Behavior Analyst Licensure in Indiana: BCBA and State License Requirements

Indiana issues two licences: the licensed behavior analyst (LBA) and the licensed assistant behavior analyst (LABA).

Both are administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, whose Behavior Analyst Committee verifies each applicant's certification, and both opened to applications on May 13, 2025.

The route to each runs through BACB certification, as the board's FAQ puts it.

What the sources read do not say is what the licence does: the statute text (IC 25-8.5) was not retrieved, so whether Indiana restricts practice, the title, or both — and who is exempt — could not be verified on this page.

Indiana's application checklist contains no state degree, coursework or supervised-experience rule.

The Committee verifies that an LBA applicant is currently certified as a BCBA, and a LABA applicant as a BCaBA, each in good standing with the BACB; the checklist says the certification number is the only information the applicant supplies for it.

Transcripts are not required, per the FAQ.

Every application adds a criminal background check — reviewed case by case, with a statement and court documents if you answer yes to any disclosure question — your Social Security number, which is mandatory, and a fee of $100.00 for the LBA or $75.00 for the LABA.

An application whose requirements are still outstanding after one year is abandoned.

The application checklist names no Indiana examination.

The board's FAQ sends exam scheduling to the certifying body: exams for BACB certification are scheduled through the BACB, which fits a route where certification is complete before you apply.

Whether Indiana's rules (844 IAC 21) add a state jurisprudence or law exam is not stated in the sources read — the checklist lists none, and the rule text was not among the documents read.

Check the online application instructions before you file.

Supervision is where the LABA differs from the LBA.

The assistant applicant uploads a signed contract with a licensed behavior analyst who is approved by the BACB to provide supervision under 844 IAC 21-4-6 — the same contract filed with the BACB for the assistant certification, a copy of which satisfies Indiana.

The obligation does not end at issuance: at each renewal the LABA submits a written record of the supervision provided during the preceding renewal period and ensures the supervisor's own licence is current, and a change of supervisors means uploading the replacement contract to the assistant licence.

The text of 844 IAC 21-4-6 itself — ratios, contact frequency — was not among the sources read.

Indiana reciprocity is open to an applicant who holds a current licence in another state whose requirements are similar to Indiana's for the corresponding licence — education, experience and certification alike.

The reciprocity fee is $75.00 for the LBA and $50.00 for the LABA.

The LBA checklist adds one item the standard application lacks: a statement of the scope of your practice in the other state or states of licensure.

Both reciprocity checklists also require verification of licensure completed by the issuing state — copies of licence cards are not accepted — and the LABA route keeps its signed supervision contract with a licensed behavior analyst, uploaded with the application.

Current BACB certification is still verified, so reciprocity changes the paperwork, not the certification requirement.

Every LBA and LABA expires on December 31 of odd-numbered years, and a renewed licence runs two years to the next odd-year deadline; reminders go out on or around 90 days before expiration.

Renewal takes the fee — $100.00 for the LBA and $75.00 for the LABA, plus a $50.00 penalty if you renew after expiry but within three years; reinstatement is $200.00 and $150.00 — plus Indiana's own continuing education, one unit each in the two areas quoted below.

The LBA renewal attests to holding a current BCBA; the instructions print that attestation for LABAs as well, though a LABA is certified as a BCaBA, so assistants should confirm with IPLA what they attest to.

BACB continuing education can count toward both if the sponsor is approved and the course falls inside Indiana's licence renewal cycle, which the board warns may differ from the BACB's.

The BACB's map dates Indiana's behavior analyst law to 2021, but the licensing program is new in practice: the board page links a December 30, 2024 IPLA announcement on administrative rules promulgation and on enforcement of certain telehealth regulations under IC 25-1-9.5 (the release itself was not among the sources read), and on May 13, 2025 LBA and LABA applications went live.

The sources read do not establish the date from which a licence became mandatory to practise — between the 2021 enactment and the 2025 launch lies a gap this page cannot fill.

Confirm enforcement timing with IPLA.

The largest gap on this page is the exemption list.

The statute text (IC 25-8.5) was not retrievable when the research was saved — the General Assembly's site serves it only through JavaScript and the legal mirror blocked automated access — so who may work without an Indiana licence is not stated in the sources read, and nothing here confirms or denies an exemption for any particular group.

The same gap covers the scope-of-practice definition, discipline, and any practice or title restriction: all of it lives in text this page could not read.

Ask IPLA directly before relying on an exemption.