Moving to Arkansas as a journeyman electrician: every state's rule
Arkansas has reciprocity agreements with 17 states. Everyone else follows its standard out-of-state path: experience credit.
Arkansas journeyman electrician · “Journeyman Electrician”
Statewide license
Issued by Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing)
Arkansas issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Board of Electrical Examiners in the Department of Labor and Licensing; the Board also issues residential journeyman, residential master, industrial maintenance, air conditioning and specialist sign electrician licenses. A new applicant qualifies by completing a four-year USDOL-approved apprenticeship or by documenting eight years (16,000 hours, maximum 2,000 per year) of electrical construction experience, then passes the journeyman exam ($80 exam fee) and pays the $25 license fee; the license renews annually for $25 and requires eight hours of continuing education each NEC cycle. Arkansas has journeyman reciprocity agreements with seventeen states, and a qualifying journeyman from one of them is licensed without taking the Arkansas exam; a master electrician from a journeyman-only partner state can likewise be reciprocated into an Arkansas journeyman license. The Board only reciprocates an original license issued by the partner state, never a license that was itself obtained by reciprocity.
States Arkansas reciprocates with
Every origin state
| State | Mechanism | Note | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Alaska | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Arizona | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| California | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Colorado | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Connecticut | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Delaware | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| District of Columbia | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Florida | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Georgia | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Hawaii | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Idaho | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Illinois | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Indiana | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Iowa | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Kansas | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Kentucky | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Louisiana | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Maine | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Maryland | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Massachusetts | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Michigan | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Minnesota | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Mississippi | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Missouri | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Montana | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Nebraska | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Nevada | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| New Hampshire | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| New Jersey | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| New Mexico | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| New York | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| North Carolina | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| North Dakota | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Ohio | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Oklahoma | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Oregon | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Pennsylvania | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Rhode Island | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| South Carolina | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| South Dakota | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Tennessee | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-15 |
| Texas | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Utah | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Vermont | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Virginia | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Washington | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| West Virginia | Experience credit | 2026-09-15 | |
| Wisconsin | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
| Wyoming | Reciprocity | explicit agreement | 2026-09-15 |
Getting licensed in Arkansas from scratch
No license yet, or nothing that transfers? This is how Arkansas issues a journeyman electrician license to a first-time applicant.
Journeyman Electrician license by examination
The Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners issues the Journeyman Electrician license to an applicant who has completed a four-year electrical construction apprenticeship approved by the U.S. Department of Labor, or who documents eight years (16,000 hours) of electrical construction experience, and then passes the journeyman exam. Anyone doing electrical work in Arkansas must be licensed, so in-state trainees normally work as registered apprentices enrolled in an approved apprenticeship school, and experience gained in violation of Arkansas's or another state's licensing laws does not count. You apply online for exam clearance; once the Board approves the application, you schedule the exam with Prov. The exam is open book on the National Electrical Code, and you must score at least 70%. Arkansas has no separate law or business exam for electricians.
Applications must reach the Board at least five business days before a scheduled Board meeting; after review the Board issues a list of applicants approved to test, and Prov schedules the exam at its Arkansas test centers. The journeyman exam has 60 questions in 3 hours, covering grounding and bonding, services and feeders, raceways, conductors, motors and controls, calculations and safety, with the NEC as the reference book. A candidate who passes must obtain the license within six months of the end of the month the exam was taken, or retest. A completed apprentice must test within one year of being released for testing, and an applicant without an apprenticeship who fails may be required to complete up to two years of an apprenticeship before retesting. The application asks about criminal convictions; you may petition the Board for a pre-licensure determination of whether a record disqualifies you. The initial license fee is waived for applicants receiving Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, TANF or Lifeline assistance, approved for unemployment in the last 12 months, or with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.
- Trade exam
- Required
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Exam given by
- Prov
- Exam format
- Open book
- Passing score
- 70%
- Renewal
- Every year
Who can apply
- Complete a registered apprenticeship (4 years): Completion of a four-year electrical construction apprenticeship approved by the U.S. Department of Labor.Proved with a Released for Test/Completion form from the training program approved by the Arkansas Office of Skills Development, or, for an apprenticeship completed in another state, certification of completion from the Office of Apprenticeship or the state apprenticeship agency. The Board's employment verification form counts the apprenticeship as 8,000 hours of on-the-job training (17 CAR §210-404(e)(1)).
Other ways to qualify
Each of these replaces the requirements above. You only need one.
Eight years (16,000 hours) of electrical construction experience
An applicant who has not completed a USDOL-approved apprenticeship qualifies with eight years of electrical construction experience or Board-approved training, counted at no more than 2,000 hours a year (overtime is not credited). Electrical experience gained in the military counts; attach a DD-214 and the service record of duties and training, and the Board decides how many hours to credit. Each employer verifies hours on a notarized Electrician Employment Verification form signed by the contracting master electrician.
- You must document at least 16,000 hours of qualifying work experience.Eight years at a maximum of 2,000 hours credited per year; military electrical experience may count (17 CAR §210-404(e)(3)).
Steps to get licensed
- 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Arkansas Journeyman Electrician exam administered by Prov: 60 questions in 3 hours, open book with the National Electrical Code, 70% to pass; offered in English or Spanish.
- 2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($80). Examination fee for the computer-based exam, paid to Prov when scheduling (17 CAR §210-403(c)); Prov lists $56 for a paper-and-pencil sitting.
- 3License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($25). Journeyman electrician license fee, paid after passing the exam (Ark. Code §17-28-301(a)). No separate application fee is set by statute or rule..
- 4Other. Online Application for Electrician's Exam Clearance with a notarized Electrician Employment Verification form from each employer, the apprenticeship completion document or transcripts, and copies of any electrician licenses held.
Published fees on this path total $105, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
Keeping it active
Every year and a $25 renewal fee.
Eight hours of Board-approved instruction on the National Electrical Code are required once per NEC code cycle, not every year: they must be completed in the first year of each new code cycle before you renew. The code cycle begins on January 1 of each NEC publication year. An apprentice who completes the program and passes the journeyman exam owes no additional hours during that code cycle.
The license expires on the last day of the month one year after it is issued. A late renewal costs one year's renewal fee plus $10 for each month late; after 36 months the exam must be retaken and a $1,000 penalty paid.
Exam preparation
Most boards contract PSI, Prov, or ICC for exams. Check which code edition the exam is written to before buying a prep course.
- Trade exam
- Exam fee · $80
Sources for this section
- Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing - Electrical Inspection and Licensing (Board of Electrical Examiners; Reciprocal Agreements) · Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026
- Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners - Electrician Employment Verification (form ABOEE 1-2025) · Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing · Form · verified September 23, 2026
- Rules of the Board of Electrical Examiners of the State of Arkansas, 17 CAR Part 210 · 17 CAR §§ 210-403, 210-404, 210-508, 210-509 · Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners / Department of Labor and Licensing · Admin Rule · verified September 23, 2026
- Board of Electrical Examiner Statutes, Ark. Code Ann. Title 17, Chapter 28 (2025 compilation) · Ark. Code Ann. §§ 17-28-203, 17-28-301, 17-28-304, 17-28-306, 17-28-311 · Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing · Statute · verified September 23, 2026
- Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing HVAC Section - Candidate Information Bulletin (Prov) · Prov, Inc. (testing vendor contracted by the Arkansas HVACR Board) · Other · verified September 23, 2026