Could Louisiana's psychology board backdate reinstatement of a lapsed psychologist license?

Plain-English summary

Louisiana's psychology licensing board asked whether it could reinstate an expired psychologist license retroactively to cover the period when the license holder was out of compliance, or only from the date renewal requirements were met. In Opinion 03-0029, the Attorney General said the statutes he reviewed did not answer the timing question directly. He concluded the board could adopt rules or guidelines deciding whether retroactive reinstatement was allowed and under what circumstances.

The opinion described a license that lapsed after missed July renewal and a two-year period in which it could be renewed with the required fees and continuing education. The AG's answer gave the board rulemaking authority on retroactivity; it did not itself backdate any particular license or declare all lapses retroactively curable.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Psychology board members and licensing staff

The AG treated the board, as the body enforcing the licensing statutes, as authorized to define by rule whether a lapsed license could be reinstated retroactively. He said such rules could set the circumstances for allowing it. The opinion did not select one automatic effective date for every reinstatement.

Psychologists with lapsed licenses

The statutes described in the opinion preserved a right to renew within two years after lapse, subject to fees and continuing-education requirements. The opinion did not state that satisfying those conditions by itself made the license effective during the prior lapse; that depended on any retroactivity rules the board adopted.

Common questions

Q: Did the AG require the board to backdate a lapsed psychology license? A: No. He said the statutes were silent on retroactivity and that the board could decide by rule whether and when to allow it.

Q: Could the board instead make reinstatement effective only when requirements were met? A: The opinion left the choice between retroactive and nonretroactive treatment to the board's rules or guidelines. It did not prescribe a single effective date.

Q: What renewal conditions did the opinion discuss?
A: It described payment of the relevant fees and completion of continuing-education requirements through the reinstatement date for a license renewed within the statutory two-year period.

Background and statutory framework

The request concerned psychologists whose licenses lapsed after missing July renewal. The opinion quoted the licensing provisions governing renewal fees, the two-year period after lapse, and continuing education through the date of reinstatement. It concluded that the board could interpret and enforce those laws through rules or guidelines on retroactive renewal. Parts of the statutory numbers and text are damaged in the PDF extraction, so this page lists only the citation R.S. 37:2354 that is legible in the source. The extract supplies no legible issue date.

Citations and references

Authority legible in the opinion: R.S. 37:2354. The linked PDF is authoritative for the other licensing provisions quoted in its scanned text.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0029

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

~tat~ o{
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (504) 342-7013
FAX: (504) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Ms. Brenda C. Ward
63-B Licensing - For Professiorts
or Occupations
--FJ(ecutive Director
La. State Board of Examiners
The Board for psychologists can
_of Psychologists
ep,act rules and/or guidelines
8280 YMCA Plaza Dr., Bldg.8-B
whether to allow retroactive
renewal of a lapsed license.
Baton Rouge, La. 70810

Dear Ms. Ward:

This ofr~,e Js in receipt of your~r_equest for_a~opinion.ofibe_Attomey General in regard to retroactive reinstatement of licenses to practice psychology for failure to renew during the month of July. You set forth the following statutes:

I~S. 37:2354(C)- Every licensed psychologist in this state shall annually pay lo theboarddur~u31he ~ of_July of ~~h_year, beginning in the year immediately subsequent to his initial license, a renewal fee to be determined __armuallybythe_board. The_iicer~seof_ar].y.ps~",boJogJst who shall fail to have his license renewed during the month of July in each and every year shall ]apse; 1he_failure 1o mn~~id .]ic~,..]~0~ever, shall not deprive said psychologist of the right of renewal thereafter. Such lapsed license may be rem~EL v,~thinaperJod_of_twoyears__after_such_lapse, upon payment of a reinstatement fee equal to the current application fee and the current renewal fee.

R.S. 37~?257U~) Persons_licer~sacLas_psychologJsts under the provisions of this Chapter shall be eligible for renewal of licensure without regard to any subsequent changes in the requirement for licensure upon payment of the fees established under R.S. 37:2354 and compliance with the requirements established pursuant to Subsection B.

(B) The board shall establish continuing education requirements to be fulfilledprior to the renewal ~a license~ Failure 1ofulfill these requirements shall cause the license to lapse. For a period of two years from the date of lapse of the license~ the license may be renewed_upon proof of fulfilling all continuing education requirements applicable through the date of reinstatement and upon payment of all fees due under R.S. 37:2354.

Ms. Brenda C. Ward
OPINION 03-29
Page 2

.With ~egard 1o the matter of.renewal, youaskif_a psychologist_seeks to renew his lapsed license, does the Board have the authority to reinstate such a license retroactively to cover the time he was out of compliance, or .should Jt .be reinstated from the date the requirements of law are met?

Present law does not address whether.a ~.ense should_be_.reinstated retroactively, but allows for =the right of renewal thereafter’, and requires for renewal that continuing education.requirements.be fulfilled for reruawal from.the_dateof_the lapse =through the date of reinstatement" and payment of all fees due. It is our opinion that the board, being charged with the enforcement of .these Jaws, has within .its .auJbority to enact rules and guidelines providing for the interpretation and enforcement of these laws. Further the board, therefore, can provide.by rule whether toallo~mtroactive_minstatement of licenses, and under what circumstances.

_Moreover., wenote that R.S. 37"_2358 pm_vides_that.theJ0~ard =.shall issue a license signed by the chairman, vice chairman, and all members of the board whenever a candidate for licensure is found qualified as provided in the Chapter’, and acopy of such license will be filed in the office of the secretary of state. Where a license had lapsed, the individual has two.years in which his license may be renewed and is required to fulfill all continui_ng education requirements. Again, the board can provide rules and/or guidelines for said renewal of a lapsed license.

lt.Js._our~opir~n that the _board, being charged with.enforcing_these laws, has within its authority the ability to enact rules and guidelines providing for the interpretation and enforcement of said laws. That being said, the board_can_prz:~v_ide-by rule whether to allow retroactive reinstatement of licenses, and under what circumstances.

We hope this sufficiently answers your inquiry.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD p. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BARBARA B. RUTLEDGE
Assistant Attorney General
RPI/bbr