This article does not apply to:

(1) salaried employees performing duties for which they were trained and hired solely within a federal, state, county, or local:

(a) governmental agency;

(b) licensed mental health or alcohol or drug abuse facility;

(c) accredited academic institutions;

(d) licensed, formally accredited nonprofit agencies; or

(e) research institutions.

(2) persons pursuing a course of study in a regionally accredited educational or training facility as a formal part of a process to obtain a license associated with this article, if the services constitute a part of a supervised course of study;

(3) nonresidents, appropriately licensed or credentialed in their home state, who offer services within this State, if these services are performed for no more than five days a month, and no more than thirty days in any calendar year;

(4) volunteers accountable to a sponsoring agency;

(5) qualified members of other professionals licensed in this State including, but not limited to, attorneys, physicians, psychologists, registered nurses, or social workers performing duties consistent with the laws of this State, their training, and any code of ethics of their profession if they do not represent themselves as being licensed pursuant to this article;

(6) a minister, priest, rabbi, or clergy person of any religious denomination or sect, when the activities are within the scope of performance of his or her regular or specialized ministerial duties, and no fee is received by him or her; or when these activities are performed, with or without compensation, by a person under the auspices or sponsorship of an established church, denomination, or sect and when the person rendering services remains accountable to the established authority and does not hold himself or herself out to the public as possessing a license issued pursuant to this article; or

(7) members of peer groups or self-help groups when engaging in or offering self-help assistance as part of peer support groups or self-help organizations including, but not limited to, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA), AA or NA sponsorship, or other uncompensated alcohol or other drug abuse or dependent services.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 396, Section 8; 2018 Act No. 249 (H.4601), Section 15, eff May 18, 2018.

Effect of Amendment

2018 Act No. 249, Section 15, deleted (8) and (9), which related to certain addiction counselors, and made a nonsubstantive change.