(1) Licenses to engage in the practice of optometry shall be issued only to those who qualify under the provisions of KRS § 320.260 or 320.270, or who successfully pass examinations conducted or approved by the board at a time and place fixed by the board. Each license certificate shall be signed by the president and secretary- treasurer and authenticated by the seal of the board.
(2) The examinations may consist of written, clinical, or practical examinations and shall relate to the skills needed for the practice of optometry in this Commonwealth at the time of the examination and shall seek to determine the applicant’s preparedness to exercise these skills. The examining board may:

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 320.250

  • Board: means the Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners. See Kentucky Statutes 320.210
  • Practice of optometry: means :
    (a) The evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, or surgical, nonsurgical, or related treatment of diseases, disorders, or conditions of the eye and its appendages and their impact on the human body provided by an optometrist within the scope of his or her education, training, and experience and in accordance with this chapter, the ethics of the profession, and applicable law. See Kentucky Statutes 320.210
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Year: means calendar year. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(a) Prepare, administer, and grade the examination;
(b) Accept the scores of the applicant from an examination prepared, administered, and graded by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry or any other organization approved by the board as qualified to administer the examination; and
(c) Require passage of an examination on Kentucky optometric law.
(3) Any person seeking a license to practice optometry under the provisions of this section shall submit an application to the board on forms furnished by the board. The applicant shall show proof of the following:
(a) The applicant is not less than eighteen (18) years of age and is of good moral character;
(b) The applicant is a graduate of a school or college of optometry that is accredited by a regional or professional accreditation organization that is recognized or approved by the council on postsecondary accreditation, or by the United States Department of Education, and is in good standing, as approved by the board. All applicants shall have transcript credit of at least six (6) semester hours in a course or courses from a school or college as described in this subsection in general and ocular pharmacology with particular emphasis on diagnostic pharmaceutical agents applied topically to the eye and six (6) semester hours in ocular pathology and therapy with emphasis on utilization of therapeutic pharmaceutical agents. All hours shall be from a school or college as described in this subsection;
(c) All other information requested by the board as is set out on the application.
(4) The nonrefundable fee for each license application shall not exceed six hundred dollars ($600).
(5) No application shall be considered by the board after one (1) year from the date in which the board received the application has lapsed. After the lapse of the one (1) year period, an applicant shall submit a new application and another nonrefundable fee for further consideration by the board.
Effective: June 24, 2015
History: Amended 2015 Ky. Acts ch. 113, sec. 19, effective June 24, 2015. — Amended
2000 Ky. Acts ch. 361, sec. 5, effective July 14, 2000. — Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch.
256, sec. 9, effective July 13, 1990; and ch. 443, sec. 24, effective July 13, 1990. —
Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 337, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1982. — Amended 1970
Ky. Acts ch. 120, sec. 12. — Created 1954 Ky. Acts ch. 183, sec. 6.