Louisiana Counseling Compact: What LPCs Need to Know in 2026

Cassandra Branan

By Cassandra Branan

Ed.D. Doctorate in Educational Leadership

Updated & Fact Checked 05.05.2026

Louisiana is in the Counseling Compact and began issuing privileges to practice on April 20, 2026. According to the Counseling Compact Commission, Louisiana is the fourth state to go operationally live, after Arizona and Minnesota on September 30, 2025, and Ohio on January 5, 2026. That means Louisiana LPCs who live in Louisiana can now apply through 

CompactConnect for privileges in Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio, and eligible counselors from those live states can apply for a Louisiana privilege. The current Louisiana privilege fee is $160 total, made up of a $130 Louisiana state fee and the Commission’s $30 administrative fee. Louisiana’s eligible home-state credential is LPC, not LPCC, and the Compact’s fee page says Louisiana does not currently require a jurisprudence exam for a Louisiana privilege. Louisiana joined the Compact in 2022, when HB 582 became Act 341 with an August 1, 2022 effective date. Across the country, 39 states and the District of Columbia have enacted the Compact, but only four states are live for privilege issuance as of May 2026. 

Key facts

  • Louisiana became operationally live on April 20, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. ET. 
  • Louisiana is the fourth live Compact state, after Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio. 
  • 39 states and the District of Columbia have enacted the Counseling Compact, but only Arizona, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Ohio are live today. 
  • Louisiana uses the LPC title, not LPCC, for Compact eligibility. 
  • Applications go through CompactConnect, not directly through the Louisiana LPC Board. 
  • The Louisiana privilege fee is $160 total, and Louisiana currently requires no jurisprudence exam for that privilege.

Is Louisiana in the Counseling Compact?

Yes. Louisiana is in the Counseling Compact and began issuing privileges on April 20, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. ET, making it the fourth live state in the country. Louisiana passed the Compact in 2022, but it did not become operationally live until 2026. 

According to the Counseling Compact Commission, Louisiana now sits in the first group of states that completed the technical and regulatory work needed for live practice, including secure data sharing and system testing. Arizona and Minnesota launched first on September 30, 2025, and Ohio followed on January 5, 2026. 

Louisiana’s legislative step happened earlier. The Louisiana Legislature shows that HB 582, the bill joining Louisiana to the Licensed Professional Counselors Interstate Compact, was signed by the governor as Act 341 on June 10, 2022, with an August 1, 2022 effective date. So the short answer is yes, Louisiana passed the law in 2022, but live privilege issuance did not begin until April 20, 2026. 

The current national picture is also important. The Compact’s home page says four states are live now, while 35 additional states and the District of Columbia are still completing implementation steps. That equals 39 states plus D.C. that have enacted the Compact, even though only four are issuing privileges today.

What license does Louisiana use for the Counseling Compact?

Louisiana uses the LPC title, Licensed Professional Counselor, for Compact participation. Louisiana does not use LPCC as its home-state title, and only counselors who can practice independently at the highest level are eligible to use the Compact through Louisiana. 

The Compact fee page lists Louisiana’s eligible license type as LPC. The Louisiana LPC Board also describes LPCs as independently licensed counselors who may provide mental health counseling and psychotherapy services to the public for a fee. 

That title difference matters when you compare Louisiana to states like Minnesota or Ohio, which use LPCC. The model Compact defines a “Licensed Professional Counselor” by function, not by one exact title. In the Compact text, a licensed professional counselor is a counselor licensed by a member state, regardless of the title used by that state, to independently assess, diagnose, and treat behavioral health conditions. That is why Minnesota LPCCs and Ohio LPCCs can still qualify for Louisiana privileges if they meet the Compact’s requirements. 

Louisiana PLPCs are not eligible. The Louisiana board says PLPCs practice under board-approved supervision and may not practice independently, and the Compact FAQ says provisional, student, assistant, and other supervised license types cannot use the Compact. Yes, Louisiana uses the LPC title, but the key issue is independent practice authority, not just the letters on the license.

How much does a Counseling Compact privilege cost in Louisiana?

A Counseling Compact privilege in Louisiana currently costs $160 total. That total is made up of a $130 Louisiana state fee plus the Compact Commission’s $30 administrative fee, and you pay that amount for each Louisiana privilege request. 

For the Louisiana Counseling Compact fee, the direction of payment matters. Louisiana’s $130 fee applies when an out-of-state counselor is asking Louisiana to grant a privilege. Louisiana LPCs who want to practice somewhere else do not pay Louisiana’s state fee for that outbound request. They pay the destination state’s fee plus the same $30 Compact administrative fee. On the current fees page, Arizona is $280 total, Minnesota is $80 total, and Ohio is $55 total. 

The Compact’s financial FAQ also makes clear that fees are paid per state, not once for the whole Compact. In other words, this is not a one-time national pass. If a Louisiana LPC wants Arizona and Ohio, those are two separate privilege requests and two separate sets of fees. 

There is also a timing trap. The Compact’s application page says a privilege expires on the same date as your home-state license at the time the privilege is issued. If your Louisiana license is about to renew and you apply first, you may end up paying again soon after renewal to extend the privilege. The cheaper move is usually to renew your home license first, wait for the updated expiration date to appear in CompactConnect, and then apply.

Does Louisiana require a jurisprudence exam for the Compact?

No. Louisiana currently does not require a jurisprudence exam for someone seeking a Louisiana Compact privilege, according to the Compact’s official fees and jurisprudence page. 

That answer is limited to the Compact privilege question. It does not automatically answer every requirement that might apply when someone seeks a full Louisiana state license through the board. For Compact purposes, though, the current Louisiana entry is simple: no jurisprudence exam required. 

Louisiana LPCs applying out to other live states still need to watch remote-state rules. The Compact model legislation says counselors must meet any jurisprudence requirement established by the remote state. Right now, Arizona requires a tutorial, Ohio lists a video requirement, and Minnesota lists none. So the Louisiana answer is no for Louisiana itself, but not every destination state works the same way. 

How do Louisiana LPCs apply for a privilege to practice?

Louisiana LPCs apply through CompactConnect. To qualify, you need to use your home-state Louisiana license, keep it active and unencumbered, choose the remote state where you want to practice, and complete any remote-state requirements that apply. 

The Compact’s FAQ says all privilege applications are processed through the CompactConnect website, and the application page says you can begin practice as soon as your privilege number appears on your dashboard. The Compact also explains that the privilege number should appear almost instantaneously when the transaction completes successfully. 

For a Louisiana counselor, the practical steps are straightforward. First, confirm that Louisiana is your primary state of residence and that your Louisiana LPC is active. The Compact requires counselors to participate through their home state, not through a different state where they also happen to hold a license. Next, choose the remote state you want, complete any remote-state jurisprudence requirement if one exists, and pay that state’s fee plus the $30 administrative fee. The Louisiana board’s homepage also points Louisiana LPCs seeking a compact privilege to the Compact site rather than to a separate state-only application. 

This is also where people mix up Louisiana LPC license reciprocity with the Compact. The Compact is not classic reciprocity. Your Louisiana license stays your home-state license, and the remote state grants you a privilege to practice. The model legislation calls that privilege a legal authorization equivalent to a license in the remote state. Yes, Louisiana LPCs can use the Compact to practice in Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio, but they must keep the Louisiana license active and unencumbered for those privileges to stay valid.

Can out-of-state counselors practice in Louisiana through the Compact?

Yes. Out-of-state counselors can practice in Louisiana through the Compact if they hold a qualifying home-state license in a live Compact state and obtain a Louisiana privilege before serving Louisiana clients. 

At the current live stage, that means Arizona LPCs can apply for Louisiana privileges, and Minnesota LPCCs and Ohio LPCCs can as well. The Compact home page names those live-state pathways directly. Counselors from states that enacted the Compact but are not yet live cannot use the Compact in Louisiana yet, even though their states are on the member-jurisdiction list. 

Applications still go through CompactConnect, not directly through the Louisiana LPC Board. And Louisiana law still matters once the counselor starts serving a client in Louisiana. The Louisiana Compact statute says professional counseling occurs in the state where the client is located, and both the state statute and the model Compact say a counselor practicing in a remote state must follow that remote state’s laws and regulations. Yes, out-of-state counselors from live states can apply to practice in Louisiana, but they still have to follow Louisiana scope, practice, and discipline rules while serving Louisiana clients.

What does the Compact mean if you are moving to or from Louisiana?

If you move into or out of Louisiana, the Compact treats your home state as the place where you primarily reside. Moving between Compact member states usually means you need a new home-state license, not just the old privilege setup you used before the move. 

The core Compact statute already covers this. Section 5 says that if a licensed professional counselor changes primary state of residence by moving between two member states, the counselor must apply for a new home-state license in the new state, pay the applicable fees, and notify the current and new home states under Commission rules. Once the new home state activates that new license, the former home state converts the former home-state license into a privilege to practice. If the move is between a member state and a non-member state, then the new state’s single-state licensing rules apply instead. 

There is an important timing nuance here. The Compact’s proposed Chapter 8 conversion rule includes a 60-day deadline after a change in primary residency to submit the conversion application to the new home-state board. The Rules Committee approved that draft in January 2026, and the Executive Committee approved it for public comment in February 2026. But as of May 2, 2026, the Compact’s rulemaking page still listed Chapter 8 as a proposed rule, and the adopted-rules list did not yet include it. So the 60-day rule is the current proposal on the public docket, not a final adopted full-commission rule in the materials posted today. 

Who should Louisiana LPCs contact about the Counseling Compact?

Louisiana LPCs should contact the Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners for Louisiana-specific Compact questions, and they can contact the Counseling Compact Commission for platform-wide or cross-state questions. The board also maintains the state’s license-search portal for verification. 

For Louisiana-specific Compact issues, the Compact’s state contact page lists Louisiana and gives the board contact email as lpcboard@lpcboard.org. The Louisiana LPC Board’s public pages list the board office at 11410 Lake Sherwood Ave North, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA 70816, with (225) 295-8444 as the main phone number, and the board’s license verification tool appears as the Licensee and Supervisor Search. 

For portal or login help, the board’s public materials currently show the same technical support phone, (225) 414-4431, but two different support emails appear on different board pages. The technical support page lists support@lpc.zendesk.com, while the board homepage lists support@lpcboard.zendesk.com for login, renewal, or website-navigation problems. For Compact-wide issues, the Commission’s general contact is info@counselingcompact.gov. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the questions Louisiana counselors ask most often.

Can a Louisiana LPC practice in Texas through the Compact?

No, not through the Compact. Texas does not appear on the Compact’s member-jurisdiction list as of May 2026, and only Arizona, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Ohio are live for privilege issuance right now. To practice in Texas, you would need Texas legal authority outside the Counseling Compact.

I am a Louisiana LMFT. Can I use the Counseling Compact?

No. The Counseling Compact is for independently licensed professional counselors, not LMFTs. The Compact FAQ says someone licensed as an LMFT or LCSW by the home state is typically not eligible for the counseling compact, and it also states that marriage and family therapists do not have a counseling compact path here.

Can out-of-state counselors apply to practice in Louisiana now?

Yes, but only if their home state is already live for Compact privileges. Right now that means Arizona LPCs, Minnesota LPCCs, and Ohio LPCCs can apply for Louisiana privileges through CompactConnect. Counselors from enacted but not-yet-live states still cannot use the Compact in Louisiana yet.

Does the Counseling Compact allow telehealth across state lines?

Yes. The Counseling Compact allows both in-person and telehealth counseling across live member states, but the counselor must hold a privilege for the state where the client is located.

For example, a Louisiana LPC with an Arizona privilege may provide telehealth to a client physically located in Arizona. The key rule is client location. The state where the client is sitting at the time of service controls the laws, scope of practice, consent rules, and reporting requirements.

What is the difference between the Counseling Compact and PSYPACT?

The Counseling Compact is for licensed professional counselors, including Louisiana LPCs and equivalent counselor license holders in other Compact states. PSYPACT is for licensed psychologists.

The two compacts are separate. They have different professions, eligibility rules, fees, applications, and participating states. A Louisiana LPC cannot use PSYPACT, and a psychologist cannot use the Counseling Compact unless they also hold an eligible professional counseling license.

Can Louisiana LPCs hold Compact privileges in more than one state?

Yes. A Louisiana LPC can hold Compact privileges in more than one live Compact state at the same time.

Each state requires its own privilege application through CompactConnect. The counselor must also pay that state’s fee plus the $30 Compact administrative fee for each privilege requested. As long as the Louisiana LPC license stays active and unencumbered, the counselor may hold multiple active privileges.

What happens to my Compact privileges if I move out of Louisiana?

If you move out of Louisiana and make another Compact member state your primary state of residence, your Compact home state changes.

That means you must follow the Compact’s home-state conversion process and apply for a new home-state license in the new state. Compact privileges are tied to your primary state of residence, so moving can affect how your privileges are issued, maintained, or converted.

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