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Arkansas

Clinician license renewal in Arkansas

Renewal cycles, fees, CE requirements, and compact membership for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians in Arkansas. Sourced from state boards and the official compact registries; we surface the citation next to every claim and never invent a rule we can’t verify.

Last reviewed 05/08/2026.

Compact membership

Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC)

Full member

Source: nursecompact.com, as of 05/05/2026

Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC)

Not a member

Source: imlcc.com, as of 05/05/2026

APRN / nurse practitioner license

Renewal cycle
Biennial. APRN renews each biennium; the 5-hour pharmacotherapeutics CE rule attaches to each biennial renewal cycle.
healthy.arkansas.gov, as of 05/08/2026
Renewal fee
$65 APRN biennial renewal + $40 RNP (Registered Nurse Practitioner / prescriptive authority cert) biennial renewal + $100 RN biennial renewal (as of 2026-05-08; ASBN Fees table). A prescribing APRN pays $65 + $40 + $100 = $205 per biennium across the layered credentials. Initial Certificate of Prescriptive Authority is $160.
healthy.arkansas.gov, as of 05/08/2026
Continuing education
5 contact hours of pharmacotherapeutics CE in the APRN's area of certification per biennium, with 2 of the 5 hours required to cover maintaining professional boundaries, substance abuse and misuse, and Arkansas-specific prescribing rules, regulations, and laws that apply to APRNs (ASBN Rules 17 CAR §123-207(h)). ASBN provides a free 2-hour 'Advanced Practice Nursing in Arkansas' course and a 1-hour 'Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse' course on the CE Broker platform to satisfy the boundaries/abuse/AR-rules subset.
healthy.arkansas.gov, as of 05/08/2026
Online renewal available
Confirm with Arkansas State Board of Nursing

Track this credential automatically with Larch’s License tracking.

Physician assistant license

Renewal cycle
Annual. Arkansas PA licenses are renewed each year per Arkansas Regulation 24 (17 CAR § 140-1809). CME is measured from birth month of the previous year through birth month of the current year.
law.cornell.edu, as of 05/08/2026
Renewal fee
$100 annual PA license renewal fee per the Arkansas State Medical Board fee schedule (as of 2026-05-08); confirm at the time of renewal.
armedicalboard.adh.arkansas.gov, as of 05/08/2026
Continuing education
20 credit hours per year of continuing medical education per Arkansas Regulation 24 (17 CAR § 140-1809). At least 1 of those hours must be specifically on the prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines. PAs who prescribe opioids additionally complete at least 5 hours in pain management.
law.cornell.edu, as of 05/08/2026
Online renewal available
Confirm with Arkansas State Medical Board

Track this credential automatically with Larch’s License tracking.

MD / DO license

Renewal cycle
Confirm with Arkansas State Medical Board
Renewal fee
Confirm with Arkansas State Medical Board
Continuing education
Confirm with Arkansas State Medical Board
Online renewal available
Confirm with Arkansas State Medical Board

We’re still verifying Arkansas State Medical Board’s MD/DO- specific renewal details. The most accurate source is the board itself — visit Arkansas State Medical Board.

Track this credential automatically with Larch’s License tracking.

State controlled-substance registration

Some states layer a state-level controlled-substance registration (CSR or CDS) on top of the federal DEA; others rely on the DEA alone. Where Arkansasrequires one, it carries its own number, fee, and renewal clock — independent of the DEA cycle.

Required in this state
Confirm with Arkansas controlled-substances regulator

We’re still verifying Arkansas’s state CSR rules. Confirm with the Arkansascontrolled-substances regulator (often the Board of Pharmacy or a Department of Health office) before assuming you do or don’t need a state CSR alongside your DEA.

Track DEA + state CSR together with Larch’s DEA + CSR tracker.

Federal DEA registration

DEA registration is federal, not state-issued. DEA practitioner registrations renew on a three-year cycle and are tied to a specific practice address — multi-site clinicians typically hold one DEA per practice location, each with its own number and clock. The first renewal on or after June 27, 2023 also required a one-time MATE Act 8-hour training attestation; once attested, the credit carries forward.

See Larch’s DEA tracking page for details on the federal cycle, multi-site rules, and the MATE Act attestation requirements.

Common questions about Arkansas renewals

Is Arkansas a Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) state?
Yes — Arkansas is a full NLC member. Nurses who hold an active multistate license issued by another compact state may practice in Arkansas without applying separately, and Arkansas residents may apply for a multistate license through the Arkansas Board of Nursing if they meet the NCSBN's Uniform Licensure Requirements. Note that nurses changing their primary state of residence to or from a compact state generally must apply in the new home state within 60 days. Source: NCSBN compact map.
Does the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) work for physicians in Arkansas?
Arkansas is not currently a participating IMLC member. Physicians who want to practice in Arkansas must apply directly through the Arkansas Board of Medicine; they cannot use the IMLC's expedited pathway. Source: IMLCC.
Does the federal DEA renewal cycle differ in Arkansas?
No. DEA practitioner registrations are federal and renew on a three-year cycle regardless of state. Registrations are tied to a specific practice address — not to the holder personally — so multi-site clinicians typically hold one DEA per practice location. Arkansas's state-level controlled-substance registration, if it requires one, is separate from the federal DEA.
How does Larch keep Arkansas's rules current?
A drift-detection job re-fetches each cited source on a weekly cadence and flags pages where the source content has changed since our last review. Where we don't have a verified detail, we surface "Confirm with [Board]" with a link to the issuing board — never a guess.

Track every AR credential on one calendar.

Larch keeps a clean clock on every license, DEA, state CSR, board cert, and CE hour. Smart renewal alerts on the schedule you set. Encrypted document vault. License tracker is $5/month or $49/year — bundle with Collaboration + CE for $119/year.

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Sources for Arkansas

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