Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Office of Professional Licensure Review (OPLR) was created to fulfill the vision of Governor Spencer Cox in his Executive Order 2021-01 and the statute enacted by the Utah Legislature in SB 16 (2022 General Session), later amended by HB 474 (2025 General Session). The current version of OPLR’s statute can be found here.

OPLR assesses occupational regulation through:

1. Periodic Reviews: Review current requirements in statute and rule for each regulated occupation in Utah once every ten years, based on a schedule approved annually by the Utah Legislature
2. Sunrise Reviews: Review requests submitted to OPLR that propose regulating currently unregulated professions (request form)
3. Legislative Inquiries: Respond to state legislator inquiries about licensure-related topics (inquire here)
4. Public Input: Collect public input on existing state occupational regulations that may need to be modified or repealed (request form)

OPLR’s criteria for reviewing occupational regulation are outlined in statute, Utah Code 13-1b-302. The criteria seek to balance protecting the health, safety and financial welfare of the public with minimizing the costs of regulation on qualified practitioners, members of the public seeking services, and the state in administering regulations.

OPLR has developed a framework to help apply the criteria. A current working draft of this framework can be found here.

According to the Council of State Governments, a sunrise review is 'a specific, data-informed analysis completed before proposed [occupational licenses] are considered by a state legislature'.

Utah Code Title 13 Chapter 1b, Office of Professional Licensure Review  enables OPLR to review proposed new occupational regulation, whether a license, certification, or registration.

Sunrise reviews consider many factors including: harm to health, safety or financial welfare of the public, barriers to accessing the occupation or its services, the burden of regulation, how the occupation is regulated in other states, and the likely effect of different regulatory options.

Reviews of a regulated occupation consider many factors including harm to the health, safety or financial welfare of the public, barriers to accessing the occupation or its services, the burden of regulation, how the occupation is regulated in other states, and the likely effect of different regulatory options.

As a part of this process, OPLR considers data and information about how the occupation and its licensing requirements affect practitioners, and the public. OPLR also works with the regulating agency, industry groups, and a variety of stakeholders to identify any areas where licensing requirements or other regulations could be improved.

OPLR then makes recommendations to the Utah legislature and the regulating agency. Ultimately, the legislature and agencies decide on the specific statutes or administrative rules that create the requirements for each occupation.

OPLR is required to submit a prioritized list of regulated occupations for review in the upcoming calendar year to the Business and Labor Committee. The Committee can then modify the list before approving it.

OPLR generally prioritizes professions and occupations based on the same criteria used in the reviews.

No. OPLR does not review individual license applications. OPLR is a policy analysis group tasked with reviewing the requirements for each regulated occupation to inform the legislature and executive agencies that license occupations.

If you have questions about your particular license, see our Consumer Guide on the home page.