Electrician License from Colorado to Arkansas: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Arkansas accept a Colorado electrician license?
Yes — Arkansas has a reciprocity arrangement covering Colorado license holders. Apply to the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) under its reciprocity/endorsement track; it typically waives the journeyman exam and complete Arkansas's remaining requirements.
Verify this exact pair in the checker
Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Reciprocity agreement
Colorado is on Arkansas's journeyman reciprocity list, which puts this move on the fast track: Arkansas waives its journeyman exam for electricians who earned a qualifying Colorado license by examination, held it at least a year, and meet the experience hours. Two conditions decide whether you actually qualify — your Colorado license must have come from an exam, not a grandfather clause, and it must be current. The list is also revocable; the verification date on this page is when we last confirmed Colorado on it, and the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) is the live source.
What's different between Colorado and Arkansas
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Arkansas. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Colorado to Arkansas (this page): Reciprocity agreement.
Arkansas to Colorado (the reverse move): Reciprocity agreement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from Colorado matter?
Coming from Colorado matters here: only 16 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into Arkansas.
The others get: licensure by endorsement (21) and no state license to transfer (13).
- Reciprocity agreements
Arkansas's reciprocity agreement list names 16 states, including Colorado.
Colorado's reciprocity agreement list names 14 states, including Arkansas.
- Application fee
Arkansas lists $25–$75 for an out-of-state applicant; Colorado has no verified fee figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.
- Experience hours
Arkansas's first-time-applicant standard is 8,000 hours of documented experience for the journeyman license; Colorado's is 8,000.
The two standards are the same.
- Exam rules on record
Arkansas and Colorado carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Arkansas (this move): No Arkansas examination is required if the applicant qualifies for reciprocity: they must hold a current, in-good-standing journeyman license from a listed reciprocal state, have held it at least one year, and have been tested (examined) for it in that state. Applicants from non-reciprocal states, or whose license was not earned by exam, must pass the Arkansas journeyman exam.
- Colorado (the reverse move): No Colorado written exam is required for a journeyman who holds a current license from one of the named NERA reciprocal states, earned by a state-administered exam and held at least 1 year; applicants from non-reciprocal states must qualify and pass the Colorado journeyman exam
What changes, Colorado → Arkansas
| Colorado (current) | Arkansas (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Experience hours | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| Application fee | DORA does not publish the reciprocal journeyman fee on a standalone page; fees are set administratively and shown inside the online application. Aggregator figures (e.g. a $100 processing fee) could not be confirmed on an official page, so left null | $25–$75 (Journeyman license fee is $25 per year; a license is issued for 1-3 years depending on the year within the NEC code cycle (about $25-$75 up front), and reciprocal applicants pay no $80 examination fee because they are not examined. Master license fee is $50 per year.) |
| Processing time | The board does not publish a processing time; a reciprocal certificate is issued without a written exam once requirements are met and fees paid | Board does not publish a processing time; applications must be received at least 5 business days before the monthly board meeting at which they are reviewed |
| Licensing authority | Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA Division of Professions and Occupations) | Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Arkansas sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Arkansas's current requirements on the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the reciprocity application to the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Provide certification from the sister state that you are currently licensed as a journeyman and in good standing.
- Have held the sister-state license for at least one year and have been tested (examined) for it — grandfathered/non-exam licenses are not eligible.
- Only an original license from a listed state qualifies; you cannot reciprocate a license that was itself obtained by reciprocity.
- Non-reciprocal journeyman experience is a 4-year (8,000-hour) DOL-approved apprenticeship, or 16,000 hours without an approved apprenticeship.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What could disqualify me even though Colorado is on Arkansas's list?
A Colorado license you were grandfathered into rather than earning by exam, a license held less than a year, or falling short of the experience-hour minimum. Arkansas's reciprocity is conditional, not automatic.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- Arkansas Dept. of Labor & Licensing — Electrical Inspection and Licensing (journeyman & master reciprocal partner lists) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners — Administrative Rules (April 2024): fees, reciprocity, experience ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Colorado DPO — Electrical Applications and Forms (reciprocity requirements and reciprocal-state list) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Colorado DPO — Electrical Board homepage ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · Corrections log · spot an error? hello@licensereciprocity.com