Updated for 2026

Montana PMHNP Continuing Education Requirements

Here's what a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) must complete to renew in Montana.

These are the Montana APRN license requirements for a board-certified PMHNP who prescribes controlled substances. Your RN license, ANCC certification and DEA registration renew separately; see every credential.

The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

Where this comes from
State source
Montana 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

Montana PMHNP requirements

Total

No CE hoursThe board does not require continuing education hours to renew this license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

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 $100 every 2 years.
Approved providers
The Montana Board of Nursing sets no continuing education for RN or APRN license renewal or for prescriptive authority renewal, so it accepts and audits no hours: "Continuing education (CE) credits are no longer required and will no longer be audited effective immediately" (Board FAQ on the November 18, 2023 repeal). The only education a Montana PMHNP owes is the national certification's (ANCC's 75 contact hours, us-pmhnp_bc.yaml) and, with a DEA registration, the federal MATE Act training (us-dea.yaml). Hours logged against these rows are held for those credentials.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 5 years after each course's completion date.
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.

Credential stack

Every credential a Montana PMHNP renews

Each one renews on its own date, and a lapse at any of them stops prescribing. The ANCC certification and DEA registration are the same in every state.

  1. APRNAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse
    Montana · Biennial

    No CE hours to renew.

    Requirements above
  2. RNRegistered Nurse
    Montana · Biennial

    No CE hours to renew.

    Requirements above
  3. CSRState Controlled Substance Registration
    Montana

    Montana does not issue a separate CSR.

  4. PMHNP-BCPsychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified
    ANCC · Every 5 years

    75 CE hours every 5 years, including 25 hours of pharmacology.

    PMHNP-BC renewal requirements
  5. DEADEA Registration
    DEA · Triennial

    No recurring CE hours, but a one-time training applies.

    DEA renewal requirements

Also hold a Montana Psychologist or LPC license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the Montana Psychologist and Montana LPC requirements.

Full board policy details
  • RN renewal has no hours. The renewal rule asks the licensee to "fill out the renewal application and return it to the board by the date set in ARM 24.101.413", "accompany the application with the renewal fee" and "remit the late penalty set forth in ARM 24.101.403 if the renewal is postmarked after the renewal deadline" (ARM 24.159.420(2)). The biennial 24 contact hours of former ARM 24.159.2102 were repealed with the rest of subchapter 21 effective November 18, 2023 (2023 MAR p. 1611): "The board is removing all CE requirements for renewal of LPN, RN, and APRN licensure" (MAR 24-159-93 adoption, Response 6). The Board's CE page: "the Montana Board of Nursing no longer requires continuing education contact hours to be completed as a requirement for renewal of a nursing license". MCA 37-1-306(1) still lets a board "require licensees to participate in ... continuing education", so a future rule could restore hours; none is pending. Competence remains a conduct standard ("failing to exercise technical competence in carrying out nursing care", ARM 24.159.2301(2)(b)), not a renewal count. CE vendors that still list 24 hours (12 in pharmacology for prescribers) and the Board's own paper APRN renewal form (version 10.27.2022, citing ARM 24.159.2102) are stale.
  • APRN renewal rides on national certification and a quality assurance plan, not hours. "The APRN licensed in Montana may only practice in the role and population focus in which the APRN has current national certification" (ARM 24.159.1406(1)), and under ARM 24.159.1469(1) "The APRN is expected to engage in ongoing competence development ... This development can occur through formal education programs, continuing education, or clinical practice ... Documentation of competence development activities should be retained by the APRN for a minimum of five years and must be made available to the board upon request. The APRN must: (a) submit verification of national recertification to the board within 30 days of issuance; and (b) maintain an individualized quality assurance plan that: (i) is relevant to the APRN's role and population focus, practice setting, and level of experience; (ii) may include peer review, institutional review, and/or self-assessment; (iii) includes methods for maintaining continued competence in providing patient care and evaluating patient outcomes; and (iv) meets the standards set by the APRN's national professional organization". The recertification filing is a 30-day notice keyed to the ANCC renewal, not to this row's December 31, and the plan has no hour count, so neither is modeled as a requirement; the certification's own hours are us-pmhnp bc.yaml. "When the board approves a licensed RN's application for APRN licensure, the RN will be issued an APRN license in addition to the applicant's current RN license" (ARM 24.159.1412(5)), and the APRN renewal attests "an active Montana APRN license and an active MT RN license or ... a multi-state privilege to practice as an RN in Montana" (Board APRN renewal application).
  • Prescriptive authority is a separate biennial renewal with no hours. "Only an APRN granted prescriptive authority by the board may prescribe, procure, administer, and dispense legend and controlled substances" (ARM 24.159.1461(1)); "An additional application is needed for APRN prescriptive authority" (24.159.1412(6)). "The term of an APRN's prescriptive authority is concurrent with licensure and ends every two years on the date set by ARM 24.101.413. (2) To renew prescriptive authority, the APRN shall submit a completed prescriptive authority renewal application and a nonrefundable fee. (3) When an APRN fails to renew prescriptive authority prior to the renewal date of that authority, the APRN's prescriptive authority will lapse and expire after 45 days. The APRN whose prescriptive authority has expired may not prescribe and must reapply for prescriptive authority under the requirement in ARM 24.159.1463" (ARM 24.159.1468). The former renewal clause, "affirmation of a minimum of 12 contact hours of accredited education in pharmacology, pharmacotherapeutics, and/or clinical management of drug therapy", was struck effective November 18, 2023; the Board answered commenters that "APRNs with prescriptive authority are expected to maintain a level of competence, including a knowledge base of the drugs they are prescribing. However, the board disagrees that this needs to be a separate requirement" (Response 7). The 45 pharmacology contact hours in ARM 24.159.1463(1)(b) are an initial application pathway for an APRN who "graduated more than five years ago" and holds no prescriptive authority elsewhere, not a renewal obligation. Prescriptive authority is an authorization on the APRN license, not its own license row, so it shares this row's date; nothing is gated on `prescribing`, `prescribes opioids` or a `dea` sibling.
  • Prescriber duties that are not CE: "An APRN with prescriptive authority shall comply with federal DEA requirements for controlled substances" and "may not prescribe controlled substances for self or members of the APRN's immediate family" (ARM 24.159.1464(4)-(5)); since September 26, 2026 it is unprofessional conduct to fail "to report voluntary surrender of a DEA registration to the board within 30 days of the date of the voluntary surrender" (ARM 24.159.2301, MAR Notice No. 2026-114). "Each person licensed under Title 37 to prescribe or dispense prescription drugs shall register to use the prescription drug registry at the time of initial licensure or renewal of licensure" (MCA 37-7-1503(1)) and pays the registry fee (MCA 37-7-1511(1); $60 per two-year renewal on the APRN renewal application). Montana has no opioid, pain management, controlled-substance or pharmacology CE for prescribers in statute or rule; the prescriber-facing education is the federal MATE Act training on the DEA row (us-dea.yaml).
  • No state controlled-substance registration. "Every person who manufactures, distributes, or dispenses any dangerous drug within this state must obtain annually a registration issued by the department in accordance with board rules" (MCA 50-32-301(1)), but "The board shall waive the requirement for registration of practitioners, other than pharmacies, who are registered or licensed by the federal government to dispense dangerous drugs" (MCA 50-32-303). The Board of Pharmacy dispenser registration for a "medical practitioner" (which includes a licensee in "a nursing specialty as described in 37-8-202 and in the licensed practice to administer or prescribe drugs", MCA 37-2-101(8)(c)) lets the practitioner dispense from the office, renews with the practitioner's license (ARM 24.101.413(4)) and does not reach controlled substances (MCA 37-2-104(1), (4)(b)); it is optional and not a registration to prescribe. No `csr` row for Montana.
  • No statewide topic mandates. With subchapter 21 repealed, Montana has no implicit bias, human trafficking, suicide prevention, ethics, infection control, cultural competency or opioid CE for nurses. The Board still offers free accredited modules (role of the Board, delegation, complaints, the Nurse Licensure Compact, licensing, substance use disorder, scope of practice, ethics; Board CE page) as optional learning; they may count toward ANCC if they fit its categories.
  • Reactivation and endorsement. A license not renewed by December 31 is lapsed and "may be reactivated within 45 days of the renewal date by submitting the required, completed renewal information and paying the required fees"; after 45 days it expires and "may be reactivated within two years of the renewal date"; after two years it terminates and "A new original license must be obtained" (ARM 24.101.408(2)). Practice on a lapsed license is not unlicensed practice, practice on an expired license is (24.101.408(4)-(5)). MCA 37-1-306(2) subjects a licensee who reactivates an expired license to "a mandatory continuing education audit", but with no Board CE requirement there is nothing to audit. Endorsement APRN applicants show "verification of current national certification in APRN role and population focus" (ARM 24.159.1418(1)(d)). No first-renewal proration or waiver exists because there are no hours.
  • Compacts: Montana is a Nurse Licensure Compact state (the enhanced NLC at MCA 37-8-501; ARM subchapter 24.159.5), so a Montana-resident RN may hold a multistate RN license renewed on this December 31 cycle, and an APRN whose RN privilege comes from another compact state's multistate license renews only the Montana APRN license and prescriptive authority. Montana has not enacted the APRN Compact: HB 409 (2023) passed the House but was not enacted, and HB 526 (2025) was tabled in House committee on March 3, 2025 and died; Montana is not among the enacting states NCSBN lists (Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming), so every Montana APRN license is a single-state license.

Montana PMHNP CE: frequently asked questions

Which credentials does a Montana PMHNP renew?

4 separate credentials, each on its own renewal date: the APRN (Montana, biennial), the RN (Montana, biennial), the PMHNP-BC (ANCC, every 5 years), and the DEA (DEA, triennial). Montana issues no separate CSR. A lapse at any one of them stops prescribing.

How often do Montana PMHNP licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

How much does Montana PMHNP license renewal cost?

The board's renewal fee is $100 every 2 years, per the Montana board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.

Sources and verification

State source
Montana board rule
Fee schedule
Montana board fee schedule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.2

We reviewed this page against the Montana 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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Montana 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.Montana mental health workforce data →5,566 active providers, or 486.2 per 100,000 residents, ranked 20 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Montana CE requirement pages

Montana LPCMontana LMFTMontana LCSWMontana PsychologistMontana Addiction Counselor

PMHNP CE requirements in other states