State Jurisprudence Exams for SLPs and Audiologists

A jurisprudence exam tests what you know about one state's practice act and rules: scope of practice, supervision of assistants and fellows, records, advertising, discipline. It is not a clinical exam, and nobody fails it for lack of skill. People get delayed by it because they leave it for last, take it too early, or take the wrong one.

Some states require it for a license. A separate list of states requires one before an ASLP Compact privilege. A few require it for both.

Which states require a law exam for a license?

Texas

Every applicant for an initial Texas SLP or audiology license must pass the Texas Speech-Language Pathologist and Audiologist Jurisprudence Examination and submit proof with the application. TDLR says the certificate must be issued no more than twelve months before you submit the application. Once you pay the vendor's registration fee, you have 30 days to finish the exam; after that your fee and registration expire and you start over. Intern license applicants take it too. See getting a Texas SLP license.

Washington

The Washington Department of Health lists a jurisprudence exam as required for an initial SLP license and for an interim permit. Passing it also counts as one hour of the 30 hours of continuing education due every three years, but only within your first CE cycle, and it must be done within the first year of licensure. See Washington SLP licensing.

West Virginia

West Virginia's licensure rule, 29 CSR 1, requires SLP applicants to pass a jurisprudence examination developed by the board and submit the score with the application. The same rule requires it of out-of-state clinicians who register as interstate telepractice practitioners. See West Virginia SLP licensing and the compact.

Tennessee

Tennessee's Board of Communication Disorders and Sciences requires applicants for full licensure to take a jurisprudence exam on its statutes and rules. Its instructions, dated October 2024, say the board administrator scores it, you need 80 percent to proceed, and you sign a notarized affidavit that you had no unauthorized help. An applicant who scores under 80 percent is sent a new exam. See Tennessee SLP licensing and the compact.

New Jersey

New Jersey's rules, N.J.A.C. 13:44C, require every applicant to complete a "jurisprudence on-line orientation": applicants by examination, applicants licensed in another state, and applicants for a temporary license alike. See New Jersey SLP licensing.

North Carolina

North Carolina's reciprocal application ends with an open book quiz covering licensure in the state. It is lighter than a proctored exam, but the application is not complete without it. See North Carolina SLP licensing.

Where does the compact require jurisprudence for a privilege?

The ASLP Commission's fee and jurisprudence table flags Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, Tennessee and West Virginia as requiring a jurisprudence exam for a compact privilege, and lists North Carolina and Washington as "more information coming soon." The Commission says the exam must be completed before you apply for the privilege, and a state may charge for it.

Of those, only Tennessee and West Virginia were issuing privileges as of October 2026. Louisiana and Ohio, the other two issuing states, do not require one. A privilege applicant takes the exam personally; no one can sit it for you. Our post on jurisprudence requirements for ASLP Compact privileges covers the compact side in more depth.

When should you take the exam?

Timing depends on the state:

• Before you apply in Texas, where proof goes in with the application and the certificate must be less than twelve months old.
• After you apply in Tennessee, where the board's paper application said the exam is emailed to you once the board receives your application.
• Before a privilege purchase in Tennessee and West Virginia under the compact.
• As part of the application in North Carolina and New Jersey.

The Texas twelve-month window is the one that bites. Someone who passes the exam while planning a move, then waits a year for a job offer, retakes it.

How hard are these exams?

Most are open-book in practice: Tennessee's instructions tell you to complete the exam "using the rules and statutes," and North Carolina calls its version an open book quiz. The hard part is not the questions but the logistics: the right vendor, the right window, the right affidavit and getting the certificate into the right file.

The useful part is the content. These exams make you read the rules on supervising SLPAs and clinical fellows, telepractice and records before you practice under them, which is where new licensees in a state most often get into trouble.

Is a jurisprudence exam the same as continuing education?

Mostly no. Washington is the exception that gives it CE credit, one hour, in the first cycle only. Elsewhere it is a licensing step, separate from renewal hours.

Can we help you prepare?

Our Jurisprudence and State Law Exam Support is $249 per state. We confirm which exam each state requires, register you or send you the right link, give you a focused study outline of the rules that matter for your setting, and make sure the certificate reaches the board inside its window. You take the exam yourself. Vendor and board fees are separate. Our sister site for occupational therapists covers the same territory for OTs in OT jurisprudence exams, and our state license index notes each state's exam.