Which States Are Issuing OT Compact Privileges (October 2026)

Ten states are issuing OT Compact privileges as of October 5, 2026: Minnesota, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Mississippi. That list comes from the OT Compact Commission's Before You Apply page, which the Commission updated on October 5 when Arkansas and Mississippi opened. To use the compact, both your home state and the state where you want to work have to be on it.

Which states issue privileges right now?

These are the dates each state began accepting applications, with the state fee it charges per privilege. The Commission adds its own $75 fee to every privilege, for OTs and OTAs alike.

Source: the Commission's Before You Apply page, checked October 8, 2026. State fees can change on 30 days' notice under OTC Rule 6.2, so confirm the figure on the day you apply. Each state's full licensing picture, compact or not, is on its page in our state license index, for example Ohio, Maryland and Wisconsin.

How do I read this list if I live in one of these states?

If your primary residence is in one of the ten and you hold an unencumbered license there, that state can be your home state. You can then apply for privileges in any of the other nine. A Virginia resident, for example, can seek privileges in Maryland, Tennessee and West Virginia, but not in North Carolina or Pennsylvania until those states go live, and never in a non-member state like New Jersey.

Before you can apply, your home board has to clear your criminal background check. West Virginia's Board of Occupational Therapy, for one, says its residents "will not be able to create an account in CompactConnect" until the FBI check is complete and the board has the results. See the FBI background check.

How do I read it if I live somewhere else?

Then the compact does not help you yet, even if you hold a license in one of these states. The model law ties the privilege to a home state license in your state of primary residence (Sections 2J and 4A), and a license issued to someone living outside a member state "shall not be recognized as granting the Compact Privilege" (Section 3E). An OT living in Pennsylvania who holds an Ohio license can practice in Ohio on that license, but cannot use it to get a privilege in Indiana.

If you live in an enacted state that is not issuing, your route to the ten issuing states for now is a license by endorsement in each. See compact privilege or a state license?

Which enacted states are not issuing yet?

Twenty-seven states have enacted the compact but were not accepting applications as of October 5, 2026, according to the Commission's map and Before You Apply page: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

Several of them already list a state fee on the Before You Apply page, among them Alaska ($200 OT, $130 OTA), Washington ($150), Montana ($190), Kentucky ($70 OT, $55 OTA) and Georgia ($75 OT, $65 OTA). A posted fee shows a state has done part of its setup. It is not a launch date, and the Commission's FAQ says plainly that "the OTC administrators do not set the timeline" for when a state opens; each state board decides.

Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina and North Dakota are also flagged for jurisprudence, so when they open, a privilege there will need that exam first. See jurisprudence requirements for OT Compact privileges.

Where is Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania appears on the Commission's map as enacted, through HB 482 and SB 571, but as of October 8, 2026 it does not appear in the fee and status table on the Before You Apply page at all. We have not found an official Pennsylvania launch date. Until the Commission lists it as accepting applications, treat it as not issuing, and plan on a Pennsylvania license if you need to work there. More on why in enacted is not issuing.

Which states are not in the compact at all?

California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Texas are not members, per the Commission's map. Illinois, Massachusetts and New York have bills filed but nothing enacted. The Commission's FAQ says the only way to practice in a non-member state is "obtaining a license through that state's regular licensing process."

How often does this list change?

In 2026 it changed on seven dates: January 12, March 9, March 20, April 15, May 20, May 29 and October 5. The Commission updates its Before You Apply page when a state opens, and the boards usually announce it too. Indiana's Professional Licensing Agency posted on March 5 that the compact would be "Live in Indiana, Beginning Monday, March 9, 2026," and the Mississippi State Department of Health posted that applications begin October 5, 2026.

Because the list moves, we check it live on the day of every OT Compact Readiness Review ($149) rather than relying on a saved copy. The review tells you whether your home state is issuing, whether your license and record qualify, and which of your target states are live. Where a privilege will not work yet, it tells you which license will. If you go ahead, the Compact Privilege Concierge prepares the background check and jurisprudence pieces and guides you through CompactConnect while you complete and submit the application yourself, as the Commission requires. For the bigger picture, start at our OT Compact hub.