Arkansas Occupational Licensing for Service Members, Veterans and Military Spouses

Chapter 4 of Title 17, the Arkansas Occupational Licensing of Uniformed Service Members, Veterans, and Spouses Act, covers nearly every state licensing board outside the judicial branch. Who is covered. Section 17-4-104: a uniformed service member stationed in Arkansas; a uniformed service veteran who lives in or moves to Arkansas; and the spouse of either, the spouse of a member on an unaccompanied tour who moves here, and the surviving spouse of a member who died in the line of duty who moves here. A uniformed service veteran is any former member of the uniformed services "discharged under conditions other than dishonorable", so NOAA and Public Health Service veterans count. Automatic licensure. Section 17-4-105: the board "shall grant automatic occupational licensure" to a covered person who holds a licence in good standing with a similar scope of practice from another state, territory or the District of Columbia. A board may instead adopt an expedited process under section 17-4-106 with a temporary licence of at least 90 days, but only if the legislature's rules subcommittee approves it. Military training. Section 17-4-107: boards shall accept relevant military education, training, national certification or service-issued credentials toward an initial licence. Deployment. Section 17-4-108: a board shall extend a deployed member's or spouse's licence for 180 days after the member's return, and may excuse continuing education until then. Act 470 of 2025 repealed the boards' duty to report how many people received automatic and expedited licences, so there is no longer a published count. Federal law sets a floor under the expedited route. For a service member or spouse who moves to Arkansas on military orders, 50 U.S.C. 4025a, as rewritten by Public Law 118-159 in December 2024, treats a licence in good standing from another state as valid for its scope of practice once the holder applies with the orders and a notarized affidavit, and allows a temporary licence only where the board needs more than 30 days. A board that has adopted an expedited process under section 17-4-106 cannot hold a family on orders to it. Veterans and spouses of veterans are outside the federal section and rely on chapter 4 alone. The older examination credit. Section 17-1-101 separately gives honorably discharged veterans a 10 percent credit on any state board licensing examination. Until Act 508 of 2025 it named only the Army, Navy and Marine Corps; it now also names the Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard.