Title 17 — Professions, Occupations, and Businesses

It is intended that the provisions of this chapter be in accordance with and consistent with the Arkansas Medical Practices Act, § 17-95-201 et seq., § 17-95-301 et seq., and § 17-95-401 et seq., and that the practice of psychology as prescribed in this chapter should not infring…

(a) As used in this chapter:(1) “Forensic psychological assessment” means the practice of psychology when applied to scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge of psychology to the law to assist in addressing legal, contractual, and administrative matters, including without …

(a) This chapter does not prohibit:(1) The teaching of psychology or the conduct of psychological research by licensed or unlicensed psychologists or other licensed or unlicensed professionals under the laws of Arkansas if the teaching or research does not involve the delivery or…

A.C.A. § 17-97-104Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

For the purpose of this chapter, the confidential relations and communications between a licensed psychologist or a psychological examiner and a client are placed upon the same basis as those provided by law between an attorney and a client. Nothing in this chapter shall be const…

(a) (1) There is created the Arkansas Psychology Board, which shall consist of nine (9) members who shall be appointed by the Governor for terms of five (5) years.(2) The Governor shall appoint:(A) One (1) academic psychologist engaged in the full-time teaching of psychology at t…

(a) The Arkansas Psychology Board shall meet and organize by electing a chair, a secretary, and a treasurer. (b) The board shall hold at least one (1) regular meeting each year. Called meetings may be held at the discretion of the Chair of the Arkansas Psychology Board or at the …

(1) The Arkansas Psychology Board shall:(1) Be empowered to hire assistants as necessary to carry on its activities, within the limits of funds available to the board;(2) Be empowered to accept grants from foundations or institutions;(3) From time to time adopt rules that comply …

(a) The Arkansas Psychology Board may establish various fees and penalties for services related to provision of temporary permits, printed materials, handling returned checks, costs incurred in processing delinquent payments, and other reasonable services as may be determined by …

(a) The General Assembly intends this section to:(1) Require all psychology service providers to conform to the licensing requirements of this chapter; and(2) By conforming, protect the public's health and welfare by ensuring competence in the delivery of those services. (1) Requ…

(a) Any person wishing to obtain the right to practice as a psychologist in this state who has not heretofore been licensed to do so shall make application to the Arkansas Psychology Board through the Chair of the Arkansas Psychology Board in a form and in a manner as shall be ad…

(a) A person wishing to obtain the right to practice as a psychological examiner who has not heretofore been licensed to do so shall make application to the Arkansas Psychology Board through the Chair of the Arkansas Psychology Board upon a form and in the manner as shall be adop…

(a) (1) Examination of applicants for a license to practice as a psychologist or as a psychological examiner shall be made by the Arkansas Psychology Board at least one (1) time a year according to methods and in such subject fields as may be deemed by the board to be the most pr…

(a) License to Practice Psychology. The Arkansas Psychology Board shall be the sole agency empowered to examine candidates concerning competence in the practice of psychology and to grant license for the practice of psychology at the appropriate level. The license shall be signed…

(1) At its discretion, the Arkansas Psychology Board may grant a certificate without an assembled examination to any person residing or employed in the state who:(1) At the time of application is licensed or certified by a similar board of another state whose standards, in the op…

(a) Except as otherwise provided herein, it is specifically prohibited that any individual or organization, other than those licensed pursuant to this chapter, shall present himself or herself or be presented to the public by any title incorporating the name “psychological”, “psy…

(a) The Arkansas Psychology Board may adopt and enforce rules requiring every person having a license to practice to pay an annual registration fee in a sum to be fixed by the board. (b) The fee shall become due on a date fixed by the board. (c) Failure to pay the annual registra…

(a) (1) There shall be paid to the Chair of the Arkansas Psychology Board by each applicant for a permanent license an application fee of two hundred dollars ($200).(2) An additional fee to be determined by the Arkansas Psychology Board, but in no event to exceed the sum of one h…

(a) The Arkansas Psychology Board may refuse to grant a certificate or may suspend or revoke any license for a period to be determined by the board, may impose a fine of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000), may issue a letter of reprimand, and may require additional hours of edu…

(a) (1) (A) The Arkansas Psychology Board may investigate or cause to be investigated any allegation or evidence that appears to show that a person:(i) Is practicing psychology without a license; or(ii) Licensed to practice in Arkansas and anyone under his or her supervision is o…

(a) Each first-time applicant for a license issued by the Arkansas Psychology Board shall be required to apply to the Identification Bureau of the Division of Arkansas State Police for a state and national criminal background check to be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investi…

(a) A person wishing to practice as a licensed psychological practitioner shall apply to the Arkansas Psychology Board through the Chair of the Arkansas Psychology Board upon a form and in the manner as determined by the board. (b) (1) A candidate for a license shall furnish the …

(a) (1) A technician may be employed by a licensed psychologist or a healthcare facility.(2) (A) An individual employed as a technician shall only practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist in the following areas:(i) Administration and scoring of standardized objec…

(a) The supervising psychologist shall make the technician aware:(1) Through additional training, if necessary, of appropriate institutional emergency procedures to deal with various medical emergencies such as heart attack, respiratory arrest, and seizures and of other relevant …

(a) Each licensed psychologist employing technicians shall:(1) Register each technician with the Arkansas Psychology Board; and(2) Annually submit a statement of supervision outlining the supervisory process used with each technician. (1) Register each technician with the Arkansa…

A licensed psychologist employing a technician or technicians shall provide to clients written disclosure concerning the limited role of technicians to clients and legal guardians of minors and to schools or third-party payors if legal or ethical guidelines require such disclosur…

(a) (1) An acceptable employment setting for a technician shall provide ongoing psychological services or scientific research in a well-defined and established program.(2) Physical components shall be available, including office space, support staff, and equipment necessary for t…

(a) A supervising psychologist shall be:(1) Licensed to practice psychology in Arkansas;(2) Aware of and abide by the ethical principles and state statutes pertaining to the practice of psychology in general and to supervision in particular; and(3) Approved by the Arkansas Psycho…

(a) As used in this section, “health benefit plan” means a plan, policy, contract, certificate, agreement, or other evidence of coverage for healthcare services offered or issued by a healthcare insurer in this state. (b) A psychologist shall be reimbursed for services provided b…

PSYCHOLOGY INTERJURISDICTIONAL COMPACT The Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact is enacted into law and entered into by this state with all states legally joining therein and in the form substantially as follows: PSYCHOLOGY INTERJURISDICTIONAL COMPACT Article I — Purpose Wherea…

(a) The Arkansas Psychology Board is the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact administrator for this state. (b) The board may adopt rules that are consistent with the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact necessary to implement this subchapter. (c) The board is not required to…

Except as to licensing under § 17-80-404(d), this subchapter does not supersede or preempt the Telemedicine Act, § 17-80-401 et seq.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Behavior Analyst Registration Act”.

As used in this subchapter, “registered behavior analyst” means an individual who is registered to practice behavior analysis independently by the Arkansas Psychology Board under this subchapter.

(a) Unless registered under this subchapter, a person shall not:(1) Hold himself or herself out to be a registered behavior analyst; or(2) Use any combination or abbreviation of the term “registered behavior analyst” to indicate or imply that he or she is a registered behavior an…

(a) Each applicant for registration as a registered behavior analyst shall submit to the Arkansas Psychology Board:(1) An application;(2) An application fee that does not exceed two hundred dollars ($200);(3) Evidence that he or she has successfully completed a criminal backgroun…

(a) A registration under this subchapter shall be granted for a period of two (2) years. (b) Before expiration of a registration, the registration may be renewed upon the submission of:(1) A renewal application;(2) A renewal fee that does not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($15…

(a) (1) A behavior analyst licensed in another jurisdiction or who holds current certification as a board certified behavior analyst, board certified behavior analyst-doctoral, board certified assistant behavior analyst, or equivalent, issued by the Behavior Analyst Certification…

(a) The Arkansas Psychology Board may issue a registration to a person who is currently licensed as a behavior analyst in good standing in another jurisdiction that imposes requirements comparable to those specified in this subchapter, including holding a current certification as…

(a) The Arkansas Psychology Board shall administer the provisions of this subchapter and may adopt rules that are reasonable and necessary to implement the provisions of this subchapter. (b) The Arkansas Psychology Board may adopt the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts issued by t…