1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
3 HOUSE BILL 2723 By: Hefner
4
5
6 AS INTRODUCED
7 An Act relating to mental health; creating the
Interstate Licensed Professional Counselors Compact;
8 stating purpose; providing definitions; providing
requirements for state participation in the Compact;
9 providing requirements for licensee to participate in
Compact; providing requirements for licensee to
10 obtain a new home state license based on
participation in Compact; providing for active duty
11 military and their spouse; providing for Compact
privilege to practice telehealth; establishing
12 Counseling Compact Commission; providing requirements
for Commission; providing rules; providing for
13 codification; and providing an effective date.
14
15
16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
17 SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
18 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 6-220 of Title 43A, unless there
19 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
20 Interstate Licensed Professional Counselors Compact
21 ARTICLE I
22 Purpose
23 The purpose of this compact is to facilitate interstate practice
24 of licensed professional counselors with the goal of improving
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1 public access to professional counseling services. The practice of
2 professional counseling occurs in the state where the client is
3 located at the time of the counseling services. The compact
4 preserves the regulatory authority of states to protect public
5 health and safety through the current system of state licensure.
6 This compact is designed to achieve the following objectives:
7 1. Increase public access to professional counseling services
8 by providing for the mutual recognition of other member state
9 licenses;
10 2. Enhance the states' ability to protect the public's health
11 and safety;
12 3. Encourage the cooperation of member states in regulating
13 multistate practice for licensed professional counselors;
14 4. Support spouses of relocating active duty military
15 personnel;
16 5. Enhance the exchange of licensure, investigative, and
17 disciplinary information among member states;
18 6. Allow for the use of telehealth technology to facilitate
19 increased access to professional counseling services;
20 7. Support the uniformity of professional counseling licensure
21 requirements throughout the states to promote public safety and
22 public health benefits;
23 8. Invest all member states with the authority to hold a
24 licensed professional counselor accountable for meeting all state
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1 practice laws in the state in which the client is located at the
2 time care is rendered through the mutual recognition of member state
3 licenses;
4 9. Eliminate the necessity for licenses in multiple states; and
5 10. Provide opportunities for interstate practice by licensed
6 professional counselors who meet uniform licensure requirements.
7 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
8 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 6-221 of Title 43A, unless there
9 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
10 ARTICLE II
11 Definitions
12 As used in this compact, and except as otherwise provided, the
13 following definitions shall apply:
14 1. "Active duty military" means full-time duty status in the
15 active uniformed service of the United States, including members of
16 the National Guard and Reserve on active duty orders pursuant to 10
17 U.S.C., Chapters 1209 and 1211;
18 2. "Adverse action" means any administrative, civil, equitable,
19 or criminal action permitted by a state's laws which is imposed by a
20 licensing board or other authority against a licensed professional
21 counselor, including actions against an individual's license or
22 privilege to practice such as revocation, suspension, probation,
23 monitoring of the licensee, limitation on the licensee's practice,
24 or any other encumbrance on licensure affecting a licensed
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1 professional counselor's authorization to practice, including
2 issuance of a cease and desist action;
3 3. "Alternative program" means a nondisciplinary monitoring or
4 practice remediation process approved by a professional counseling
5 licensing board to address impaired practitioners;
6 4. "Continuing competence/education" means a requirement, as a
7 condition of license renewal, to provide evidence of participation
8 in, or completion of, educational and professional activities
9 relevant to practice or area of work;
10 5. "Counseling Compact Commission" or "Commission" means the
11 national administrative body whose membership consists of all states
12 that have enacted the compact;
13 6. "Current significant investigative information" means:
14 a. investigative information that a licensing board,
15 after a preliminary inquiry which includes
16 notification and an opportunity for the licensed
17 professional counselor to respond, if required by
18 state law, has reason to believe is not groundless
19 and, if proved true, would indicate more than a minor
20 infraction, or
21 b. investigative information that indicates that the
22 licensed professional counselor represents an
23 immediate threat to public health and safety
24 regardless of whether the licensed professional
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1 counselor has been notified and had an opportunity to
2 respond;
3 7. "Data system" means a repository of information about
4 licensees, including, but not limited to, continuing education,
5 examination, licensure, investigative, privilege to practice, and
6 adverse action information;
7 8. "Encumbered license" means a license in which an adverse
8 action restricts the practice of licensed professional counseling by
9 the licensee and said adverse action has been reported to the
10 national practitioners data bank;
11 9. "Encumbrance" means a revocation or suspension of, or any
12 limitation on, the full and unrestricted practice of licensed
13 professional counseling by a licensing board;
14 10. "Executive committee" means a group of directors elected or
15 appointed to act on behalf of, and within the powers granted to them
16 by, the commission;
17 11. "Home state" means the member state that is the licensee's
18 primary state of residence;
19 12. "Impaired practitioner" means an individual who has a
20 condition that may impair his or her ability to practice as a
21 licensed professional counselor without some type of intervention
22 and may include, but is not limited to, alcohol and drug dependence,
23 mental health impairment, and neurological or physical impairments;
24
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1 13. "Investigative information" means information, records, and
2 documents received or generated by a professional counseling
3 licensing board pursuant to an investigation;
4 14. "Jurisprudence requirement", if required by a member state,
5 means the assessment of an individual's knowledge of the laws and
6 rules governing the practice of professional counseling in a state;
7 15. "Licensed professional counselor" means a counselor
8 licensed by a member state, regardless of the title used by that
9 state, to independently assess, diagnose, and treat behavioral
10 health conditions;
11 16. "Licensee" means an individual who currently holds an
12 authorization from the state to practice as a licensed professional
13 counselor;
14 17. "Licensing board" means the agency of a state, or
15 equivalent, that is responsible for the licensing and regulation of
16 licensed professional counselors;
17 18. "Member state" means a state that has enacted the compact;
18 19. "Privilege to practice" means a legal authorization, which
19 is equivalent to a license, permitting the practice of professional
20 counseling in a remote state;
21 20. "Professional counseling" means the assessment, diagnosis,
22 and treatment of behavioral health conditions by a licensed
23 professional counselor;
24
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1 21. "Remote state" means a member state, other than the home
2 state, where a licensee is exercising or seeking to exercise the
3 privilege to practice;
4 22. "Rule" means a regulation promulgated by the commission
5 that has the force of law;
6 23. "Single state license" means a licensed professional
7 counselor license issued by a member state that authorizes practice
8 only within the issuing state and does not include a privilege to
9 practice in any other member state;
10 24. "State" means any state, commonwealth, district, or
11 territory of the United States of America that regulates the
12 practice of professional counseling;
13 25. "Telehealth" means the application of telecommunication
14 technology to deliver professional counseling services remotely to
15 assess, diagnose, and treat behavioral health conditions; and
16 26. "Unencumbered license" means a license that authorizes a
17 licensed professional counselor to engage in the full and
18 unrestricted practice of professional counseling.
19 SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
20 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 6-222 of Title 43A, unless there
21 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
22 ARTICLE III
23 State Participation in the Compact
24 A. To participate in the compact, a state must currently:
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1 1. License and regulate licensed professional counselors;
2 2. Require licensees to pass a nationally recognized exam
3 approved by the commission;
4 3. Require licensees to have a sixty (60) semester-hour, or
5 ninety (90) quarter-hour, master's degree in counseling or sixty
6 (60) semester-hours (or ninety (90) quarter-hours) of graduate
7 coursework, including the following topic areas:
8 a. professional counseling orientation and ethical
9 practice,
10 b. social and cultural diversity,
11 c. human growth and development,
12 d. career development,
13 e. counseling and helping relationships,
14 f. group counseling and group work,
15 g. diagnosis and treatment,
16 h. assessment and testing,
17 i. research and program evaluation, and
18 j. other areas as determined by the commission;
19 4. Require licensees to complete a supervised postgraduate
20 professional experience as defined by the commission; and
21 5. Have a mechanism in place for receiving and investigating
22 complaints about licensees.
23 B. A member state shall:
24
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1 1. Participate fully in the commission's data system, including
2 using the commission's unique identifier as defined in rules;
3 2. Notify the commission, in compliance with the terms of the
4 compact and rules, of any adverse action or the availability of
5 investigative information regarding a licensee;
6 3. Implement or utilize procedures for considering the criminal
7 history records of applicants for an initial privilege to practice.
8 These procedures shall include the submission of fingerprints or
9 other biometric-based information by applicants for the purpose of
10 obtaining an applicant's criminal history record information from
11 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the agency responsible for
12 retaining that state's criminal records.
13 A member state must fully implement a criminal background check
14 requirement, within a time frame established by rule, by receiving
15 the results of the Federal Bureau of Investigation record search and
16 shall use the results in making licensure decisions.
17 Communication between a member state, the commission, and among
18 member states regarding the verification of eligibility for
19 licensure through the compact shall not include any information
20 received from the Federal Bureau of Investigation relating to a
21 federal criminal records check performed by a member state under
22 Public Law 92-544;
23 4. Comply with the rules of the commission;
24
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1 5. Require an applicant to obtain or retain a license in the
2 home state and meet the home state's qualifications for licensure or
3 renewal of licensure, as well as all other applicable state laws;
4 6. Grant the privilege to practice to a licensee holding a
5 valid unencumbered license in another member state in accordance
6 with the terms of the compact and rules; and
7 7. Provide for the attendance of the state's commissioner to
8 the counseling compact commission meetings.
9 C. Member states may charge a fee for granting the privilege to
10 practice.
11 D. Individuals not residing in a member state shall continue to
12 be able to apply for a member state's single state license as
13 provided under the laws of each member state. However, the single
14 state license granted to these individuals shall not be recognized
15 as granting a privilege to practice professional counseling in any
16 other member state.
17 E. Nothing in this compact shall affect the requirements
18 established by a member state for the issuance of a single state
19 license.
20 F. A license issued to a licensed professional counselor by a
21 home state to a resident in that state shall be recognized by each
22 member state as authorizing a licensed professional counselor to
23 practice professional counseling, under a privilege to practice in
24 each member state.
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1 SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
2 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 6-223 of Title 43A, unless there
3 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
4 ARTICLE IV
5 Privilege to Practice
6 A. To exercise the privilege to practice under the terms and
7 provisions of the compact, the licensee shall:
8 1. Hold a license in the home state;
9 2. Have a valid United States Social Security number or
10 national practitioner identifier;
11 3. Be eligible for a privilege to practice in any member state
12 in accordance with Section 4(d), (g), and (h) of this compact;
13 4. Have not had any encumbrance or restriction against any
14 license or privilege to practice within the previous two (2) years;
15 5. Notify the commission that the licensee is seeking the
16 privilege to practice within a remote state(s);
17 6. Pay any applicable fees, including any state fee, for the
18 privilege to practice;
19 7. Meet any continuing competence/education requirements
20 established by the home state;
21 8. Meet any jurisprudence requirements established by the
22 remote state(s) in which the licensee is seeking a privilege to
23 practice; and
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1 9. Report to the commission any adverse action, encumbrance, or
2 restriction on license taken by any non-member state within thirty
3 (30) days from the date the action is taken.
4 B. The privilege to practice is valid until the expiration date
5 of the home state license. The licensee must comply with the
6 requirements of Section 4(a) of this compact to maintain the
7 privilege to practice in the remote state.
8 C. A licensee providing professional counseling in a remote
9 state under the privilege to practice shall adhere to the laws and
10 regulations of the remote state.
11 D. A licensee providing professional counseling services in a
12 remote state is subject to that state's regulatory authority. A
13 remote state may, in accordance with due process and that state's
14 laws, remove a licensee's privilege to practice in the remote state
15 for a specific period of time, impose fines, or take any other
16 necessary actions to protect the health and safety of its citizens.
17 The licensee may be ineligible for a privilege to practice in any
18 member state until the specific time for removal has passed and all
19 fines are paid.
20 E. If a home state license is encumbered, th