Amends existing law to provide that fingerprint-based criminal history background checks shall be submitted if required by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses.
Summary
Senate Bill 1018 amends Idaho’s counselor and therapist licensing statutes to make fingerprint-based criminal history background checks a required part of licensure only when the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses requires them. The bill updates four sections of Idaho Code covering licensed professional counselors, licensed clinical professional counselors, licensed associate marriage and family therapists, and licensed marriage and family therapists. In each case, the bill adds or revises language tying the background-check requirement to section 67-9411A and the division’s discretion.
The measure does not change the core education, experience, examination, or rehabilitation standards for these licenses. Applicants must still meet the existing degree, supervised practice, exam, and disciplinary-history requirements, and licenses remain unavailable to applicants with certain revoked or suspended credentials until rehabilitation is shown. The bill also includes an emergency clause, meaning it takes effect immediately upon passage and approval.
Impact
S1018 would modify Idaho’s occupational licensing framework for mental health and family therapy professions by standardizing when fingerprint-based criminal history checks are required. It affects the licensing provisions in Title 54, Chapter 34, and gives the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses express authority to determine when such checks must be submitted under section 67-9411A. The practical effect is to align counselor and therapist licensure with the division’s background-check procedures without otherwise altering substantive qualification standards.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests strong support for the bill: it passed the Senate Third Reading on January 31, 2025 by a unanimous 32-0 vote. No committee transcript was provided, and there is no recorded opposition in the materials supplied. Overall, the bill appears to have been viewed as a routine administrative/licensing update rather than a controversial policy change.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive contention in the provided record. The only potentially debatable issue is the scope of the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses’ discretion to require fingerprint-based background checks, since the bill conditions the requirement on the division’s determination rather than mandating it in every case. Otherwise, the bill preserves existing licensure standards and disciplinary safeguards, which likely limited opposition among lawmakers and stakeholders in the counseling and marriage-and-family-therapy professions.