(A) All licenses are valid for a period of time not to exceed two years, and it is the licensee's responsibility to renew the license on March fifteenth whether or not a notice is received. An occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant who first becomes licensed after December fourteenth in any year is not required to renew until March fifteenth of the year following the next year.

(B) A licensed occupational therapist and a licensed occupational therapy assistant before March sixteenth in every other year shall apply to the board for license renewal and pay the renewal fee provided for in regulation.

(C) As a condition of license renewal, a licensee must complete satisfactorily sixteen hours of continuing education per biennium as defined in regulation and must submit proof of completion on a form approved by the board and must be certified and in good standing with NBCOT or other board-approved certification program.

(D) Notwithstanding subsection (H), if a person's license lapses because the person did not satisfy the continuing education and certification requirements of subsection (C), the person must comply with subsection (C) before the board may renew the license.

(E) If a person does not renew a license by March fifteenth or if a license renewal application is not postmarked before March sixteenth, the board may charge a late renewal penalty as established in regulation if renewed before April sixteenth. If a person fails to renew a license and if a license renewal application is not postmarked before April sixteenth, the person's license automatically lapses as of April sixteenth. A person who fails to renew a license or who fails to submit a license renewal application postmarked before March sixteenth and who practices as an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant after March fifteenth is deemed to be practicing without a license and is subject to the penalties provided for in this chapter.

(F) A licensee who does not wish to renew an active license may select inactive status on the renewal form and return the form to the board. A licensee whose license is placed on inactive status may not practice occupational therapy while the license is inactive.

(G) An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant whose license has been inactive for fewer than three years may reactivate the license by applying to the board, submitting proof of completion of eight hours of continuing education for each year the license has been inactive, and paying the reactivation fee provided for in regulation.

An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant whose license has been inactive for three years or more shall complete, as provided for in regulation:

(1) supervised contact hours;

(2) additional education; and

(3) if necessary, an examination.

An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant whose license has been inactive for fewer than three years and who has active status outside of this State may reinstate the license by submitting proof of completion of eight hours of continuing education for each year the license has lapsed, official verification of all current licenses, and the reactivation fee provided for in regulation.

An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant whose license has been inactive for three years or more and who has active status outside of this State may reinstate the license by submitting evidence satisfactory to the board of not less than one thousand hours of out-of-state employment within the last year, official verification of all current licenses, and the reactivation fee provided for in regulation.

(H) To reactivate a lapsed license, the occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant must comply with the requirements for reactivating an inactive license as provided for in subsection (G).

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 356, Section 1; 1999 Act No. 29, Section 1.