Colorado § 12-315-110 - License renewal - waiver - rules - continuing education.

§ 12-315-110. License renewal - waiver - rules - continuing education.

(1) All licenses issued pursuant to this part 1 are subject to the renewal, expiration, reinstatement, and delinquency fee provisions specified in section 12-20-202 (1) and (2). A person whose license expires is subject to the penalties provided in this part 1 or section 12-20-202 (1).

(2) The board, by rule, may waive a licensed veterinarian's renewal fee while the licensee is on active duty with any branch of the armed services of the United States. The period during which the renewal fee is waived cannot exceed the longer of three years or the duration of a national emergency.

(3) (a) (I) In order to obtain license renewal, each licensee, except as otherwise provided, must complete a board-approved veterinary continuing educational program of at least thirty-two hours biennially. The courses may be taken at any time during the period since the license was last renewed and before the license is due to be renewed. The licensee shall provide satisfactory proof of the completion of all delinquent continuing education requirements. For good cause, the board may prescribe the type and character of continuing education courses to be taken by any doctor of veterinary medicine in order to comply with the requirements of this part 1.

(II) The board-approved continuing educational program must:

(A) Require two hours of jurisprudence on the "Colorado Veterinary Practice Act" biennially;

(B) Permit a licensee to take up to sixteen hours of continuing education courses in nonbiomedical topics, which topics may include client communication, management, leadership, and other topics that support veterinary practice and a highly functional veterinary workforce; and

(C) Require two hours each licensing period on topics related to the delegation of tasks to and the supervision of veterinary technicians, veterinary technician specialists, veterinary professional associates, and other personnel.

(b) The board shall have the authority to excuse licensees, as groups or individuals, from biennially continuing educational requirements for a good and sufficient reason.

(c) The board may employ qualified personnel to aid in the implementation of this section.

(d) A licensed veterinarian shall complete at least one hour of training regarding substance use prevention per renewal period to demonstrate competency regarding:

(I) Best practices for veterinary opioid prescribing;

(II) Best practices for veterinary benzodiazepine prescribing;

(III) Recognition of human substance use disorders;

(IV) Referral of humans with suspected substance use disorders for treatment; and

(V) The use of the electronic prescription drug monitoring program created in part 4 of article 280 of this title 12.

(e) Subsection (3)(d) of this section does not apply to a licensed veterinarian who:

(I) Maintains a national board certification that requires equivalent substance use prevention training; or

(II) Attests to the board that the licensed veterinarian does not prescribe opioids.

(f) The board shall adopt rules to implement subsections (3)(d) and (3)(e) of this section.

(4) On and after July 1, 2024, as a condition of renewal of a license, each veterinarian shall attest that the veterinarian is in compliance with section 12-280-403 (2)(a) and that the veterinarian is aware of the penalties for noncompliance with that section.

Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1627, § 1, effective October 1. L. 2022: (1) and (3)(a) amended, (HB 22-1235), ch. 442, p. 3104, § 12, effective August 10; (4) added, (HB 22-1115), ch. 397, p. 2826, § 8, effective August 10. L. 2024: (3)(a)(II) amended, (HB 24-1047), ch. 36, p. 131, § 6, effective August 7. L. 2025: (3)(a)(II)(C) amended, (HB 25-1285), ch. 305, p. 1597, § 6, effective January 1, 2026. L. 2026: (3)(d), (3)(e), and (3)(f) added, (SB 26-138), ch. 308, p. 1763, § 4, effective August 12.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-64-110 as it existed prior to 2019.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 24-1047, see section 1 of chapter 36, Session Laws of Colorado 2024. For the legislative declaration in HB 25-1285, see section 1 of chapter 305, Session Laws of Colorado 2025. For the legislative declaration in SB 26-138, see section 1 of chapter 308, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.