Updated for 2026

Tennessee LADAC & LADAC-I Continuing Education Requirements

Tennessee addiction counselors must complete 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LADAC / LADAC-I license, including 6 hours of ethics.

30hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 30
6ethics

The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

Where this comes from
State source
Tennessee 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

Tennessee LADAC & LADAC-I requirements

Total

30 hoursYou need 30 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

Topic minimums, counted within the 30

The remaining 24 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Ethics
6
You need 6 hours each cycle.

Limits on how the hours are earned

In person
min 18 hrs
Multimedia
max 6 hrs
Volunteer service
max 3 hrs

At least 18 hours must be earned in person.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
Renewal fee
The board renewal fee is $325 every 2 years, and a late (delinquent) renewal adds a $90 fee.
Approved providers
Tennessee accepts continuing education from the providers Rule 1200-30-01-.12(2) lists without further approval: nationally or regionally accredited institutions of higher education, NAADAC, TAADAC, the Tennessee Department of Health, TAADAS, TAMHO and the Tennessee Department of Mental Health. "All providers of continuing education not authorized by paragraph (2) must request and receive approval" from the Board (1200-30-01-.12(3)). It is still "the licensee's responsibility, using his professional judgment, to determine whether or not a particular educational/training experience is applicable and appropriate to his professional development" (1200-30-01-.12(5)), so keep the course description and certificate.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 3 years after the end of each cycle.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal
The board allows a 30-day grace period after expiration. A late renewal adds a $90 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 your renewal.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

Open the full Addiction Counselor CE hours calculator

Tennessee LADAC & LADAC-I required trainings and mandates

Beyond the 30-hour CE total, Tennessee requires specific trainings. Some are due once around initial licensure, and others run on their own recurring schedule.

Recurring mandates outside the 2-year cycle

  • You need 1 hour of suicide prevention every 4 years.
Full board policy details
  • Cadence and window: the license renews every two years on the Division of Health Related Boards' 24-month renewal period, which runs to "the last day of the last month of the license period" (1200-10-01-.10), the licensee's birth month, and the due date is "the expiration date indicated on the licensee's renewal certificate" (1200-30-01-.09(1)(a)). The hours are counted on calendar years, "every two (2) calendar years" (1200-30-01-.12(1)), "during the two (2) calendar years preceding the year of licensure renewal" (Board licensure page). A licensee whose license expires in May 2027 therefore documents hours earned in calendar 2025 and 2026.
  • Face-to-face floor and multi-media ceiling: "Eighteen (18) hours must be face to face and twelve (12) hours may be via multi-media" (1200-30-01-.12(1)), and "A maximum of six (6) contact hours may be granted for multi-media courses during each calendar year" (1200-30-01-.12(5)). Multi-media means courses presented through "internet, satellite, videoconferencing, distance learning, and similar formats" with "successful completion of a written post experience examination". The engine reads the face-to-face floor from the credit's delivery format (in-person attendance only; a live webinar is videoconferencing). Tag multi-media credits multimedia as well so the six-per-calendar-year limit binds.
  • Activities that earn no credit: "Regular work activities, administrative staff meetings, case staffing/reporting, etc."; "Membership in, holding office in, or participation on boards or committees, business meetings of professional organizations or banquet speeches"; "Independent, unstructured or self-structured learning"; and "Training specifically related to policies and procedures of an agency" (1200-30-01-.12(5)). If documentation does not clearly show appropriate continuing education, the Board may request a written explanation, and a licensee whose hours are disallowed has ninety (90) days to replace them.
  • Voluntary healthcare services: one CE hour per hour of "voluntary provision of healthcare services", at most "three (3) hours" of "annual hours" (1200-30-01-.12(5)). Tag these credits volunteer service; the engine caps them at three in each accrual calendar year. Such hours carry no course provider.
  • Academic coursework converts at "one semester credit equaling 15 contact hours and one quarter credit equaling 12 contact hours" when the transcript documents the hours (1200-30-01-.12(4)); the course must be from a nationally or regionally accredited institution and related to the practice of alcohol and drug abuse counseling.
  • Newly licensed counselors: "For new licensees, submitting proof of successful completion of all education and training requirements required for licensure in Tennessee shall be considered proof of sufficient preparatory education to constitute continuing education credit for the calendar year in which such education and training requirements were completed" (1200-30-01-.12(1)). This is a one-year concession keyed to the calendar year the licensure education was finished, not a first-renewal exemption, and the rule does not say how many of the thirty hours it stands in for; it stays a manual first-renewal check rather than a first cycle overrides block.
  • Suicide prevention: a Board-approved training program "at least once every four (4) years" from January 1, 2020, with the two-year deferral for new licensees who submitted a qualifying two-hour academic program at licensure (1200-30-01-.12(1)). The rule states no hour count and does not say whether the program counts toward the thirty; because it is alcohol and drug abuse continuing education from an approved provider the engine counts it toward the 30.
  • Qualified Clinical Supervisor: ten additional hours every two years "specific to alcohol and drug clinical supervision", six of them "specific to clinical supervision ethics", "in addition to the normal thirty (30) contact hours" (1200-30-01-.12(1)). The QCS is a designation on a Level II license (1200-30-01-.02, -.10(2)), gated here on the supervisor fact.
  • Dual licensure: Rule 1200-30-01-.12 says nothing about hours earned for another license or another board, offers no reduced or combined total and requires no separate attestation for a licensee who also holds a Tennessee LPC, LCSW or LMFT. Those boards run their own calendar-year windows (for example 0450-01-.12 for the LPC); a course may serve both only if it meets each rule on its own terms. Nothing in this rule changes the thirty owed.
  • Reactivation and reinstatement: a retired license is reactivated with fifteen hours completed in the twelve months before the request, while "Revoked and expired licenses must comply with accumulated requirements at the same rate as active licenses"; hours used to reactivate "may not be counted toward the current licensure renewal year requirement" (1200-30-01-.12(6)). An applicant for reinstatement of an expired license "must comply with the continuing education requirements of rule 1200-30-01-.12" and pay reinstatement, renewal and late renewal fees (1200-30-01-.09(2)).

Tennessee LADAC & LADAC-I CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Tennessee LADAC / LADAC-I licensees need?

Tennessee requires 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LADAC / LADAC-I license. The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

How many ethics hours are required for Tennessee LADAC / LADAC-I licensees?

Of the total, 6 hours must be in ethics.

How often do Tennessee LADAC / LADAC-I licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.

How much does Tennessee LADAC / LADAC-I license renewal cost?

The board's renewal fee is $325 every 2 years, per the Tennessee board fee schedule. Renewing late adds a $90 delinquency fee on top. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.

Can Tennessee LADAC / LADAC-I licensees complete CE online or by home study?

At least 18 hours must be earned in person.

Sources and verification

State source
Tennessee board rule
Fee schedule
Tennessee board fee schedule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.3

We reviewed this page against the Tennessee 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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Tennessee 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.Tennessee mental health workforce data →19,801 active providers, or 270.7 per 100,000 residents, ranked 47 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Tennessee CE requirement pages

Tennessee LPCTennessee LMFTTennessee LCSWTennessee Psychologist

Addiction Counselor CE requirements in other states