Sec. 1. (a) The minimum requirements which must be fulfilled before an applicant will be permitted to take an examination for a license to practice optometry in Indiana are as follows:

(1) Applicant must be at least eighteen (18) years of age.

Terms Used In Indiana Code 25-24-2-1

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
(2) Applicant must not have a conviction for:

(A) an act which would constitute a ground for disciplinary sanction under IC 25-1-9; or

(B) a crime that has a direct bearing on the applicant’s ability to practice competently.

(3) Applicant must be a graduate of a commissioned high school.

(4) Applicant must be a graduate from a college of optometry under one (1) of the following conditions:

(A) Graduation prior to March 5, 1951, or attendance at or matriculation in a college of optometry whose requirements for graduation were equivalent to those required by the Indiana state board of registration and examination in optometry at the time of such matriculation.

(B) Two (2) years of preoptometry or two (2) years of premedicine in a college of arts and science whose credits will be accepted by a university having a college or school of optometry, and at least four (4) years of optometry in a college of optometry using university standards.

     (b) The board may not issue a license to an applicant who has been disciplined by the licensing entity of another state or jurisdiction, if it appears to the satisfaction of the board that the disciplinary action taken against the applicant by the licensing entity of the other state or jurisdiction was warranted due to the applicant’s inability to practice optometry without endangering the public.

Formerly: Acts 1951, c.190, s.1; Acts 1972, P.L.187, SEC.2; Acts 1973, P.L.252, SEC.11. As amended by Acts 1981, P.L.222, SEC.183; Acts 1982, P.L.113, SEC.63; P.L.169-1985, SEC.85; P.L.152-1988, SEC.20.