FIRST REGULAR SESSION
[P E R F E C T E D]
SENATE BILL NO. 347
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATORS CLEMENS AND TAYLOR.
Read 1st time February 14, 2005, and ordered printed.
Read 2nd time February 17, 2005, and referred to the Committee on Aging, Families, Mental and Public Health.
Reported from the Committee March 14, 2005, with recommendation that the bill do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar.
Taken up March 30, 2005. Read 3rd time and placed upon its final passage; bill passed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
1114S.03P
AN ACT
To repeal section 337.510, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to licensing requirements for professional counselors.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 337.510, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 337.510, to read as follows:
337.510. 1. Each applicant for licensure as a professional counselor shall furnish evidence to the committee that:
(1) The applicant has met any one of the three following education-experience requirements:
(a) The applicant has received a doctoral degree with a major in counseling, or its equivalent, from an acceptable educational institution, as defined by division rules, and has completed at least one year of acceptable supervised counseling experience subsequent to receipt of the doctoral degree; or
(b) The applicant has received a specialist's degree with a major in counseling, or its equivalent, from an acceptable educational institution, as defined by division rules, and has completed at least one year of acceptable supervised counseling experience subsequent to receipt of the specialist's degree; or
(c) The applicant has received at least a master's degree with a major in counseling, or its equivalent, from an acceptable educational institution as defined by division rules, and has completed two years of acceptable supervised counseling experience subsequent to receipt of the master's degree. An applicant may substitute thirty semester hours of post-master's graduate study, or their equivalent, for one of the two required years of acceptable supervised counseling experience, if such hours are clearly related to the field of professional counseling and are earned from an acceptable educational institution.
(2) After August 28, 2007, each applicant shall have completed a minimum of three hours of graduate level coursework in diagnostic systems in the curriculum leading to his or her degree.
(3) Upon examination, the applicant is possessed of requisite knowledge of the profession, including techniques and applications, research and its interpretation, and professional affairs and ethics.
2. A licensed professional counselor who has had no violations and no suspensions and no revocation of a license to practice professional counseling in any jurisdiction may receive a license in Missouri provided said licensed professional counselor passes a written examination on Missouri laws and regulations governing the practice of professional counseling as defined in section 337.500, and meets one of the following criteria:
(1) Is a member in good standing and holds a certification from the National Board for Certified Counselors;
(2) Is currently licensed or certified as a licensed professional counselor in another state, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia; and
(a) Meets one of the educational standards set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of this section;
(b) Has been licensed for the preceding five years; and
(c) Has had no disciplinary action taken against the license for the preceding five years; or
(3) Is currently licensed or certified as a professional counselor in another state, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia that extends like privileges for reciprocal licensing or certification to persons licensed by this state with similar qualifications.
3. Any person who previously held a valid unrevoked, unsuspended license as a professional counselor in this state and who held a valid license in another state at the time of application to the committee shall be granted a license to engage in professional counseling in this state upon application to the committee accompanied by the appropriate fee as established by the committee pursuant to section 337.507.
4. The committee shall issue a license to each person who files an application and fee as required by the provisions of sections 337.500 to 337.540 and who furnishes evidence satisfactory to the committee that the applicant has complied with the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section or with the provisions of subsection 2 or 3 of this section. The division shall issue a provisional professional counselor license to any applicant who meets all requirements of subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section, but who has not completed the required one or two years of acceptable supervised counseling experience required by paragraphs (a) to (c) of subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of this section, and such applicant may reapply for licensure as a professional counselor upon completion of such acceptable supervised counseling experience.
5. All persons licensed to practice professional counseling in this state shall pay on or before the license renewal date a renewal license fee and shall furnish to the committee satisfactory evidence of the completion of the requisite number of hours of continuing education, which shall be no more than forty hours biennially. The continuing education requirements may be waived by the committee upon presentation to the committee of satisfactory evidence of the illness of the licensee or for other good cause.