33-23-109. Examinations required of applicants for licensure; qualifications; existing practitioners, passing grade; reexamination; fees; renewal of license; retirement.

(a) Any applicant for licensure under this act is required to pass the examination series administered by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, or its successor agency, and any other examination specified by the board in rule. The applicant shall be a graduate of an optometric school or college accredited by a regional or professional accreditation organization which is recognized or approved by the council on postsecondary accreditation or the United States Department of Education (USDE) or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), or their successor agencies. Examinations shall cover subjects designated by the board. Any currently licensed person intending to employ diagnostic or therapeutic pharmaceutical agents in his practice is required to complete and pass a board approved course pertaining to the use of those agents.

(b) No applicant shall be passed by the board who fails to obtain a grade of seventy-five percent (75%) in every subject upon which he is examined. If any applicant fails to pass any examination, he shall be examined at the next or any succeeding examination only in the subject in which he failed to obtain a grade of eighty-five percent (85%). The applicant shall apply for his license within six (6) months after he has satisfactorily passed the examination or the examination shall be of no effect. Before engaging in the practice of optometry, and after the license has been delivered to him, each licensed optometrist shall notify the board in writing of the place where he intends to begin practice and of any subsequent changes of his office location. Notices given to him by the board shall be given by mailing to that address.

(c) In addition to subsections (a) and (b) of this section, an applicant for licensure under this act shall provide the board fingerprints and other information necessary for a criminal history record background check as provided under W.S. 7-19-201.

(d) The board of examiners, pursuant to W.S. 33-1-201, shall establish fees for the standard examination, initial license and the annual renewal of the license. Every optometrist who desires to continue the practice of optometry shall annually, on or before April 1, pay the board the required renewal fee. A license which has expired due to failure to renew may be reinstated by the board upon receipt of the renewal fee and reinstatement and late fees set by the board in accordance with W.S. 33-1-201 provided the request for reinstatement is received in the board office no later than June 30 of the year in which the license expired. An optometrist who previously notified the board that he had retired may renew his license by submitting renewal fees for each year in which no license was issued and a reinstatement fee within three (3) years of the expiration date of the last license held. Upon retirement from active practice, an optometrist shall notify the board in writing.

(e) The board may issue a license by endorsement to engage in the practice of optometry to an applicant who is currently licensed in another United States or Canadian jurisdiction with substantially equivalent requirements as Wyoming and who meets Wyoming requirements for licensure by endorsement. Applicants for licensure by endorsement shall comply with standards set forth in board rules.