
provisions of this article and Sections 73-54-1 through 73-54-39 309
or other laws of this state pertaining to social work and marriage 310
and family therapy and any rules and regulations adopted by the 311
board; 312
(g) Establish reasonable fees for application for 313
examination, certificates of licensure and renewal, and other 314
services provided by the board, not to exceed the amounts 315
specified in Section 73-53-15; 316
(h) Issue subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of 317
witnesses and the production of papers, records or other 318
documentary evidence. Any member of the board may administer 319
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oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before the board. If 320
in any proceeding before the board any witness fails or refuses to 321
attend upon subpoena issued by the board, refuses to testify, or 322
refuses to produce any books and papers the production of which is 323
called for by the subpoena, the attendance of that witness and the 324
giving of his testimony and the production of the books and papers 325
shall be enforced by any court of competent jurisdiction of this 326
state in the manner provided for the enforcement of attendance and 327
testimony of witnesses in civil cases in the courts of this state; 328
(i) Maintain an office and employ or retain appropriate 329
personnel to carry out the powers and duties of the board; 330
(j) Adopt a code of ethics for licensed social workers 331
that includes the current National Association of Social Workers 332
Code of Ethics, and a code of ethics for licensed marriage and 333
family therapists that includes the American Association for 334
Marriage and Family Therapy Code of Ethics * * *; 335
(k) Regulate the practice of social work and marriage 336
and family therapy by interpreting and enforcing this article and 337
Sections 73-54-1 through 73-54-39; 338
(l) Provide for the examination and supervision 339
requirements for social workers and marriage and family 340
therapists; 341
(m) Establish mechanisms for assessing the continuing 342
professional competence of social workers and marriage and family 343
therapists; 344
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(n) Set criteria for continuing education, which must 345
include two (2) hours of continuing education credits relating to 346
domestic violence as a condition of license renewal; 347
(o) Establish and collect fees for sustaining the 348
necessary operation and expenses of the board; 349
(p) Publish, at least annually, final disciplinary 350
actions against licensees; 351
(q) Report final disciplinary action taken against a 352
licensee to other state or federal regulatory agencies and to a 353
national disciplinary database recognized by the board or as 354
required by law; 355
(r) Share documents, materials, or other information, 356
including confidential and privileged documents, materials, or 357
information, received or maintained by the board with other state 358
or federal agencies and with a national disciplinary database 359
recognized by the board or as required by law, provided that the 360
recipient agrees to maintain the confidentiality and privileged 361
status of the document, material, or other information; 362
(s) Participate in or conduct performance audits; 363
(t) Through its employees and/or representatives, enter 364
and make inspections of any workplace or practice of a social 365
worker or marriage and family therapist who is subject to 366
investigation by the board in order to inspect and/or copy any 367
record pertaining to clients or the practice of social work or 368
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marriage and family therapy under this article and/or Sections 369
73-54-1 through 73-54-39; and 370
(u) Conduct a criminal history records check on 371
licensees whose licensure is subject to investigation by the board 372
and on applicants for licensure. In order to determine the 373
applicant's or licensee's suitability for licensing, the applicant 374
or licensee shall undergo a fingerprint-based criminal history 375
records check of the Mississippi central criminal database and the 376
Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history database. Each 377
applicant or licensee, as applicable, shall submit a full set of 378
the applicant's fingerprints in a form and manner prescribed by 379
the board, which shall be forwarded to the Mississippi Department 380
of Public Safety (department) and the Federal Bureau of 381
Investigation Identification Division for this purpose. The 382
department shall disseminate the results of the state check and 383
the national check to the board for a suitability determination. 384
The board shall be authorized to charge and collect from the 385
applicant or licensee, in addition to all other applicable fees 386
and costs, any amount as may be incurred by the board in 387
requesting and obtaining state and national criminal history 388
records information on the applicant or licensee. 389
Any and all state or national criminal history records 390
information obtained by the board that is not already a matter of 391
public record shall be deemed nonpublic and confidential 392
information restricted to the exclusive use of the board, its 393
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members, officers, investigators, agents and attorneys in 394
evaluating the applicant's or licensee's eligibility or 395
disqualification for licensure, and shall be exempt from the 396
Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. Except when introduced 397
into evidence in a hearing before the board to determine 398
licensure, no such information or records related thereto shall, 399
without the written consent of the applicant or licensee or by 400
order of a court of competent jurisdiction, be released or 401
otherwise disclosed by the board to any other person or agency. 402
(2) The board shall have such other powers as may be 403
required to carry out the provisions of this article. 404
(3) The powers and duties enumerated in this section are 405
granted for the purpose of enabling the board to safeguard the 406
public health, safety and welfare against unqualified or 407
incompetent practitioners of social work or marriage and family 408
therapy, and are to be liberally construed to accomplish this 409
objective. 410
SECTION 6. Section 73-53-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 411
amended as follows: 412
73-53-13. The board shall issue the appropriate license to 413
applicants who meet the qualifications of this section. 414
(a) A license as a "licensed social worker" shall be 415
issued to an applicant who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the 416
board that he or she meets the following qualifications: 417
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(i) Has a baccalaureate degree in social work from 418
a college or university accredited by the Council on Social Work 419
Education or Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and has 420
satisfactorily completed the Association for Social Work Boards 421
(ASWB) examination for this license; or 422
(ii) Has a comparable license or registration from 423
another state or territory of the United States of America that 424
imposes qualifications substantially similar to those of this 425
article. 426
(b) A license as a "licensed master's social worker" 427
shall be issued to an applicant who demonstrates to the 428
satisfaction of the board that he or she meets the following 429
qualifications: 430
(i) Has a doctorate or master's degree from a 431
school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work 432
Education; and 433
(ii) Has satisfactorily completed the ASWB 434
examination for this license; or 435
(iii) Has a comparable license or registration 436
from another state or territory of the United States of America 437
that imposes qualifications substantially similar to those of this 438
article. 439
(c) A license as a "licensed certified social worker" 440
shall be issued to an applicant who demonstrates to the 441
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satisfaction of the board that he or she meets the following 442
qualifications: 443
(i) Is licensed under this section as a "master's 444
social worker"; and 445
(ii) Has completed three (3) credit hours of 446
graduate-level courses related to domestic violence and has 447
twenty-four (24) months of professional supervision and clinical 448
or macro social work practice experience acceptable to the board, 449
under appropriate supervision; and 450
(iii) Has satisfactorily completed the ASWB 451
examination for this license; or 452
(iv) Has a comparable license or registration from 453
another state or territory of the United States of America that 454
imposes qualifications substantially similar to those of this 455
article. 456
(d) In addition to the above qualifications, an 457
applicant for any of the above licenses must prove to the board's 458
satisfaction: 459
(i) Age of at least twenty-one (21) years, and 460
(ii) Good moral character, which is a continuing 461
requirement for licensure, and 462
(iii) United States of America citizenship or 463
status as a legal resident alien, and 464
(iv) Absence of conviction of a felony related to 465
the practice of social work for the last ten (10) years. 466
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Conviction, as used in this subparagraph, includes a deferred 467
conviction, deferred prosecution, deferred sentence, finding or 468
verdict of guilt, an admission of guilty, or a plea of nolo 469
contendere, and 470
(v) That the applicant has not been declared 471
mentally incompetent by any court, and if any such decree has ever 472
been rendered, that the decree has since been changed, and 473
(vi) Freedom from dependency on alcohol or drugs, 474
and 475
(vii) Complete criminal history records check, 476
including a fingerprint and an acceptable sex offender check, by 477
appropriate governmental authorities as prescribed by the board. 478
(e) Only individuals licensed as "certified social 479
workers" shall be permitted to call themselves "clinical social 480
workers." 481
The issuance of a license by reciprocity to a 482
military-trained applicant, military spouse or person who 483
establishes residence in this state shall be subject to the 484
provisions of Section 73-50-1 or 73-50-2, as applicable. 485
Each application or filing made under this section shall 486
include the social security number(s) of the applicant in 487
accordance with Section 93-11-64. 488
SECTION 7. Section 73-54-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 489
amended as follows: 490
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73-54-17. (1) Any person who applies for a marriage and 491
family therapy license after September 1, 2000, shall be issued 492
that license by the board if he or she meets the qualifications 493
set forth in Section 73-54-13, and submits the required 494
application fees, and provides satisfactory evidence to the board 495
that he or she: 496
(a) Meets educational and experience qualifications as 497
follows: 498
(i) Holds a master's degree or doctoral degree in 499
marriage and family therapy from an institution of higher 500
education in a program that is accredited by the Commission on 501
Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), 502
or that was in COAMFTE candidacy status at the time of graduation 503
and subsequently received COAMFTE accreditation, or holds a 504
master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage, couple and family 505
counseling from an institution of higher education that is 506
accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and 507
Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and has completed three (3) 508
credit hours of graduate-level courses related to domestic 509
violence; 510
(ii) Following the receipt of the first qualifying 511
degree, has at least two (2) years of supervised experience in 512
marriage and family therapy, or its equivalent, acceptable to the 513
board; 514
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(iii) Has completed at least one hundred (100) 515
hours of marriage and family therapy supervision following receipt 516
of the first qualifying degree, as defined by the board; 517
(iv) Has completed one hundred (100) hours of 518
clinical supervision before receipt of the qualifying degree; and 519
(v) Has completed a clinical practicum that meets 520
the accreditation requirements of COAMFTE or CACREP programs; 521
(b) Passes the national Examination in Marital and 522
Family Therapy prescribed by the Association for Marital and 523
Family Therapy Regulatory Boards; and 524
(c) Has been successfully cleared through a criminal 525
history records check, including a fingerprint and an acceptable 526
sex offender check, by appropriate governmental authorities as 527
prescribed by the board. 528
(2) Any person who applies for a marriage and family therapy 529
associate license after September 1, 2011, shall be issued that 530
license by the board for a period of twenty-four (24) months, 531
which may be renewed biennially for a period not to exceed a total 532
of forty-eight (48) months, if the applicant meets the 533
qualifications set forth in Section 73-54-13, submits the required 534
application fees, and provides satisfactory evidence to the board 535
that he or she: 536
(a) Holds a master's degree or doctoral degree in 537
marriage and family therapy from an institution of higher 538
education in a program that is accredited by the Commission on 539
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Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), 540
or that was in COAMFTE candidacy status at the time of graduation 541
and subsequently received COAMFTE accreditation; or holds a 542
master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage, couple and family 543
counseling from an institution of higher education that is 544
accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and 545
Related Educational Programs (CACREP); 546
(b) Completed a clinical practicum that meets the 547
accreditation requirements of COAMFTE or CACREP programs and one 548
hundred (100) hours of clinical supervision before receipt of the 549
qualifying degree; 550
(c) Passes the national Examination in Marital and 551
Family Therapy prescribed by the Association for Marital and 552
Family Therapy Regulatory Boards; 553
(d) Provides all professional services under the 554
supervision of a qualified supervisor in accordance with a 555
supervision contract approved by the board; and 556
(e) Has been successfully cleared through a criminal 557
history records check, including a fingerprint and an acceptable 558
sex offender check, by appropriate governmental authorities as 559
prescribed by the board. 560
SECTION 8. Section 73-54-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 561
amended as follows: 562
73-54-27. (1) Except as provided in Section 33-1-39, 563
licenses issued under this chapter shall be valid for two (2) 564
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years and must be renewed biennially, with the renewal fee being 565
determined by the board but not to exceed Three Hundred Fifty 566
Dollars ($350.00). 567
(2) The license of any marriage and family therapist or 568
marriage and family therapy associate who fails to renew 569
biennially by the license expiration date shall lapse; the failure 570
to renew the license shall not deprive the marriage and family 571
therapist or marriage and family therapy associate of the right of 572
renewal thereafter. Such lapsed license may be renewed within a 573
period of two (2) years after such lapse upon payment of all fees 574
in arrears. 575
(3) A marriage and family therapist wishing to renew a 576
license that has been lapsed for more than two (2) years shall be 577
required to reapply for licensure. 578
(4) The board shall require each licensed marriage and 579
family therapist and marriage and family therapy associate to 580
participate in approved continuing education activities in order 581
to renew a license issued under this chapter. Such continuing 582
education must include two (2) hours of continuing education 583
credits relating to domestic violence as a condition of license 584
renewal. 585
(5) Any licensed marriage and family therapist who notifies 586
the board, in writing on forms prescribed by the board, may place 587
his or her license on inactive status and shall be excused from 588
the payment of renewal fees until the person notifies the board in 589
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ST: Domestic violence education; require for
persons licensed to provide mental health
services.
writing of the intention to resume active practice. Any licensed 590
marriage and family therapist requesting his or her license to be 591
changed from inactive to active status shall be required to pay 592
the current fee and shall also demonstrate compliance with 593
continuing education requirements as defined by the board. 594
Licensed marriage and family therapy associates are not eligible 595
for inactive status. 596
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from 597
and after July 1, 2026. 598