Minnesota LADC Continuing Education Requirements
Minnesota addiction counselors must complete 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LADC license, including 3 hours of ethics and 9 hours of cultural competency.
40hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 40
9cultural competency
3ethics
The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
Where this comes from
- State source
- Minnesota board rule
- Last verified
- October 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.2
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
Minnesota LADC requirements
Total
40 hoursYou need 40 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
Topic minimums, counted within the 40
The remaining 28 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
- Cultural Competency
- 9
- You need 9 hours each cycle.
- Ethics
- 3
- You need 3 hours each cycle.
Cycle and record rules
- Renewal
- The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
- Renewal fee
- The board renewal fee is $295 every 2 years, and a late (delinquent) renewal adds a $74 fee.
- Approved providers
- Minnesota does not require LADC continuing education to come from a pre-approved provider. An activity qualifies when it is an organized program of learning that advances the counselor's knowledge and skills, pertains to subjects directly related to alcohol and drug counseling, is taught by knowledgeable instructors, and is offered by a sponsor who verifies participation (Minn. Stat. 148F.075 subd. 3). Sponsors may seek Board approval of an activity (148F.08), but approval is optional. Hours must fall inside the two-year renewal period they support. Keep the certificates for five years.
- Recordkeeping
- Keep CE documentation for 5 years after each course's completion date.
- 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 $74 late fee.
- Provisional renewal
- The board allows a provisional/conditional renewal for up to 6 months (renewable) before full compliance is required. Variance (148F.075 subd. 8): a licensee "unable to meet the continuing education requirements by the renewal date" may request a time-limited variance with a written plan; the licensee "is considered to be renewing late and is subject to the late renewal fee, regardless of when the request is received or whether the variance is granted". "A variance granted under this subdivision expires six months after the license renewal date", a second six-month variance may be requested, and "Hours completed after the renewal date pursuant to the written plan count toward meeting only the requirements of the previous renewal period". A licensee who fails to finish within the variance is administratively suspended until the hours are complete.
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 your renewal.
Your result appears here as you enter hours.
Open the full Addiction Counselor CE hours calculatorFull board policy details
- Biennial renewal on the licensee's own date: "A license must be renewed every two years" (Minn. Stat. 148F.05 subd. 1); the application "must be postmarked or received by the board by the end of the day on which the license expires or the following business day if the expiration date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday" (subd. 3(b)); and the board mails a renewal notice "At least 60 calendar days before the renewal deadline date" (subd. 2). The cycle is the two years ending on the stored expiration date. The renewal fee is $295 (148F.115 subd. 2), and "If the board establishes a renewal schedule, and the scheduled renewal date is less than two years, the fee may be prorated" (same), so a first term may be shorter than two years; the statute gives a short first term no reduced hour count.
- Qualifying activities (148F.075 subd. 4): attendance at "annual conferences, lectures, panel discussions, workshops, in-service trainings, seminars, and symposia"; college or university courses at a regionally accredited school (15 clock hours per semester credit, 12 per trimester credit, 10 per quarter credit, grade C or better or pass, not taken to meet the licensure education requirement); "home study or online courses offered by an accredited school or education program and that require a licensee to demonstrate knowledge following completion of the course"; teaching a course at a regionally accredited institution (10 hours per semester credit hour taught, first time only); and presentations (one hour per hour presented plus three hours of development time per hour presented, first presentation of the subject only). Minnesota sets no cap on online or home-study hours.
- Activities that never qualify (148F.075 subd. 5): "any subject contrary to the rules of professional conduct", "supervision of personnel", "entertainment or recreational activities", "employment orientation sessions", "policy meetings", "marketing", "business", "first aid, CPR, and similar training classes", and "training related to payment systems, including covered services, coding, and billing".
- Standards for approval (148F.075 subd. 3): the activity must "constitute an organized program of learning", "reasonably be expected to advance the knowledge and skills of the alcohol and drug counselor", "pertain to subjects that directly relate to the practice of alcohol and drug counseling", "be conducted by individuals who have education, training, and experience and are knowledgeable about the subject matter", and "be presented by a sponsor who has a system to verify participation and maintains attendance records for three years, unless the sponsor provides dated evidence to each participant with the number of clock hours awarded". Sponsors may apply for Board approval of an activity (148F.08; $60 fee, 148F.115 subd. 9), valid one year, but no provision requires licensees to use approved activities, so no provider gate is enforced. No approved-provider list. Board-approved activities carry the statement "This activity has been approved by the Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy for ... hours of credit" (148F.08 subd. 3).
- Dual licensure: chapter 148F is silent on counselors who also hold a Minnesota LPC, LPCC, LICSW or LMFT. The LADC affidavit (148F.075 subd. 6(a)) is its own filing on its own two-year clock, and nothing in 148F.075 reduces or combines the 40 hours for a dual licensee. A course that "directly relate[s] to the practice of alcohol and drug counseling" (subd. 2) may be reported to this board even if it was also reported to another Minnesota board; the statute neither grants nor bars that, and each board judges relevance under its own rule.
- Inactive status (148F.07): a licensee in good standing may request inactive status before the license expires; "A licensee must not practice alcohol and drug counseling while the license is inactive", and renewing inactive status "must include evidence satisfactory to the board that the licensee has completed 40 clock hours of continuing education required in section 148F.075" (subd. 2), the same 40 as an active renewal, so no conditional block is needed. Inactive renewal fee $150, late fee $37 (148F.115 subds. 4 and 5).
- Relicensure after termination (148F.065): for two years after a license is terminated for nonrenewal or voluntarily, the former licensee may be relicensed on application, fee, and a notarized statement of no practice, and "must provide evidence of having completed at least 20 hours of continuing education activities for each year, or portion thereof, that the former licensee did not hold a license" (subd. 2). After two years a new initial application is required (subd. 3). The per-year catch-up depends on the gap length and stays manual.
- Temporary permit holders (Alcohol and Drug Counselor-Trainee, ADC-T, 148F.035) practise under LADC supervision, renew the permit annually no more than five times, and are "not subject to the continuing education requirements of section 148F.075" (para. (c)(2)); the permit is not scoped by this rule. The Board's approved-supervisor designation (148F.04 subd. 3: an LADC with "three years of experience providing alcohol and drug counseling services" and "a minimum of 12 hours of training in clinical and ethical supervision") is a one-time qualification with a $30 processing fee (148F.115 subd. 12) and carries no recurring continuing-education requirement.
Minnesota LADC CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do Minnesota LADC licensees need?
Minnesota requires 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LADC license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
How many ethics hours are required for Minnesota LADC licensees?
Of the total, 3 hours must be in ethics.
How often do Minnesota LADC licensees renew?
The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
How much does Minnesota LADC license renewal cost?
The board's renewal fee is $295 every 2 years, per the Minnesota board fee schedule. Renewing late adds a $74 delinquency fee on top. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.
Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Minnesota LADC licensees?
Yes. In addition to ethics, Minnesota requires 9 hours of cultural competency.
Sources and verification
- State source
- Minnesota board rule
- Fee schedule
- Minnesota board fee schedule
- Last verified
- October 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.2
We reviewed this page against the Minnesota 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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Minnesota 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.Minnesota mental health workforce data →25,965 active providers, or 445.3 per 100,000 residents, ranked 24 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.
Other Minnesota CE requirement pages
Addiction Counselor CE requirements in other states
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
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- Wyoming