Mississippi to Vermont: journeyman electrician license reciprocity
Mississippi does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Vermont's standard path for out-of-state applicants.
Your origin state does not issue a statewide license at this level, so there is no license to transfer. The destination's standard out-of-state path is shown; expect to meet it in full.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Universal license by endorsement (all other states, license held 3 years)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
Under 26 V.S.A. s. 906(b)(2) and Safety Rule 3.4(f), the board shall issue a journeyman license without examination to an applicant whose journeyman license from any other U.S. jurisdiction has been held in good standing for at least three years, regardless of whether that state reciprocates. The applicant files the notarized all-classifications application checking 'Universal license', attaches a certified letter of licensure from the issuing state, a photocopy of the license, the original issue date, how the license was obtained and documentation of that state's requirements, lists three references, and pays the $115 three-year fee; applications are reviewed at the board's bi-monthly meetings and must arrive two weeks beforehand. The Commissioner may waive the three-year practice requirement where public protection is adequate. A journeyman licensed for less than three years applies through the standard route, where the board may recognize an out-of-state apprenticeship or experience toward eligibility but the Vermont exam is required. Separately, the 2025 rules state that a license from a NERA member state need only be held in good standing for one year.
Timeline reflects the board's every-other-month meeting cycle and two-week document deadline; the Division does not publish a processing time. The NERA note in Rule 3.4(f) refers applicants to nerastates.org for the current member list; that list is not published on a Vermont page and the alliance's own map is dated February 2025 and does not yet show Vermont, so NERA-based one-year eligibility is described here rather than mapped to individual origin states. The exam fee ($80, Prov) applies only to the examination route.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
- Typical processing
- About 60 days
What you must already have
- You must have held your Mississippi license for at least 3 years.Journeyman license held in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction for at least three years (26 V.S.A. s. 906(b)(2)(A); Rule 3.4(f)); one year if the license is from a NERA member state per the 2025 rules.
- Your Mississippi license must be active and in good standing.
- You must have no disciplinary action or unresolved complaints on your record.
What you'll do to get licensed in Vermont
- 1License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($115). Journeyman three-year license fee (26 V.S.A. s. 905(d)).
- 2Other. Notarized all-classifications application with certified letter of licensure from the issuing state, photocopy of the license, date and means of obtaining it, documentation of that state's requirements, and three references.
Published fees on this path total $115, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
How Vermont licenses journeyman electricians
Vermont journeyman electrician · “Journeyman Electrician”
Statewide license
Issued by Vermont Electricians' Licensing Board, Division of Fire Safety (Department of Public Safety)
Vermont issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Electricians' Licensing Board within the Division of Fire Safety. A new applicant must show completion of a Vermont registered electrical apprenticeship or equivalent training and experience acceptable to the board (an apprenticeship served in another state may be recognized under 26 V.S.A. s. 907), then pass the Prov-administered exam ($80); the license costs $115 for a three-year term and renewal requires 15 hours of NEC instruction. Out-of-state journeymen have three routes without examination: a reciprocal license for residents of Maine and New Hampshire, a 'Universal' license under 26 V.S.A. s. 906(b)(2) for any journeyman licensed in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction for at least three years, and, under the 2025 Safety Rules, recognition of a license from a National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance (NERA) member state held in good standing for one year. Vermont also licenses Type-S specialty journeymen and 12R military electricians, which are outside this level.
Why Mississippi has nothing to transfer
Mississippi journeyman electrician
Licensed by cities and counties
Mississippi does not issue a journeyman electrician license. The Mississippi State Board of Contractors (MSBOC) licenses contracting businesses - commercial contractors on projects over $50,000 and residential contractors and residential electrical subcontractors above the residential thresholds - through a Certificate of Responsibility with a qualifying party, and none of its classifications, exams or reciprocity agreements apply to an individual journeyman. Individual electricians are licensed, where they are licensed at all, by cities under their own ordinances: Southaven issues Apprentice, Journeyman and Master Electrician licenses and accepts a current journeyman license from another jurisdiction or a passed ICC journeyman exam in place of its own testing, while Hattiesburg licenses only master electrical contractors and requires all work to be supervised by one. An out-of-state journeyman license has no state-level recognition in Mississippi; the electrician must check the ordinance of each city where they will work and apply locally, and Southaven-style acceptance of ICC scores or another jurisdiction's card is the closest thing to reciprocity that exists.
How local licensing works in Mississippi
How local licensing works. Mississippi has no state electrician license. MSBOC regulates contractors (Miss. Code Title 31 ch. 3 for commercial, Title 73 ch. 59 for residential): a commercial license is required for every contractor and subcontractor on commercial jobs over $50,000, and residential electrical subcontractors need a residential license on new homes over $50,000 or remodels over $10,000. Those licenses attach to the business and its qualifying party, not to journeymen. Journeyman licensing is a municipal matter and varies by city.
Southaven. The Building Department licenses Apprentice Electricians ($20), Journeyman Electricians ($50) and Master Electricians ($100). A journeyman applicant files the application with photo ID and a copy of a current/active journeyman license held in another jurisdiction and/or written proof of passing the ICC journeyman exam, so an out-of-state journeyman card or ICC score substitutes for local testing. Work must comply with the 2023 NEC. The city refers all reciprocity questions for out-of-state contractors to MSBOC.
Hattiesburg. Chapter 9 of the city code creates an Electrical Examining Review Board and a Master Electrical Contractor License (21 years old, five years of proven experience by affidavit from licensed master electrical contractors, SBCCI exam with 70%); the ordinance does not license journeymen, and no one may install, repair or alter electrical installations except under the direct supervision of a licensed master electrical contractor. A license may be granted to a person holding a valid license from another city that meets the requirements of House Bill 359.
Jackson. Third-party guides say the City of Jackson examines and licenses journeyman and master electricians through its inspection division, but the city's website exposes only general business-license pages and its trade-license requirements could not be verified; contact the city directly.
Out-of-state holders. No Mississippi city found publishes a formal reciprocity agreement with another state for journeymen. The portable credentials in practice are a passed ICC journeyman exam and a current journeyman license from another jurisdiction, which Southaven accepts outright.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Vermont journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Mississippi?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
- How long do I need to have held my Mississippi license?
- At least 3 years before applying.
- What does it cost to get a Vermont journeyman electrician license from Mississippi?
- Published fees on this path total $115, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Mississippi work hours count in Vermont?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Vermont's eligibility requirements.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 60 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Vermont to Mississippi?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Vermont to Mississippi, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- Division of Fire Safety - Electricians' License Application and Instructions, All Classifications (June 2026) · Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety · Form · verified September 15, 2026Fees: Master $150.00 three-year license; Journeyman $115.00; Type-S Specialist $115.00 per field; exam fees not included. 'If Reciprocal, Maine or New Hampshire (Residents only) check which state/s and include a certified letter/s from reciprocating state/s, and include a photocopy of license/s.' 'If Universal license be sure to include a certified letter/s from issuing state/s and include a photocopy of license/s... Include original date/s of issuance, and the means of obtaining the license'; the Universal license box says '3 Year Minimum' and 'Reciprocating a license from any other state'. Section 6 asks for a certified letter, license copy and documentation of the requirements to obtain the origin license. Applications must be notarized, list three references, and reach the Division two weeks before a board meeting.
- Vermont Division of Fire Safety - Electricians' Licensing Board (meetings and submission deadline) · Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Board meets every two months (2026 dates February 3, April 7, June 2, August 4, October 6, December 1) and 'all documents must be received at the Central Office two weeks prior to the meeting' for an application to be reviewed.
- Vermont Division of Fire Safety - Electricians (electrical licensing home page) · Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Licensing landing page: links the Vermont Electrical Statute (26 V.S.A. chapter 15), the Vermont Electrical Safety Rules 2025 Edition (effective 11/05/2025), the 'Electrical Application and Instructions - All Classifications' form, online renewal, and the licensed-electrician lookup; licensing office at 45 State Drive, Waterbury, 802-479-7564, [email protected].
- Vermont Electrical Safety Rules, 2025 edition - section 3.3 Type-S specialty electrician licenses · Vermont Electrical Safety Rules 2025, s. 3.3 · Vermont Electricians' Licensing Board, Division of Fire Safety · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Opened through the r.jina.ai text proxy. Section 3.3 lists the Type-S specialty fields including A1 'Automatic gas or oil heating, including geo-thermal, ground source heat pumps' and C3 'Refrigeration or air conditioning, air to air heat pumps'. A Type-S licensee may 'design, install, repair, maintain and replace electrical installations as an employee or an independent contractor only in connection with the specialty field designated on the person's license, and may only install branch circuits from the existing electrical service'. Qualification: complete an accredited training and experience program recognized by the board or equivalent training and experience acceptable to the board, then pass the specialty exam ($80). The reciprocity provision in 3.4(f) applies to master and journeyman electricians only.
- 26 V.S.A. Chapter 15 - Electrical Installations (ss. 902-907: master and journeyman qualifications, fees, examinations not required, recognition of experience) · 26 V.S.A. ss. 902, 903, 905, 906, 907 · Vermont General Assembly · Statute · verified September 15, 2026s. 902: master applicant must have been a licensed journeyman under the chapter for at least two years or have comparable experience and training within or without the state acceptable to the board, and pass an exam. s. 903: journeyman applicant must show Vermont Apprenticeship Council completion or equivalent training and experience within or outside the state, and pass an exam. s. 905(d): three-year fees master $150, journeyman $115, type-S $115 per field; late renewal within one year $25 extra. s. 906(a): a license for an individual licensed by another state shall be issued without examination as provided in the section; s. 906(b)(1) reciprocity for licenses from states with equivalent standards that grant Vermont licensees a similar privilege; s. 906(b)(2)(A) uniform endorsement: the board shall license masters and journeymen licensed in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction for at least three years regardless of reciprocity; (C) the Commissioner may waive the practice requirement. s. 907: the board may credit journeyman experience or an apprenticeship served in another state.
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.