IdahoH 07032026 regular legislative sessionHouseWALLET

OCCUPATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING – Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to revise provisions regarding the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

28 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 7 costs, 15 mixed.

Another path to landscape architect licensing

Beginning July 1, 2026, landscape architect applicants have an alternative to graduating from a board-approved school. Applicants must be at least 18 and show at least eight years of landscape architecture experience or education. The board must find that evidence satisfactory under its rules and sufficient to show competence. Applicants must also pass a board-approved exam.

Licensed professionals gain landscape work exemptions

Beginning July 1, 2026, the landscape architecture exemption covers professionals licensed to practice their respective professions. It is no longer limited to architects, professional engineers, geologists, and land surveyors. The exemption covers work under the other profession’s license, not unrestricted practice outside that profession.

Manufacturers can request modular building inspections

Beginning July 1, 2026, the licensing division must inspect Idaho-built modular buildings when the manufacturer requests it in writing. Inspections follow the building codes adopted for the program. Existing inspection fees remain in place; the supplied provisions do not state their amounts.

Clear complaint process for licensing concerns

Beginning July 1, 2026, anyone can file a complaint that gives enough detail to explain a licensee’s alleged misconduct. The licensing entity must notify the licensee, request a response, and tell the complainant when it lacks authority. The original complainant can request a status report. Complaint files are not public, and informal settlements can remain confidential when public-records exceptions allow. Licensing entities can also accept voluntary credential surrenders and resolve cases through agreements or consent orders.

Medical board must review maternal deaths

Beginning July 1, 2026, Idaho’s medical board must collect and review information about maternal deaths. It can require records and other information related to those deaths. The board must report to the Legislature by January 31 each year. Reports include the number of deaths and other information the board chooses.

Geology board can make interstate agreements

Beginning July 1, 2026, Idaho’s geology board can make agreements supporting geology work and regulation in the state. These can include interstate compacts, mutual aid agreements, and contracts. The law does not require an agreement or automatically grant a license to practice across state lines.

Fees apply to outfitted hunting tags

Beginning July 1, 2026, each allocated outfitted big game tag sold or exchanged at a department sales machine carries a $5 fee. A person submitting a big game tag for verification as outfitted pays $20 per tag. Total fees depend on the number of sales, exchanges, and verification submissions.

Doctors lose an early investigation safeguard

Beginning July 1, 2026, medical-board rules require legislative approval, and the board’s stated role shifts toward reviewing investigations and examinations. The law removes a required notice and meeting opportunity before formal disciplinary proceedings. It also removes older board-specific subpoena and final-order provisions as part of the shared enforcement overhaul. Those removed provisions covered license sanctions, fines up to $10,000 per offense, investigation costs, and attorney fees. Their removal does not establish that these penalties disappear from the broader law.

New discipline rules for licensed professionals

Beginning July 1, 2026, Idaho uses a shared licensing enforcement system across many professional boards. Added grounds for discipline include unlicensed practice, helping others practice without a license, and failing to cooperate with investigations. Applicants and license holders must also keep meeting their initial license requirements. Sanctions include license suspension, restitution, and fines generally capped at $1,000 per offense unless another law sets a different amount. The law also allows discipline for unprofessional conduct that endangers, or is likely to endanger, public health, welfare, or safety.

Nursing discipline reaches beyond license holders

Beginning July 1, 2026, nursing discipline provisions cover an “individual,” rather than only a “licensee.” The nursing board can take action when that person’s conduct meets a listed ground for discipline. The wording broadens who can fall within these provisions.

Citizens keep veterinary court action rights

Beginning July 1, 2026, the veterinary provision no longer expressly names the board, attorney general, or county prosecutors as enforcement parties. Any Idaho citizen can still ask a court to stop unlicensed veterinary practice. That right covers practice without a current, active license, certification, temporary permit, or temporary certification. The removal changes the listed government parties, not the preserved citizen right.

Pharmacy board loses separate emergency route

Beginning July 1, 2026, the law removes the pharmacy board’s separately stated emergency certificate proceedings. That authority covered suspension, revocation, or restrictions when grounds for discipline appeared to exist. It also required a finding of immediate danger to public health, safety, or welfare. This removes that specific route, not the law’s broader shared enforcement framework.

Appraisal boards lose separate enforcement powers

Beginning July 1, 2026, the appraiser board loses its separate authority to file court complaints for chapter violations. Fines and imprisonment remain for working as a state-licensed or certified appraiser without the required credential. The appraisal management company board loses its express investigation authority but retains discipline, registration, licensing, fine, and civil penalty powers. These removals occur alongside the law’s shared division enforcement framework.

Outfitted hunters get tag allocation rules

Beginning July 1, 2026, capped-hunt outfitted allocations can use the highest outfitted tag use from either previous year. Controlled-hunt allocations can use each outfitter’s highest use from those two years. Extra tags can come from the outfitted set-aside pool or nonresident quota, but cannot exceed 50% of that hunt’s nonresident quota. Outfitters must record allocated tags with the department by December 20 each year. Allocation history relies on sales records and verified use, with verified use required since December 1, 2020.

Outfitted hunting tags require signed agreements

Beginning July 1, 2026, outfitted-hunter set-aside tags stay separate from resident and nonresident tag totals. Buyers must sign an agreement to use a licensed outfitter, who submits the application and required fees. Unsold general-hunt set-aside tags may be released to the public after July 15. Unsold general capped-hunt set-aside tags may be released after July 31 of that year.

Landscape architect fees have new limits

Beginning July 1, 2026, the board can set landscape architect application fees up to $200. Original license and two-year renewal fees can each reach $400. A reinstatement fee also applies, but its amount is not stated here. The law removes the prior express exam-fee limit and the failed-exam review-cost rule. Actual application and license fees depend on the amounts the board sets.

Architects and engineers change enforcement systems

Beginning July 1, 2026, shared Division enforcement replaces many separately listed professional-board powers. The architects’ section loses listed licensing, investigation, discipline, and Division-service powers. The engineering board’s section loses its separate subpoena and court-order powers for engineering and land surveying violations. The law also removes a specific prosecutor or attorney general route to immediately stop engineering work posing an imminent, substantial danger. That removed route covered threats to health, safety, or the environment.

Chiropractors face new rule oversight

Beginning July 1, 2026, chiropractic board rules require legislative approval. The law removes older listed powers for license discipline, hearings, subpoenas, and court orders stopping unlawful practice. It also removes that section’s fee-setting and enforcement-cost assessment authority for licensees found to have violated the chapter. Shared Division enforcement remains part of the broader licensing framework. These removals do not establish that all fees or enforcement-cost charges end.

Geologists move to shared discipline rules

Beginning July 1, 2026, the geology board keeps authority to discipline registered geologists on listed grounds. The law removes separate subpoena, court-order, hearing, probation, and disciplinary-review provisions. Removed remedies include recovery of costs and fees and fines up to $1,000 per violation; shared Division sanctions remain available. The law also removes the express assignment of geology prosecutions to prosecutors where violations occur. Listed violations remain misdemeanors.

Health licensing boards use shared enforcement

Beginning July 1, 2026, shared Division enforcement replaces several older health-board provisions. Optometry, denturist, massage therapy, and physical therapy sections lose listed investigation, hearing, or subpoena powers. Denturist and physical therapy sections also lose separately listed license-sanction powers. The physical therapy section loses express recognition of certain earlier medical-board licenses and related decisions. The law does not state that those earlier licenses become invalid.

Licensing officials gain shared enforcement tools

Beginning July 1, 2026, division-run entities can hold hearings, take sworn testimony, and require witnesses and records through subpoenas. Courts must enforce subpoenas; witness fees and mileage follow district-court criminal-case rates. The division can seek court orders stopping practice-law violations, including temporary orders when violations are likely to continue. Licensing entities can refer alleged crimes to prosecutors in the county where they happened. The law removes massage therapy’s separate board injunction authority, but violations remain misdemeanors and the division has shared injunction authority.

Plumbing enforcement moves to shared rules

Beginning July 1, 2026, the plumbing administrator’s older section loses separate witness, oath, and subpoena powers. It also loses its separate authority to impose civil penalties and seek court orders stopping further violations. The broader law provides shared Division enforcement powers. These changes do not establish that plumbing violations become penalty-free.

Psychologists face revised ethics and oversight

Beginning July 1, 2026, psychology-board rules require legislative approval. The ethics code must match current American Psychological Association standards, without the former express requirement to track future amendments. For complaints, the board reviews investigations rather than conducting hearings, while retaining authority to seek prosecution and court orders. Its separate sworn-testimony and subpoena provisions are removed as shared Division enforcement is established.

Service businesses change licensing enforcement systems

Beginning July 1, 2026, shared Division enforcement replaces several older service-business board powers. Removed powers include a board’s separate authority to require consumer repayment as a license condition and impose license sanctions. Driving-business provisions lose a separate court-order route and a penalty equal to prosecution costs and fees after an injunction or criminal finding. Barbering and cosmetology provisions lose a separate civil penalty capped at $1,000 per violation. Shared sanctions still include restitution and fines, so these removals do not guarantee lower penalties.

Shared penalties for licensed professionals

Beginning July 1, 2026, division-run licensing entities use a shared discipline framework after finding a violation. They can deny renewal or reinstatement, suspend or revoke credentials, require training or rehabilitation, and issue reprimands. They can order repayment to consumers and seek investigation costs and attorney fees. Fines can reach $1,000 per count or offense unless the entity’s laws or rules set another limit. Discipline remains subject to each profession’s legal limits, and letting a credential expire does not end disciplinary authority. The law removes separate pharmacy penalties, including the former $2,000-per-occurrence fine authority, and physical therapy’s specific consumer repayment power.

Unlicensed public works enforcement changes routes

Beginning July 1, 2026, the public works contractor administrator loses a separately stated court-order route against unlicensed contractors. That route allowed a state lawsuit to stop further violations. Existing misdemeanor penalties and other requirements remain. The broader law establishes shared Division enforcement rather than making unlicensed contracting lawful.

Subdivision enforcement loses separate court route

Beginning July 1, 2026, the commission loses its separately stated court-order power under the subdivided-lands chapter. That route covered actual or impending violations of the chapter, rules, or commission orders. It allowed court action with or without earlier administrative proceedings. Shared Division enforcement provides a broader framework, but this specific route is removed.

Outfitter enforcement moves to shared rules

Beginning July 1, 2026, the outfitter and guide board keeps its general authority to enforce licensing law. Its older section no longer separately authorizes license-discipline hearings, subpoenas, or court orders stopping violations. The law establishes shared Division enforcement tools as part of this broader change. Removing those older provisions does not, by itself, end licensing enforcement.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

BUSINESS COMMITTEE
Affiliation unavailable

Cosponsors

Todd M. Lakey
Republican • Senate
Jordan Redman
Republican • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 167 • No: 1

House vote • 3/26/2026

House Floor Vote

Yes: 67 • No: 0

Senate vote • 3/23/2026

Senate Floor Vote

Yes: 32 • No: 1

House vote • 2/26/2026