Behavior Analyst Licensure in Utah: BCBA and State License Requirements
Utah licenses behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts under Part 7 of its Psychologist Licensing Act, effective July 1, 2015.
A license or registration is required to practise behavior analysis unless an exemption applies.
Documenting current BCBA certification is one route to the license; the other pairs an applied behavior analysis degree with at least 1,500 supervised hours and the division's exam.
Assistants qualify through a bachelor's degree, core coursework, 1,000 supervised hours and the exam, or BCaBA certification.
Its two legacy behavior specialist registrations closed in 2015.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
Two licences, behavior analyst and assistant behavior analyst, plus two grandfathered registrations, behavior specialist and assistant behavior specialist, that closed to new applications on November 15, 2015.
The Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Utah Department of Commerce, which administers the credential under its Psychology and Behavioral Analyst program.
Yes.
Documenting current certification in good standing as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, or an equivalence determined by division rule in consultation with the board, stands in for Utah's degree, hours and exam route (§ 58-61-705).
Licensed assistant behavior analyst: a bachelor's degree, core behavior-analysis coursework, at least 1,000 hours of experiential behavior analysis training within a five-year period of time with a qualified supervisor, and the exam, or current BCaBA certification (or an accepted equivalence).
The licence itself requires supervision by a qualified supervisor.
Not stated in the sources read.
The sections read define practice as design and evaluation, name no technician category in the exemption list, and do not include Utah's administrative rules.
Both.
Engaging in the practice of behavior analysis requires a licence or registration unless an exemption applies, and representing that you are engaged in practice without one is barred as well (§ 58-61-703).
Utah Code Title 58, chapter 61 (Psychologist Licensing Act), Part 7 (§§ 58-61-701 to -714), enacted by Chapter 367, 2015 General Session, effective July 1, 2015; § 58-61-705 amended by Chapter 420, 2024 General Session, effective May 1, 2024.
The Utah credential ladder
- Registered assistant behavior specialistOther
A closed legacy registration: applicants needed at least one year of experience as a professional engaging in the practice of behavior analysis prior to July 1, 2015, employment in a behavior-analysis organization contracted with a division of the Utah Department of Human Services, and an application filed on or before November 15, 2015 (§ 58-61-705).
Not open to new applicants.
- Registered behavior specialistOther
The senior legacy registration: applicants needed at least five years of experience as a professional engaged in the practice of behavior analysis on or before May 15, 2015, the same Utah Department of Human Services contracted employment on or before July 1, 2015, and an application on or before November 15, 2015 (§ 58-61-705).
Closed to new applicants.
- Licensed assistant behavior analystOther
A licence to practise behavior analysis under the supervision of a qualified supervisor, as defined by the division by administrative rule, for applicants with a bachelor's degree, core behavior-analysis coursework, at least 1,000 hours of experiential behavior analysis training and the exam, or current BCaBA certification in good standing (§§ 58-61-702, -705).
- Licensed behavior analystIndependent
The licence required to engage in the practice of behavior analysis, issued on a master's or doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis, at least 1,500 hours of experiential behavior analysis training with a qualified supervisor and the exam, or documented current BCBA certification in good standing (or an accepted equivalence) (§ 58-61-705).
Two licences, two closed registrations, and a holding-out ban
Part 7 creates two licences, behavior analyst and assistant behavior analyst, and two registrations, behavior specialist and assistant behavior specialist.
Section 58-61-703 requires a licence or registration, except as Section 58-1-307 specifically provides, both to engage in the practice of behavior analysis and to represent that you are engaged in it.
The specialist registrations are closed legacy classifications: both required employment in a behavior-analysis organization contracted with a division of the Utah Department of Human Services and an application on or before November 15, 2015, so a new graduate's route is a licence, not a registration.
For how BACB certification and a state licence fit together, see BACB certification vs. state behavior analyst licensure.
“A license or registration is required to engage in the practice of behavior analysis, except as specifically provided in Section 58-1-307. The division shall issue to a person who qualifies under this part a license in the classification of: behavior analyst; or assistant behavior analyst. The division shall issue to a person who qualifies under this part a registration in the classification of: behavior specialist; or assistant behavior specialist.”
Two routes to the licence: Utah hours and exam, or BACB certification
The education route asks for an application, a fee set by the department, certified transcripts showing a master's or doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis (or an equivalent degree as determined by division rule), at least 1,500 hours of experiential behavior analysis training within a five year period of time with a qualified supervisor, and the division-rule examination.
The certification route instead asks for documented current certification in good standing as a BCBA with the BACB, or an equivalence determined by division rule made in consultation with the board.
For a BCBA moving to Utah, the certification route keeps the BACB's own degree, coursework and fieldwork standards as the operative training rule, and Utah adds its application, fee and transcript processing on top.
The BACB’s own degree, coursework, fieldwork and exam requirements are covered in how to become a BCBA.
“or document proof of current certification in good standing as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, or an equivalence of that certification, as determined by division rule made in consultation with the board.”
The statute leaves the exam to division rule
An education-route applicant must pass the examination requirement established by division rule under Section 58-1-203, and an assistant applicant faces the same requirement.
The statute's qualifications subheading frames each education route as based upon education, supervised experience, and national examination, but Part 7 itself never names the test.
The division's administrative rule implementing the part was not among the sources read, so which examination the Division of Professional Licensing requires is not stated in the sources read.
The certification route carries no separately named state exam in the statute text read.
Before you schedule anything, ask DOPL which examination applies to your route and whether your BACB certification satisfies the requirement outright.
Assistants work under a qualified supervisor; the hours do too
The statute defines the assistant licence by its supervision condition: a licensed assistant behavior analyst practises behavior analysis under the supervision of a qualified supervisor, as defined by the division by administrative rule.
Supervision reaches the top tier as well, because both licence levels count experiential behavior analysis training completed with a qualified supervisor: at least 1,500 hours for the behavior analyst and at least 1,000 hours for the assistant, each within the five-year window.
Who qualifies as a supervisor, and what the supervision must include, are set by division rule and are not stated in the sources read.
While you train, the exemption list distinguishes the lanes: a course-sequence enrollee accrues supervision hours only under a licensed behavior analyst, while a sequence completer may finish the hours under a licensed behavior analyst or another supervisor permitted by rule.
“"Licensed assistant behavior analyst" means an individual licensed under this part to engage in the practice of behavior analysis under the supervision of a qualified supervisor, as defined by the division by administrative rule.”
What the practice definition covers, and the long exclusion list
Utah defines the practice of behavior analysis as the design and evaluation of instructional and environmental modifications to produce socially significant improvements in human behavior, including functional assessment and analysis, research-based interventions built on direct observation and measurement, and the use of motivating operations, antecedent stimuli, reinforcement and other consequences.
The definition then excludes an explicit list: diagnosis of a mental or physical disorder, psychological and educational testing, neuropsychology, mental health therapy, psychotherapy, counseling, biofeedback, neurofeedback, cognitive therapy, sex therapy, psychoanalysis and hypnotherapy.
Two drafting details matter to a team hiring around this licence: the definition covers design and evaluation without ever using the word implementation, and no section read addresses technicians, so neither that the act reaches technicians nor that it does not should be assumed.
“"Practice of behavior analysis" means the design and evaluation of instructional and environmental modifications to produce socially significant improvements in human behavior and includes the following:”
Licensed in another state: the endorsement route on DOPL's page
DOPL's Behavior Analyst/Assistant page addresses relocating licensees directly: an applicant currently licensed as a behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst in a state, territory or district of the United States may qualify for licensure by endorsement, with separate endorsement links for each licence type.
The statute sections read do not include an endorsement provision, so the statutory criteria are not stated in the sources read.
A relocating BCBA also has a statutory door that does not depend on a prior state licence at all: the certification route in § 58-61-705, which turns on current BACB certification in good standing.
Either way, clear the state file before taking Utah clients.
“Currently Licensed in another State? If you are currently licensed as an Behavior Analyst or a Assistant Behavior Analyst in a state, territory, or district of the United States you may qualify for licensure by endorsement.”
Renewal runs through DOPL; the terms are not in the sections read
DOPL's Psychology and Behavioral Analyst program pages maintain a renewal track for these credentials, with Behavioral Analyst Renewal and Behavior Specialist Renewal links under a general Renew a License section.
The saved statute sections (58-61-702, -703, -705 and -707) do not reach renewal, and the division's administrative rules were not read, so the renewal cycle, the fee amounts and any Utah continuing-education requirement are not stated in the sources read.
Do not assume Utah renewal mirrors BACB recertification; confirm the current renewal terms with DOPL before your first renewal date.
The 2024 amendment reached the qualifications section
Part 7 was enacted by Chapter 367 of the 2015 General Session and took effect July 1, 2015.
In the sources read, a single section carries a later amendment: § 58-61-705, the qualifications section, was amended by Chapter 420 of the 2024 General Session, effective May 1, 2024.
What that amendment changed is not stated in the sources read.
The saved text shows the section as it now stands, with both routes to each licence and the closed specialist registrations, while the licence requirement in § 58-61-703 and the exemptions in § 58-61-707 still carry their original 2015 enactment history.
DOPL's laws and rules page is the place to confirm the amendment's substance.
The exemption list, and what it means for who can practise
Utah's profession-specific exemption list is wide.
Beyond psychologists (and those acting under their authority) and Chapter 60 mental health therapists, it exempts applied animal behaviorists with non-human clients, organization-facing consultants, teachers and researchers who do not practise on individuals, and unpaid advice between friends or relatives.
A school district, private school or charter school employee is exempt when the work is part of the job description and stays within settings authorized by the State Board of Education (public and charter schools) or the private school employer.
The trainee lanes carry conditions: a matriculated graduate student in a mental health field, education or applied behavior analysis, within a defined program; a BACB-approved course-sequence enrollee accruing hours under a licensed behavior analyst; a completer finishing those hours under a licensed behavior analyst or another supervisor permitted by rule; and a finisher of both who keeps working under a behavior analyst while preparing for or awaiting the licensing exam, capped at six months.
A school ABA role does not by itself require the licence; the same work outside the authorized settings does.
What This Page Does — and Doesn’t — Cover
This page summarizes the Utah statute, rules, board pages and other documents cited above, as read for this state-by-state behavior analyst licensure series, current as of September 2026.
It does not list application forms, fees beyond those cited above, or processing times, and it is not a substitute for the instructions the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Utah Department of Commerce publishes.
Hour totals, exams and supervision rules change by statute and by board rule; for how BACB certification and a state licence fit together, see BACB certification vs. state behavior analyst licensure.
Confirm every requirement with the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Utah Department of Commerce before you count hours, register for an exam or apply — and before you take one of the board certified behavior analyst jobs in Utah that asks for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
I am a BCBA. Do I also need a Utah license?
Yes, unless an exemption covers your work: § 58-61-703 requires a license or registration to engage in the practice of behavior analysis, except as Section 58-1-307 specifically provides, and § 58-61-707 lists the profession-specific exemptions.
BCBA certification is a qualification route, not a substitute: § 58-61-705 lets you document current certification in good standing with the BACB, or an equivalence DOPL accepts by rule, in place of the degree, the 1,500 hours and the exam.
File the application with the Division of Professional Licensing before you begin practising in Utah.
How many supervised hours does Utah require for the behavior analyst license?
The education route requires at least 1,500 hours of experiential behavior analysis training within a five year period of time with a qualified supervisor, on top of a master's or doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis.
The certification route, current BCBA certification in good standing or an accepted equivalence, replaces the degree, the 1,500 hours and the exam in the statute text read.
Assistant behavior analysts need at least 1,000 hours on the education route or BCaBA certification.
Confirm the current rules with DOPL before counting hours.
Can I still apply to be a registered behavior specialist in Utah?
No. Both specialist registrations required an application on or before November 15, 2015.
The behavior specialist needed at least five years of experience as a professional in behavior analysis on or before May 15, 2015, and the assistant needed one year prior to July 1, 2015; both had to work inside an organization contracted with a division of the Utah Department of Human Services.
The classifications remain in the statute but are closed to new applicants, so the current route is a licence.
Do RBTs or behavior technicians need a Utah license?
The sources read do not say.
The sections of Part 7 that were read, covering the definitions, the licence requirement, the qualifications and the exemptions, name no technician category: the practice definition covers design and evaluation without mentioning implementation, and the exemption list has no technician line.
Whether Utah's act reaches technicians, and on what terms, is not established here, and the division's administrative rules were not read.
Confirm with DOPL and with the job's funder before assuming either answer.
How do I check that a Utah behavior analyst license is active?
Use DOPL's Verify a License search, the division-wide lookup linked from the department's own program pages.
Remember that a Utah licence and BACB certification are separate credentials issued by separate bodies, so someone mid-application may hold either without the other: a BCBA certificate does not prove the state licence, and the state licence search does not prove current certification.
Ask candidates for both and verify each with its issuer.
More Utah & Board Certified Behavior Analyst Resources
Sources
Sourced from the statute, rules, board pages and other documents cited above.
Verified September 2026.
This is career information, not legal or clinical advice — confirm current rules with the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Utah Department of Commerce.