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Missouri

Missouri State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, within the Division of Professional Registration.

What the board and the law publish

Each field carries its own source and the date it was checked. A field marked not published means the board's own pages were read and do not address it. Absence in what we checked is not absence at the board. A field marked unverified says what was attempted.

State
published Missouri, a state.Source: https://pr.mo.gov/chiropractors.asp · checked 2026-10-04
Licensing body
published Missouri State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, within the Division of Professional Registration.Source: https://pr.mo.gov/chiropractors-about.asp · checked 2026-10-04
Statutory authority
published The act is Chapter 331 RSMo (Revised Statutes of Missouri), published by the Missouri Revisor of Statutes. The board's Statutes page links sections of Chapter 331 from 331.010 to 331.115, and sections 324.006, 324.009, 324.010 and 191.227. The rules are 20 CSR 2070 (Division 2070, State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Chapters 1 to 4), published by the Missouri Secretary of State and linked from the board's Regulations link. The Chapter 2 (General Rules) PDF carries headers dated 6/30/26 and 1/29/26 on different pages.Source: https://pr.mo.gov/chiropractors-statutes.asp · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.010 · http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20csr.asp · https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · https://pr.mo.gov/chiropractors-about.asp · checked 2026-10-04
Degree requirement
published If you apply by examination, you need to have graduated from a chiropractic college with status with the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor. Before the doctoral program, you need semester credit hours at the minimum required by the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor, and never fewer than ninety. The board does not recognize correspondence work in any chiropractic school or college as credit toward the requirements of Chapter 331. Rule 20 CSR 2070-2.040 requires official transcripts of your undergraduate coursework and of your chiropractic degree; if you apply based on current licensure in another state, the rule says transcripts are not required unless the board requests them.Source: http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.030 · https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · checked 2026-10-04
Student practice before licensure
not published None published. The Secretary of State's Code of State Regulations lists the board's preceptorship rule as 20 CSR 2070-3.010 Preceptorship (Rescinded April 30, 2019). The board's application instructions ask: Question 13 – List all preceptorship experience if applicable. Neither states what a chiropractic student or a graduate not yet licensed may do in practice. Section 331.030.3 RSMo addresses a senior student's examination, not practice: Any senior student in a chiropractic college having status with the Commission on Accreditation on the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor may take a practical examination administered or approved by the board under such requirements and conditions as are adopted by the board by rule, but no license shall be issued until all of the requirements for licensure have been met.Read 2026-10-04: the board's pages (home, About, Statutes, Application Forms, CE Requirements, Approved Continuing Education, Related Links); the board's application and its instructions; RSMo 331.010, 331.020, 331.030, 331.032, 331.040, 331.045, 331.050, 331.060, 331.070, 331.080, 331.085, 331.090, 331.100, 331.110, 331.115, 324.006, 324.009, 324.010 and 191.227, each reached from the board's Statutes page; the Secretary of State's Title 20 index and 20 CSR 2070 Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4, reached from the board's Regulations link. None states what a chiropractic student or a graduate not yet licensed may do in practice before licensure.Source: https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-3.pdf · https://pr.mo.gov/boards/chiropractic/applicationinstructions.pdf · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.030 · http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20csr.asp · checked 2026-10-04
NBCE parts required
published Rule 20 CSR 2070-2.040 names NBCE Parts I, II, III, IV and physiotherapy, and adopts NBCE's passing scores. The board's application instructions name the same parts if you have never been licensed in another state. For licensure by examination, the statute requires all required and optional parts of the NBCE written examination. If you apply by reciprocity, the instructions set conditions under which the board may, in its discretion, require the SPEC (see the reciprocity field).Source: https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · https://pr.mo.gov/boards/chiropractic/applicationinstructions.pdf · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.030 · checked 2026-10-04
State-specific exam
published The board names the Missouri jurisprudence examination (see the jurisprudence field). For licensure by examination, the statute also requires a practical examination administered or approved by the board. The current rule, 20 CSR 2070-2.040, lists NBCE Part IV among the required scores and names no board-run practical examination. The former examination rule, 20 CSR 2070-2.050, is listed as rescinded October 30, 2019.Source: http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.030 · https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · checked 2026-10-04
Jurisprudence requirement
published Every applicant must pass an open-book jurisprudence exam on Missouri law and regulations. The composite passing score is 75%. The board's application instructions direct you to an exam page on the mynbce.org site and give a $55 fee.Source: https://pr.mo.gov/boards/chiropractic/applicationinstructions.pdf · https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.030 · checked 2026-10-04
Scope: what is included
published Section 331.010 defines practice as examination, diagnosis, adjustment, manipulation and treatment, in inpatient and outpatient settings, by methods commonly taught in programs accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor entity, or approved by the board. It may include meridian therapy/acupressure/acupuncture with board certification. Rule 20 CSR 2070-2.030 lists approved diagnostic procedures (physical examination; diagnostic imaging including X-ray, MRI, CT and ultrasound; clinical laboratory tests; muscle testing) and adjunctive procedures.Source: http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.010 · https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · checked 2026-10-04
Scope: what is excluded
published Section 331.010.1 RSMo.Source: http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.010 · checked 2026-10-04
Continuing education
published You need 48 hours of continuing education every two years, completed before the renewal date. At least 24 must be formal, board-approved hours from at least two listed categories: diagnostic imaging; differential or physical diagnosis; recordkeeping/SOAP notes; principles, techniques and/or adjunctive procedures; meridian therapy/acupressure/acupuncture. Twelve of the formal hours must be by actual physical attendance, not via the Internet. The board's compliance notice says this in-person requirement applies from the 2029 renewal cycle, with a rule effective date of July 30, 2026. The statute sets 24 to 48 hours where renewal is biennial. The rule exempts you, if your license was issued within one year of graduation, until the end of the first biennial cycle. For a licensee at least sixty-five years old and licensed in Missouri for at least thirty-five years, the rule says: A chiropractic physician at least sixty-five (65) years old and licensed in this state for at least thirty-five (35) years shall complete at least twenty-four (24) hours of formal continuing education biennially as defined in section (4) of this rule. The remaining biennial hours of continuing education shall be waived.The board's CE quick reference cites 20 CSR 2070-2.070 for biennial license renewal. The Secretary of State's Chapter 2 lists 2.070 as Reciprocity, rescinded October 30, 2019, and lists Biennial License Renewal as 2.080.Source: https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · https://pr.mo.gov/chiropractors-compliance.asp · https://pr.mo.gov/boards/chiropractic/CEpacketwebinformation.pdf · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.050 · checked 2026-10-04
Endorsement or reciprocity
published The board's application asks you to choose licensure by examination or by reciprocity. For reciprocity, the board compares the education and examination requirements of your state of original licensure with Missouri's. On the SPEC, the instructions say: If the state from which an applicant applying for licensure by reciprocity does allow equivalent reciprocal licensing of Missouri licensees, or if that state’s requirements for licensure are not equivalent with Missouri’s, the State Board may, in its discretion, require the applicant to successfully complete the Special Purpose Examination for Chiropractors (SPEC) administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Rule 20 CSR 2070-2.040(2)(G) says transcripts and exam scores are not required unless the board requests them. Section 324.009 RSMo, linked from the board's Statutes page, lets you apply for a license in the same occupation or profession, and at the same practice level, if you hold a valid current license issued by another state, a branch or unit of the military, a territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and have been licensed for at least one year in that jurisdiction, subject to the conditions and exclusions the section sets; a board that administers an examination on Missouri law as part of its licensing application may require you to take and pass it. Section 331.030.6 provides for applicants licensed in a foreign country: The board shall issue a license without examination to persons who have been regularly licensed to practice chiropractic in any foreign country, provided that the regulations for securing a license in the other country are equivalent to those required for licensure in the state of Missouri, when the applicant furnishes satisfactory evidence that the applicant has continuously practiced chiropractic for at least one year immediately preceding the applicant's application to the board, and upon the payment of the reciprocity license fee as established by rule of the board. It continues: The board may require an applicant to successfully complete the Special Purposes Examination for Chiropractic (SPEC) administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners if the requirements for securing a license in the other country are not equivalent to those required for licensure in the state of Missouri at the time application is made for licensure under this subsection.The board's Statutes page labels section 324.009 with the date 8/28/2020. The Revisor's page shows the version of section 324.009 effective August 28, 2026.Source: https://pr.mo.gov/boards/chiropractic/applicationinstructions.pdf · https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=324.009 · https://pr.mo.gov/chiropractors-statutes.asp · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.030 · https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · checked 2026-10-04
Summary
published The Missouri State Board of Chiropractic Examiners licenses chiropractors under Chapter 331 RSMo and the rules at 20 CSR 2070. If you apply by examination, you need a degree from a chiropractic college with status with the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor. Before the doctoral program, you need semester credit hours at the minimum required by the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor, never fewer than ninety. If you have never been licensed in another state, you need NBCE Parts I, II, III, IV and physiotherapy; every applicant needs a 75% composite score on an open-book Missouri jurisprudence exam. The scope exclusions are in section 331.010.1. Renewal is every two years with 48 continuing-education hours, at least 24 of them formal hours from at least two categories, except as the rule provides if your license was issued within one year of graduation, or if you are at least sixty-five years old and have been licensed in Missouri for at least thirty-five years (see the continuing education field). If you are licensed in another state, you can apply by reciprocity: the board compares the requirements of your state of original licensure with Missouri's and, under conditions the instructions set (see the reciprocity field), may in its discretion require the SPEC.Source: https://pr.mo.gov/chiropractors-about.asp · http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20csr.asp · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.030 · https://pr.mo.gov/boards/chiropractic/applicationinstructions.pdf · https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20c2070-2.pdf · http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=331.010 · checked 2026-10-04

Recorded limit. The Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards publishes a record for each board at https://www.fclb.org/. That site returned HTTP 403 to us when checked on 2026-10-04, so its record could not be read.

The board is the authority on everything here. Requirements change. Confirm anything you intend to act on with the board directly.

Cite this entry. Missouri licensure. In The Kaleidoscope. ChiroTrack. Last verified 4 October 2026. https://kaleidoscope.thechirotrack.com/licensure-missouri.html. Accessed ________.

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