Ohio LICDC, LCDC III, LCDC II & CDCA Continuing Education Requirements
Ohio addiction counselors must complete 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LICDC / LCDC III / LCDC II / CDCA license, including 3 hours of ethics and 6 hours of substance use disorders.
The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
- State source
- Ohio board rule
- Last verified
- October 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.1
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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Ohio LICDC, LCDC III, LCDC II & CDCA requirements
Total
Topic minimums, counted within the 30
- Substance Use Disorders
- 6
- You need 6 hours each cycle.
- Ethics
- 3
- You need 3 hours each cycle.
Limits on how the hours are earned
- Volunteer service
- max 4 hrs
- Teaching
- max 10 hrs
- Publication
- max 20 hrs
- Foreign or sign language
- max 10 hrs
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 $150 every 2 years.
- Approved providers
- Ohio counts "approved continuing education credit" (OAC 4758-13-01). The Board approves individual programs and grants one- or two-year provider status to sponsors (OAC 4758-13-07), and CEUs may be awarded for programs in the counselor, supervisor and gambling knowledge areas listed in OAC 4758-13-04(C); no CEUs are awarded for in-service programs on internal organizational affairs, committee or business meetings, mass-media programs without prior Board approval, or CPR/first aid (4758-13-04(D)). Every credit must be uploaded to CE Broker, the Board's continuing education monitoring system, before you pay the renewal fee. Hours must fall within the current two-year period (must_be_within_cycle_window: hours do not carry over). The Board "will only count the hours for the identical coursework ONCE during a renewal cycle, even if taken multiple times" (Board Updates, April 2026).
- Board audit
- The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
- Late renewal
- 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.
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
- Cadence: each credential runs a two-year period from its own issue date; the Board prints the expiration on the license. Renew "in the board's electronic application system" and pay "prior to its expiration date and no earlier than ninety days prior to the expiration date" (OAC 4758-13-01(A)(1)), with the hours already uploaded "prior to renewal application payment" (4758-13-01(A)(2)). "The board shall send renewal reminders ninety days prior to the lapse date" (4758-13-01(C)).
- Age 65 or older: "For a certificate or license holder who is sixty-five years of older and does not hold an ADC or CS reciprocal endorsement, a minimum of twenty approved continuing education hours within a two year period", still including the six substance use disorder and three ethics hours, the six clinical supervision hours for an LICDC-CS and the six gambling hours for a gambling endorsement (OAC 4758-13-01(A)(2)(h); ORC 4758.51(A)). The product records no birth date, so the engine shows thirty; a counselor 65 or older at renewal owes twenty.
- IC&RC reciprocal endorsement: "For the renewal of a license with an ADC or CS reciprocal endorsement, an additional ten continuing education hours in substance use disorder education or field related hours" (OAC 4758-13-01(A)(2)(g)), forty in all. The product has no marker for the reciprocal endorsement, so the engine shows thirty; a holder of the ADC or CS reciprocal endorsement owes forty.
- Gambling disorder endorsement: "For renewal of a license with a gambling disorder endorsement, a minimum of six hours shall be in gambling disorder education" (OAC 4758-13-01(A)(2)(e)), inside the thirty. The product has no marker for the gambling endorsement, so this floor is a manual check.
- Academic coursework: CEUs "may be awarded for college courses that address one or more of the knowledge and skill areas associated with substance use disorder counseling, gambling disorder counseling, or prevention science education services", at "One semester hour equals fifteen CEUs" and "One quarter hour equals ten CEUs" (OAC 4758-13-04(B)). Log the converted hours.
- Military: the Board "shall consider relevant education, training, or service completed during the current renewal period" by a service member or spouse (OAC 4758-13-01(A)(6)), and a member who served on active duty for more than thirty-one days may apply to extend the reporting period "by an amount of time equal to the total number of months that the licensee spent on active duty" (4758-13-01(B)). ORC 4758.51 also lets the Board waive hours for reasons such as military service or illness.
- Dual licensure: OAC 4758-13-01 says nothing about hours earned for an Ohio counselor, social worker or MFT license under ORC 4757, offers no reduced or combined total, and requires no separate attestation. A course counts here only if it is Board-approved CE for this rule; the CSWMFT Board's own thirty hours (rules/lpc/oh-lpc-lpcc.yaml) are a separate requirement on a separate cycle.
- Prevention credentials are not on this rule: the OCPSA, OCPS and OCPC renew under OAC 4758-13-02 (forty hours for an OCPS or OCPC, twenty for an OCPSA, with prevention-specific floors).
Ohio LICDC, LCDC III, LCDC II & CDCA CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do Ohio LICDC / LCDC III / LCDC II / CDCA licensees need?
Ohio requires 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LICDC / LCDC III / LCDC II / CDCA license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
How many ethics hours are required for Ohio LICDC / LCDC III / LCDC II / CDCA licensees?
Of the total, 3 hours must be in ethics.
How often do Ohio LICDC / LCDC III / LCDC II / CDCA licensees renew?
The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
How much does Ohio LICDC / LCDC III / LCDC II / CDCA license renewal cost?
The board's renewal fee is $150 every 2 years, per the Ohio board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.
Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Ohio LICDC / LCDC III / LCDC II / CDCA licensees?
Yes. In addition to ethics, Ohio requires 6 hours of substance use disorders.
Sources and verification
- State source
- Ohio board rule
- Fee schedule
- Ohio board fee schedule
- Last verified
- October 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.1
We reviewed this page against the Ohio 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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Ohio guides & data
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Addiction Counselor CE requirements in other states
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
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- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
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