Updated for 2026

Colorado LAC, CAS & CAT Continuing Education Requirements

Colorado addiction counselors must complete 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LAC / CAS / CAT license.

40hours every 2 years

Next deadline: August 31, 2027The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by August 31 of odd years.

Where this comes from

State source: Colorado board rule
Last verified: October 2026
Ruleset version: 2026.3

Every figure on this page is read from this rule, and the page refreshes when the ruleset changes. How we verify

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Requirements

Colorado LAC, CAS & CAT requirements

Total

40 hoursYou need 40 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by August 31 of odd years.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Volunteer service: max 20 hrs
Mentoring: max 20 hrs
Teaching: max 20 hrs
Clinical supervision: max 20 hrs
Coursework: max 20 hrs
Independent learning: max 20 hrs
Carryover: max 5 hrs

Up to 5 unused hours can carry into the next cycle.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal: The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by August 31 of odd years.
New licensees: The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them automatically.
Approved providers: Colorado does not approve CE providers for addiction counselors: "The Board DOES NOT pre-approve or accredit specific educational providers or programs" (DORA CPC page). Any activity in one of the six Board-allowed PDA counts if it is "directly relevant to the certified or licensed addiction counselor's ... competence in the Behavioral Health field" and does not "fulfill duties for one's primary role or job description" (Rule 1.19(F)(2)). Hours must be completed within the two-year period that ends August 31 of the odd year. Keep certificates, forms and the Learning Plan for five years.
Recordkeeping: Keep CE documentation for 5 years after the end of each cycle.
Board audit: The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal: The board allows a 60-day grace period after expiration. A late renewal adds a late fee.

To keep your proof in order, see what to keep for a CE audit, which covers every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.

Your hours

Check where you stand

Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before August 31, 2027.

Total hours completedof 40

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

Open the full Addiction Counselor CE hours calculator

Full board policy details

Cycle and renewal: "All Addiction Counselor certifications and licenses expire on August 31 of odd-numbered years" and "renewals open approximately 4-5 weeks prior to the expiration date" (DORA, Addiction Counselor Applications and Forms). The Board's CPC page gives the current period as "September 1, 2025 - August 31, 2027" and requires the 40 PDH to be "completed during the two-year license/certification period that immediately precedes the renewal". "All new applicants who are issued a license within 120 days of the upcoming renewal expiration date will be issued a license with the next expiration date" (same page); the engine dates every cycle from the statewide tile, so a licensee bumped to the next expiration should enter the expiration DORA printed.
Two-activity minimum: 40 PDH with "No more than twenty PDH in a single Professional Development Activity" (Rule 1.19(E)(2)) means at least two of the six PDA must contribute (40 - 20 = 20 must come from a second PDA); the Board phrases this as "at least 40 Professional Development Hours (PDH) through a minimum of 2 Professional Development Activities (PDA) every 2-year license/certification period" (DORA CPC page). The engine enforces this through the six per-PDA ceilings: every verdict equals requiring a second activity directly. Caps bind only on credits tagged with the PDA slug; untagged hours are counted at face value.
Presenting: "Two PDH are earned for every clock hour spent when the licensee/certificate holder both prepares and delivers the presentation", one PDH per hour for delivery only, and "Credit will be given for the first delivery only" (DORA CPC page; CPC Program Manual). Log the Board's PDH figure, not the clock hours, tagged `teaching`; the 20-PDH Presenting ceiling applies to the credited figure.
Carry forward: up to five excess PDH earned in the last six months before the August 31 expiration carry into the next cycle (Rule 1.19(E)(4)). The engine applies the five-hour amount against the next cycle's 40; the licensee verifies the earning dates.
Provider model: no provider approval exists. The Board allows exactly six PDA: "Volunteer Service; Mentoring; Presenting; Supervision; Coursework; Independent and Group Learning" (Rule 1.19(F)(1)); "PDH cannot be accrued for activities that fulfill duties for one's primary role or job description" (Rule 1.19(F)(2)); "It is within the discretion of the Board to deny credit for any PDH that does not meet the criteria set forth in the current CPD Portfolio" (Rule 1.19(F)(3)); and "Serving on a federal, state or municipal board or commission" is ineligible (Rule 1.19(F)(4)). Time spent commuting, traveling, scheduling or planning does not count (DORA CPC page). No live or in-person minimum and no general repeat-course ban appear in the rule.
Dual licensure: "The Board may grant an exemption from the CPD requirement if the addiction counselor has fulfilled the CPD requirements set forth in sections 12-245-410, 12-245-506, or 12-245-606, C.R.S." (Rule 1.19(H)(2)), that is the Colorado social work, marriage and family therapy or professional counselor CPD. DORA applies it automatically: "Licensees/certificate holders holding two DORA mental health credentials are granted a CPC exemption of 40 hours. This means if you are dually licensed/certified, you only need to complete a total of 40 PDH each two-year license/certification period" and "Do not submit a formal request for a dual or triple license exemption" (DORA CPC page). The LAC still owes 40 PDH on its own Learning Plan; the same activities may be logged on each credential's plan, so this is a shared-hours concession, not a change in the number owed, and no conditional block is modeled. Psychologists (part 3 of article 245) are not among the cited sections.
Deem Status: a licensee who meets "the continued professional competence requirements of ... a state department" (C.R.S. 12-245-806(1)(c)) is deemed compliant; "Employees and contractors of qualifying programs in State Departments shall be deemed to have met the CPC requirements" and remain "subject to an audit" (Rule 1.19(G)(1)-(2)). Not modeled; a Deem Status licensee should log the program's hours or expect a 0-of-40 row.
Military exemption: the Board may exempt "military personnel who have been called to federally funded active duty for more than 120 days for the purpose of serving in a war, emergency, or contingency" from renewal fees "and from continuing professional competency requirements for a renewal cycle that falls within the period of service or within the six months following the completion of service" (Rule 1.19(H)(1), C.R.S. 12-20-302); DORA requires the exemption to be pre-approved on written request.
Inactive status and reactivation: "The holder of an inactive certificate or license shall not be required to comply with the continuing competency requirements for renewal so long as they remain inactive" (Rule 1.20(A)). To reactivate, "An applicant for reactivation must comply with all continuing professional development reactivation requirements pursuant to Rule 1.19 within the two years immediately preceding the application receipt date" (Rule 1.20(D)(1)), the same 40 PDH as a standard cycle, so no conditional block is needed. A license "inactive more than two years" also requires "a Board approved jurisprudence examination" and one of: a written work-experience statement, retaking the licensure examination, "Completion of an additional ten professional development hours ... for each year or portion thereof the certificate or license has been inactive", or other means (Rule 1.20(E)(1)); the engine does not choose among those. Reinstatement of an expired license mirrors this in Rule 1.13(E)-(F).
Other Board tiers: the Certified Addiction Technician and Certified Addiction Specialist owe the same 40 PDH ("Certified and licensed addiction counselors shall complete forty PDH each renewal cycle", Rule 1.19(E)) and share the August 31 odd-year expiration, but hold "the right to practice addiction counseling under supervision or consultation as required by the rules of the state board of human services" (C.R.S. 12-245-805(1)), so they are not independent credentials; both are scoped here as cat and cas. Addiction Counselor Candidates (registration, "expire on December 31 every 3 years") owe "sixty PDH at the second and all subsequent renewal cycles" (Rule 1.19(E)) and are likewise outside this rule.

Colorado LAC, CAS & CAT CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Colorado LAC / CAS / CAT licensees need?

Colorado requires 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LAC / CAS / CAT license. The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by August 31 of odd years.

How often do Colorado LAC / CAS / CAT licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by August 31 of odd years.

Is the first renewal different for new Colorado LAC / CAS / CAT licensees?

The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them automatically.

Sources and verification

State source: Colorado board rule
Last verified: October 2026
Ruleset version: 2026.3

We reviewed this page against the Colorado board source, and we refresh it from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it

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Colorado guides & data

What to keep for a CE audit →Learn what boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, and what the notice looks like, then use the printable checklist.Colorado mental health workforce data →36,559 active providers, or 608 per 100,000 residents, ranked 11 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Colorado CE requirement pages

Colorado LPC Colorado LMFT Colorado LCSW Colorado Psychologist