1. Applicants for examination or licensure pursuant to this chapter shall possess the following qualifications:

(1) They shall provide documentation of successful completion of courses approved by the board, have an education equivalent to the successful completion of the tenth grade, and be at least seventeen years of age;

(2) If the applicants are apprentices, they shall have served and completed, as an apprentice under the supervision of a licensed cosmetologist, the time and studies required by the board which shall be no less than three thousand hours for cosmetologists, and no less than eight hundred hours for manicurists and no less than fifteen hundred hours for esthetics. However, when the classified occupation of manicurist is apprenticed in conjunction with the classified occupation of cosmetologist, the apprentice shall be required to successfully complete an apprenticeship of no less than a total of three thousand hours;

(3) If the applicants are students, they shall have had the required time in a licensed school of no less than one thousand five hundred hours training or the credit hours determined by the formula in Subpart A of Part 668 of Section 668.8 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, for the classification of cosmetologist, with the exception of public vocational technical schools in which a student shall complete no less than one thousand two hundred twenty hours training. All students shall complete no less than four hundred hours or the credit hours determined by the formula in Subpart A of Part 668 of Section 668.8 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, for the classification of manicurist. All students shall complete no less than seven hundred fifty hours or the credit hours determined by the formula in Subpart A of Part 668 of Section 668.8 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, for the classification of esthetician. However, when the classified occupation of manicurist is taken in conjunction with the classified occupation of cosmetologist, the student shall not be required to serve the extra four hundred hours or the credit hours determined by the formula in Subpart A of Part 668 of Section 668.8 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, otherwise required to include manicuring of nails; and

(4) They shall have passed an examination to the satisfaction of the board.

2. A person may apply to take the examination required by subsection 1 of this section if the person is a graduate of a school of cosmetology or apprentice program in another state or territory of the United States which has substantially the same requirements as an educational establishment licensed pursuant to this chapter. A person may apply to take the examination required by subsection 1 of this section if the person is a graduate of an educational establishment in a foreign country that provides training for a classified occupation of cosmetology, as defined by section 329.010, and has educational requirements that are substantially the same requirements as an educational establishment licensed under this chapter. The board has sole discretion to determine the substantial equivalency of such educational requirements. The board may require that transcripts from foreign schools be submitted for its review, and the board may require that the applicant provide an approved English translation of such transcripts.

3. Each application shall contain a statement that, subject to the penalties of making a false affidavit or declaration, the application is made under oath or affirmation and that its representations are true and correct to the best knowledge and belief of the person signing the application.

4. The sufficiency of the qualifications of applicants shall be determined by the board, but the board may delegate this authority to its executive director subject to such provisions as the board may adopt.

5. Applications for examination or licensure may be denied if the applicant has pleaded guilty to, entered a plea of nolo contendere to, or been found guilty of any of the following offenses or offenses of a similar nature established under the laws of this state, any other state, the United States, or any other country, notwithstanding whether sentence is imposed:

(1) Any dangerous felony as defined under section 556.061 or murder in the first degree;

(2) Any of the following sexual offenses: rape in the first degree, forcible rape, rape, statutory rape in the first degree, statutory rape in the second degree, rape in the second degree, sexual assault, sodomy in the first degree, forcible sodomy, statutory sodomy in the first degree, statutory sodomy in the second degree, child molestation in the first degree, child molestation in the second degree, sodomy in the second degree, deviate sexual assault, sexual misconduct involving a child, sexual misconduct in the first degree under section 566.090 as it existed prior to August 28, 2013, sexual abuse under section 566.100 as it existed prior to August 28, 2013, sexual abuse in the first or second degree, enticement of a child, or attempting to entice a child;

(3) Any of the following offenses against the family and related offenses: incest, abandonment of a child in the first degree, abandonment of a child in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, abuse of a child, using a child in a sexual performance, promoting sexual performance by a child, or trafficking in children; and

(4) Any of the following offenses involving child pornography and related offenses: promoting obscenity in the first degree, promoting obscenity in the second degree when the penalty is enhanced to a class E felony, promoting child pornography in the first degree, promoting child pornography in the second degree, possession of child pornography in the first degree, possession of child pornography in the second degree, furnishing child pornography to a minor, furnishing pornographic materials to minors, or coercing acceptance of obscene material.