Counseling License from Florida to Missouri: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Florida to Missouri by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration), verify your Florida license, and meet Missouri's endorsement requirements. No national exam is retaken. The Committee's LPC reciprocity checklist (RSMo 324.009 path) does not require NCE/NCMHCE score submission; eligibility rests on at least 1 year of full licensure in another state. Reciprocity applicants must pass the open-book online Missouri Jurisprudence (Legal and Ethical Responsibilities) Exam, which the Committee says cannot be waived..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
A counseling license moves from Florida to Missouri by endorsement. Both states have enacted the Counseling Compact, but neither was issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27. When both go operational, cross-border work between them could run on a privilege; a relocation would still need a Missouri license. You apply to the Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration), which verifies your Florida license and standing, matches it to Missouri's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any Missouri jurisprudence and background requirements.
What changes, Florida → Missouri
| Florida (current) | Missouri (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $100 ($100 non-refundable application fee; the endorsement application also collects a $75 initial licensure fee + $5 unlicensed activity fee at submission ($180 total, $80 refundable if denied or withdrawn), per the Board's LMHC page and form DH-MQA 5048. Livescan fingerprinting paid separately to the vendor; NBCC score-report fee separate. Florida is not an operational compact state, so no privilege fee applies.) | $100 (LPC Application for Licensure by Reciprocity fee (form MO 375-1100); waived with proof of military service; MACHS fingerprint fee paid separately to the vendor (amount not stated on the pages read)) |
| Processing time | the Board states only that Florida law requires an initial application to be reviewed within 30 days and that a license issues within 7 days after all documentation is received (s. 456.0145(2)(e)); no end-to-end processing range is published | the Committee publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications |
| Licensing authority | Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling (Florida Department of Health), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) | Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Missouri sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Missouri's current requirements on the Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold full (independent, not supervised or provisional) professional counselor licensure in another state for at least 1 year.
- Have no past or current discipline and no pending complaint on the out-of-state license.
- Complete a fingerprint background check through MACHS.
- Pass the open-book Missouri Jurisprudence (Legal and Ethical Responsibilities) Exam.
- Submit proof of 2 hours of suicide prevention training.
- Submit a notarized reciprocity application with license verification and proof of lawful presence.
- Pay the fees ($100 (LPC Application for Licensure by Reciprocity fee (form MO 375-1100); waived with proof of military service; MACHS fingerprint fee paid separately to the vendor (amount not stated on the pages read))) and allow the Committee publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Missouri accept a Florida counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Florida to Missouri by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration), verify your Florida license, and meet Missouri's endorsement requirements. No national exam is retaken. The Committee's LPC reciprocity checklist (RSMo 324.009 path) does not require NCE/NCMHCE score submission; eligibility rests on at least 1 year of full licensure in another state. Reciprocity applicants must pass the open-book online Missouri Jurisprudence (Legal and Ethical Responsibilities) Exam, which the Committee says cannot be waived..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Florida to Missouri?
No national exam is retaken. The Committee's LPC reciprocity checklist (RSMo 324.009 path) does not require NCE/NCMHCE score submission; eligibility rests on at least 1 year of full licensure in another state. Reciprocity applicants must pass the open-book online Missouri Jurisprudence (Legal and Ethical Responsibilities) Exam, which the Committee says cannot be waived.
What does the move cost?
$100 (LPC Application for Licensure by Reciprocity fee (form MO 375-1100); waived with proof of military service; MACHS fingerprint fee paid separately to the vendor (amount not stated on the pages read))
How long will it take?
the Committee publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications.
Missouri joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Missouri had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Missouri takes Missouri's own authorization, normally a Missouri license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: Application Forms ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: LPC Reciprocity Qualifications checklist ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: Application for Licensure by Reciprocity ($100 fee) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: Counselor Compact Update ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Division of Professional Registration: Section 324.009 RSMo reciprocity requirements summary ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida 491 Board: Licensed Mental Health Counselor (License by MOBILE Endorsement requirements, courses, fees, processing) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida 491 Board: Application for Licensure by Endorsement, DH-MQA 5048 (rev. 2/2024; fee breakdown, course and score-report instructions) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida Statutes s. 491.006 Licensure or certification by endorsement ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida Statutes s. 456.0145 MOBILE Act licensure by endorsement ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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