Behavior Analyst Licensure in Montana: BCBA and State License Requirements

Part 4 creates two licences, behavior analyst and assistant behavior analyst, each defined by the BACB examination its holder has passed.

What the statute restricts is representation: section 37-17-403(1) bars telling the public you are a behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst without a licence issued under the section.

Whether Part 4 also bars unlicensed practice is not settled in the sources read — the research found no sentence imposing a ban, but section 37-17-404 is worded as exemptions from a licence, including one for the practice of applied behavior analysis for organizational behavior management consultants and analysts who work with animals, and 37-17-403 is captioned license required.

So the question stays open: confirm with the board before practising in Montana under any title, licensed or not.

The part was enacted in 2017 and 37-17-403 was amended in 2019; what that amendment changed is not stated in the sources read.

Montana's statute sets no degree or coursework content of its own for behavior analysts; it leaves educational coursework and requirements to board rule (37-17-403(3)(c), (4)(c)), and those rules were not among the sources read.

The statute's general requirements are an application as the board determines by rule, fees, a full set of fingerprints for a Montana Department of Justice and FBI background check, good moral character, and an attestation to the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts — the BACB's pre-2022 code name, still in the statute.

The credential requirement is evidence of current certification at the appropriate level from the behavior analyst certification board, which the statute defines as the nonprofit whose credentialing programs are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

For assistants the statute adds a qualifying bachelor's degree (37-17-402(1)).

The BACB's own degree, coursework and fieldwork requirements are the substance of the route; the articles linked below cover them.

Each Montana licence is tied in its definition to the BACB's exam: a behavior analyst is an applied behavior analyst licensed under 37-17-403 who has passed the board-certified behavior analyst examination, and an assistant behavior analyst is one who has passed the board-certified assistant behavior analyst examination.

Section 37-17-403 repeats both exam requirements in its qualification lists, alongside current certification at the matching level.

Part 4 names no separate Montana examination.

It does leave educational coursework and requirements to board rule (37-17-403(3)(c), (4)(c)), and the board's administrative rules were not among the sources read, so anything the rules add is not stated there.

The board's application checklists, which list the corresponding requirements in detail, are the place to confirm before you file.

The statute's supervision rule covers the two lower roles: when an assistant behavior analyst or a behavior technician is engaged in the practice of applied behavior analysis, supervision must come from a behavior analyst licensed under the part, or from a licensed psychologist certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in behavioral and cognitive psychology.

A licensed behavior analyst holds treatment authority for the practice (37-17-405(1)).

The board's application-fee schedule also lists a behavior analyst initial supervision fee of $25 per behavior technician, student intern or assistant behavior analyst supervised.

Students in an approved postsecondary program, including student interns, may be exempted from licensure while working under the supervision of appropriate university faculty (37-17-404(3)).

The statute defines the practice of applied behavior analysis as the design, implementation and evaluation of instructional and environmental modifications to produce socially significant improvements in human behavior, including the empirical identification of functional relations, known as functional assessment and analysis.

It excludes psychological evaluation, diagnosis of a mental or physical disorder, neuropsychology, long-term counseling as a treatment modality and psychotherapy.

The exemption list is long: school district personnel, family support specialists with autism endorsement, licensed psychologists and those acting under their authority, licensed clinical professional counselors, licensed social workers, family members and persons in direct contact with individuals otherwise served by licensees all sit outside Part 4, as do organizational behavior management consultants and behavior analysts who work with animals.

Any exempt person may still choose to apply for licensure (37-17-404(5)).

Part 4 as saved, sections 37-17-401 through 37-17-405, contains no reciprocity or endorsement provision for analysts licensed elsewhere; the part also includes a section 37-17-406 whose text the sources read do not carry, so ask the board what it holds.

An out-of-state BCBA therefore applies like any applicant: current BACB certification, the exam record, fingerprints and fees.

One bridge appears on the board's military-spouse page: where every other licensing requirement is met and only licence verification is outstanding, the board describes issuing a provisional license with a reservation of rights that acts as an active, full license for 60 days while verification completes.

The board also advises applying online early, before the move.

The statute requires licensees to pay application fees and subsequent renewal fees (37-17-403(2)(b)); the board's page supplies the amounts.

The behavior analyst application fee is $450 and the assistant's is $250.

Renewal runs November 1 through December 31 and costs $600 for behavior analysts and $200 for assistants.

Online late renewal stays open for 45 days, until February 14, at an additional $600 or $200 for a total of $1,200 or $400 — the page's words are no exceptions.

Continuing education is 20 credits during each consecutive calendar year, of which one hour must be ethics.

Because the CE cycle is the calendar year rather than the licence anniversary, timing matters when you first license late in a year; confirm your start date with the board.