2016 Mississippi Code
Title 73 - Professions and Vocations
Chapter 31 - Psychologists
§ 73-31-13. Licensing; applications; qualifications; examinations [Repealed effective July 1, 2018]

The board shall issue a license as a psychologist to each applicant who files an application upon a form and in the manner as the board prescribes, accompanied by the fee as is required by this chapter; and who furnishes evidence satisfactory to the board that he or she:

(a) Is at least twenty-one (21) years of age; and

(b) Is a citizen of the United States, a Canadian citizen applying for licensure under the terms of a reciprocity agreement, or has declared his or her intention to become a citizen. A statement by the applicant under oath that he or she is a citizen, a Canadian citizen applying for licensure under the terms of a reciprocity agreement, or that he or she intends to apply for citizenship when he or she becomes eligible to make that application, shall be sufficient proof of compliance with this requirement; and

(c) Is of good moral character. The applicant must have successfully been cleared for licensure through an investigation that consists of a determination as to good moral character and verification that the prospective licensee is not guilty of or in violation of any statutory ground for denial of licensure. For the purposes of this chapter, good moral character includes an absence of felony convictions or misdemeanor convictions involving moral turpitude as established by a criminal background check. Applicants shall undergo a fingerprint-based criminal history records check of the Mississippi central criminal database and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history database. Each applicant shall submit a full set of the applicant's fingerprints in a form and manner prescribed by the board, which shall be forwarded to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (department) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Identification Division for this purpose; and

(d) Is not in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted under this chapter, and is not currently under investigation by another licensure board; and

(e) Holds a doctoral degree in psychology from an institution of higher education that is: regionally accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education, or authorized by Provincial statute or Royal Charter to grant doctoral degrees: and from a program accredited by the American Psychological Association, or the Canadian Psychological Association. For graduates from newly established programs seeking accreditation or in areas where no accreditation exists, applicants for licensure shall have completed a doctoral program in psychology that meets recognized acceptable professional standards as determined by the board. For applicants graduating from doctoral level psychology training programs outside of the United States of America or Canada, applicants for licensure shall have completed a doctoral program in psychology that meets recognized acceptable professional standards as determined by the board; and

(f) Has two (2) years of supervised experience in the same area of emphasis as the academic degree, which includes an internship and one (1) year of supervised post-doctoral experience, that meet the standards of training as defined by the board. Each year (or equivalent) shall be comprised of at least two thousand (2,000) hours of actual work, to include direct service, training and supervisory time. A pre-doctoral internship may be counted as one (1) of the two (2) years of experience; and

(g) Demonstrates professional knowledge by passing a written (as used in this paragraph, the term "written" means either paper and pencil or computer administered or computerized testing) and oral examination in psychology prescribed by the board; except that upon examination of credentials, the board may, by unanimous consent, consider these credentials adequate evidence of professional knowledge.

Upon investigation of the application and other evidence submitted, the board shall, not less than thirty (30) days before the examination, notify each applicant that the application and evidence submitted is satisfactory and accepted or unsatisfactory and rejected; if rejected, the notice shall state the reasons for the rejection.

The place of examination shall be designated in advance by the board, and the examination shall be given at such time and place and under such supervision as the board may determine. The examination used by the board shall consist of written tests and oral tests, and shall fairly test the applicant's knowledge and application thereof in those areas deemed relevant by the board. All examinations serve the purpose of verifying that a candidate for licensure has acquired a basic core of knowledge in the discipline of psychology and can apply that knowledge to the problems confronted in the practice of psychology within the applicant's area of practice.

The board shall evaluate the results from both the written and oral examinations. The passing scores for the written and oral examinations shall be established by the board in its rules and regulations. If an applicant fails to receive a passing score on the entire examination, he or she may reapply and shall be allowed to take a later examination. An applicant who has failed two (2) successive examinations by the board may not reapply until after two (2) years from the date of the last examination failed. The board shall keep the written examination scores, and an accurate transcript of the questions and answers relating to the oral examinations, and the grade assigned to each answer thereof, as part of its records for at least two (2) years after the date of examination.

If any psychologist duly licensed under this chapter, by virtue of additional training and experience, becomes qualified to practice in a specialty other than that for which he or she was deemed competent at the time of initial licensing, and wishes to offer that service under the provisions of this chapter, he or she shall at the time of annual renewal of licenses submit additional credentials and be given the opportunity to demonstrate his or her knowledge and application thereof in areas deemed relevant to his or her specialty. The board may charge a reasonable fee for evaluating these credentials and the applicant's knowledge.

Each application or filing made under this section shall include the social security number(s) of the applicant in accordance with Section 93-11-64.