455.02 Licensure of members of the Armed Forces in good standing and their spouses with administrative boards.

455.02 Licensure of members of the Armed Forces in good standing and their spouses with administrative boards.

   (1) Any member of the Armed Forces of the United States now or hereafter on active duty who, at the time of becoming such a member, was in good standing with any administrative board of the state and was entitled to practice or engage in his or her profession or vocation in the state shall be kept in good standing by such administrative board, without registering, paying dues or fees, or performing any other act on his or her part to be performed, as long as he or she is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States on active duty and for a period of 6 months after discharge from active duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, if he or she is not engaged in his or her licensed profession or vocation in the private sector for profit.

   (2) The boards listed in s. 20.165 shall adopt rules that exempt the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States from licensure renewal provisions, but only in cases of his or her absence from the state because of his or her spouse’s duties with the Armed Forces.

   (3)(a) The department may issue a temporary professional license to the spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States if the spouse applies to the department in the format prescribed by the department. An application must include proof that:

   1. The applicant is married to a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is on active duty.

   2. The applicant holds a valid license for the profession issued by another state, the District of Columbia, any possession or territory of the United States, or any foreign jurisdiction.

   3. The applicant’s spouse is assigned to a duty station in this state and that the applicant is also assigned to a duty station in this state pursuant to the member’s official active duty military orders.

   4.a. A complete set of the applicant’s fingerprints 1is submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement for a statewide criminal history check.

   b. The Department of Law Enforcement shall forward the fingerprints 2submitted pursuant to sub-subparagraph a. to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history check. The department shall, and the board may, review the results of the criminal history checks according to the level 2 screening standards in s. 435.04 and determine whether the applicant meets the licensure requirements. The costs of fingerprint processing shall be borne by the applicant. If the applicant’s fingerprints are submitted through an authorized agency or vendor, the agency or vendor shall collect the required processing fees and remit the fees to the Department of Law Enforcement.

   (b) An application must be accompanied by an application fee prescribed by the department that is sufficient to cover the cost of issuance of the temporary license.

   (c) A temporary license expires 6 months after the date of issuance and is not renewable.

History. s. 2, ch. 21885, 1943; s. 5, ch. 79-36; s. 95, ch. 83-329; s. 1, ch. 84-15; s. 71, ch. 85-81; s. 6, ch. 93-220; s. 186, ch. 97-103; s. 5, ch. 2010-106; s. 4, ch. 2010-182.

1

Note. The word “is” was substituted by the editors for the word “are,” which was enacted by s. 5, ch. 2010-106. Section 4, ch. 2010-182, enacted the words “has been” instead of the word “are.”

2

Note. As enacted by s. 4, ch. 2010-182. Subsection (3) was also added by s. 5, ch. 2010-106, and that version did not use the phrase “submitted pursuant to sub-subparagraph a.”

Note. Former s. 485.02.