ATTENTION 2013 GRADUATES
If you will be applying for a KY license, mail your application to the Board as soon as possible. All supporting documents should be received in the board office by June 21, 2013.
The KY law exam will be administered July 18, 2013 at 9:30am (eastern time). The location for the law exam will be the Embassy Suites Hotel on Newtown Pike in Lexington, KY. A copy of the statutes and regulations can be downloaded from this web page. This is your study guide for the law exam.
If the Board licenses you on July 18, 2013, you will be given your initial licensure letter that day. The letter will indicate that a pro-rated licensure fee of $136 plus $50 for a TPA certificate and large wall certificate will be due. This fee must be paid before a license number will be issued. You will not be permitted to work prior to receiving your license number. If you want to pay the $186 fee on July 18, 2013, following the law exam, only checks will be accepted. Checks should be made payable to the KY State Treasurer.
Pursuant to 201 KAR 5:110, all new licensees are required to be credentialed in Expanded Therapeutic Procedures by the first renewal of license which in your case will be March 1, 2014. The 32-hour required course will be offered by the KY Optometric Asociation beginning July 18, 2013, after lunch, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington. Call the KY Optometric Association at 502-875-3516 to register for this course.
Background checks are required of all applicants for license. See information below. It is taking a full 8 weeks to get the results of the background check in to the board office. So, you must begin this process early.
Registering with KASPER
KY licensed optometrists who have a DEA number must register with KASPER or your license will not be renewed. You will need a KY driver's license in order to register electronically. For KY licensed optometrists who live out of state and have a DEA number, you will need to register by paper. Here is the link to register electronically.
Click here to register electronically: KASPER link
Click here to register by paper: Paper KASPER link
Should you need help with registering, call the KASPER help desk at 502-564-2703
**NOTICE**
Criminal Background Check Requirement for Initial Licensure and Licensure by Endorsement Effective July 24, 2012
HB1 KASPER legislation mandates the Board of Optometric Examiners require criminal background checks performed by the FBI.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR FBI BACKGROUND CHECKS
1. Fill out the background check application from the FBI website:
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/background-checks/applicant-information-form
2. You must indicate on the form that the results be mailed to:
Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners
163 West Short Street, Suite 550
Lexington, KY 40507
3. Take the completed form to any Sheriff's Department, local Police Department or State Police Department.
4. Your fingerprint card will be completed at the station.
5. Mail the completed form, the fingerprint card and the $18 fee to:
FBI CJIS Division - Record Department
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306
**Do NOT send the Fingerprint Card to the Board of Optometric Examiners**
**Allow 6 to 8 weeks for the FBI to process your fingerprint card**
For more information on requesting an FBI Criminal Background Check, see:
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/background-checks/submitting-an-identification-record-request-to-the-fbi
All continuing education taken for license renewal must be sponsored by a state, regional (multi-state like SECO) or national optometric association*, an accredited school of optometry or an accredited school of medicine. This is pursuant to 201 KAR 5:030 Section 2.
*National optometric association would be the American Optometric Association, American Academy of Optometry, College of Vision Development and the National Optometric Association.
This means that all education certificates submitted for license renewal, must be sponsored by one of the above groups including all COPE courses, and OEP courses, internet or correspondence or audio-digest. The only exception to this requirement is the one-hour HIV-AIDS course which must be approved by the KY Cabinet for Health & Family Services (CHFS). This course is required for newly licensed optometrists. Click this link to go to the CHFS HIV approved class information web page: HIV-AIDS Training.
If you use the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry's OE Tracker database to document your continuing education, please forward the printout with your signature to our office as soon as you complete the education. This will expedite the release of your license during renewals.