KRS 335.620: Application for licensure -- Conversion of certificate to license.

(1) An applicant for licensure as a pastoral counselor shall:

(a) Pay the board an initial fee for licensure that shall be established by

administrative regulation promulgated in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A;

(b) Be at least twenty-one (21) years of age;

(c) Reside or be employed in the Commonwealth of Kentucky;

(d) Have completed a master of divinity degree or its equivalent with a minimum

of ninety (90) hours from a seminary accredited by the Association of

Theological Schools or an equivalent course of st udy as defined by the board

by promulgation of administrative regulations;

(e) Have completed each of the following:

1. At least one thousand three hundred seventy -five (1,375) hours in the

practice of supervised pastoral counseling acceptable to the board ,

subsequent to being granted a master's degree; and

2. A minimum of two hundred fifty (250) hours of clinical supervision

acceptable to the board;

(f) Be an ordained minister or the denominational equivalent, as determined by

the applicant's denomination or faith group, and have been endorsed by that

denomination or faith group to function as a pastoral counselor;

(g) Hold an advanced degree or its equivalent beyond the master of divinity

degree with special concentration in the theory and practice of past oral

counseling and which requires at least one (1) year of academic work beyond

the first professional degree; and

(h) Pass a written examination approved by the board.

(2) If an applicant has been issued a certificate in pastoral counseling by the board prior

to January 1, 2015, and maintains that certificate in good standing, the board shall

issue the applicant a license as a pastoral counselor upon the applicant's payment of

a renewal fee and completion of a renewal process as authorized by KRS 335.625

and as prescribed by the board through the promulgation of administrative

regulations.