The Dietitian Licensure Compact, Explained

The Dietitian Licensure Compact is an agreement among states that will let a dietitian licensed in a home state practice in other member states through a compact privilege instead of a separate license in each one. The Council of State Governments (CSG) lists 19 states that have enacted it. The idea is simple. The timing is not: as of October 2026, no state issues privileges, and the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) says the first ones "are expected to be issued sometime in 2027."

So the compact is real law with a real governing body, but it is not yet a way to practice anywhere. Until privileges open, a dietitian who sees clients in more than one state needs a license, certification or telehealth registration in each state that requires one. Here is how the compact is built, what it will change, and what it will leave alone.

What is the Dietitian Licensure Compact?

It is a model law, written with funding from the Department of Defense and developed by CSG with CDR and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. A state joins by enacting the model language through its legislature. The Commission's own FAQ calls it "a legally binding agreement among states that provides a pathway to practice through which dietitians can obtain compact privileges which authorize practice in states where they are not licensed."

The model law defines a compact privilege as "a legal authorization, which is equivalent to a License, permitting the Practice of Dietetics in a Remote State" (Model Compact § 2.I). The "home state" is the member state where you primarily live; a "remote state" is any other member state where you want to practice.

The compact came into effect when the seventh state enacted it. That was Mississippi, whose governor signed SB 2664 on March 21, 2025, joining Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. The Commission, made up of one delegate from each member state's licensing authority, convened for the first time in November 2025 and approved its bylaws and its Rule on Rulemaking on November 18, 2025.

How will a compact privilege work once states issue them?

Section 4 of the model law sets out what a licensee must do to exercise a privilege. You will need to:

1. Hold current CDR registration as a registered dietitian, or meet an alternative education, supervised practice and exam pathway (covered below).
2. Hold an unencumbered license in your home state.
3. Notify the Compact Commission that you are seeking a privilege in one or more remote states.
4. Pay any applicable fees, including any state fee.
5. Meet any jurisprudence requirement the remote state sets.
6. Report to the Commission, within 30 days, any adverse action a non-member state takes against a license you hold there.

Member states must also run FBI fingerprint-based criminal history checks on applicants for an initial privilege (§ 3.B.3). Once issued, a privilege stays valid until your home-state license expires, and renewal runs in step with that home license (§ 4.B).

Notice who acts in that list. The model law puts the notification and the payment on "the Licensee." A Rules Committee draft discussed in September 2026 adds that applicants will sign any attestation the state or the Commission requires. Expect the privilege process to be one you complete yourself.

Who will be able to use it?

Eligibility has two halves: your credential and your home state.

On the credential side, you qualify if you hold current CDR registration as an RD or RDN. If you do not, the alternative is all three of these: a master's or doctoral degree from a program accredited by ACEND (or another recognized dietetics accreditor, or a foreign equivalent); an accredited supervised practice experience of at least 1,000 hours; and a passing score on the CDR registration exam (or a Commission-approved exam) no more than five years before your initial licensure, with continuous licensure since (§ 4.A.1).

On the home-state side, you must live in a member state and hold that state's license. The Commission's FAQ is direct: "A license from a state other than the home state does not qualify." A dietitian who lives in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois or Pennsylvania cannot use the compact today, whatever licenses they hold elsewhere, because none of those states is a member. Our post on who qualifies for the Dietitian Compact goes through the edge cases, including technicians and nutritionists.

Does a certification state count as a home state?

It can. The model law defines "License" broadly: an authorization from a member state to engage in the practice of dietetics, or to use a title such as "dietitian," "licensed dietitian," "licensed dietitian nutritionist" or "certified dietitian" (§ 2.R). The Commission's FAQ adds that "regardless of what the state calls the authorizing credential," a state that issues an authorization to use a title or to practice satisfies the requirement. Utah, Wisconsin and Washington certify dietitians rather than license them, and all three are members.

What does not count is a state that issues nothing. The FAQ names California, Colorado, Virginia, Michigan and Arizona as states that "would not be able to participate because they do not license or certify dietitians." New Jersey also has a statute without a working licensing program; see our post on Michigan and New Jersey.

Which rules come with a privilege?

• The remote state's practice law. A licensee practicing on a privilege "shall adhere to the laws and regulations of the Remote State" (§ 4.C). The Commission's FAQ puts it plainly: it is the dietitian's responsibility to know what the remote state's practice act allows.
• The patient's location. The compact's stated purpose includes holding dietitians accountable to the practice laws "in the State in which the patient is located at the time care is rendered" (§ 1.I). The definition of practice covers medical nutrition therapy "in person or via telehealth" (§ 2.V).
• Continuing education in one place. You meet only your home state's continuing education requirements, not each remote state's (§ 4.D).
• Discipline in two directions. A remote state can take adverse action against your privilege there. Only the home state can act against your home license (§ 7).

Will a privilege cost less than a license?

Probably, but nobody can tell you the number yet. The model law lets each member state "set and collect a fee for granting a Compact Privilege" (§ 3.C), and the Commission's FAQ says the Commission will also require a fee. The FAQ adds that you will pay a privilege fee "to each state where a privilege is sought."

No fee has been adopted. The Commission's Finance Committee voted in July 2026 to recommend a Commission fee to the Executive Committee, and its minutes record concern that several states planned to set their privilege fees equal to their license fees. A fee becomes binding only through a rule the full Commission adopts after public notice and a hearing. Treat any privilege price you see quoted today as a guess.

Is the compact a replacement for state licenses?

No, and it was never designed to be. The Commission's FAQ says the compact "will have no impact on a state's requirements for initial license or license renewal" and describes it as "an alternative, optional pathway." You still need a full license in your home state. You still need separate licenses in non-member states where your clients live. And if you move to a non-member state, the model law sends you back to that state's single-state license (§ 5.C).

That matters most for dietitians who live outside the 19 states. A telehealth dietitian in California or Texas will keep needing a license in every client state that requires one, compact or not. Our comparison of a compact privilege and a state license walks through when each will make sense.

Where does the compact stand in October 2026?

The Commission's home page says the compact "has reached activation status; however, compact privileges are not yet being issued." Its Compact Commission page says it is "currently adopting rules and bylaws" and developing a shared data system. In August 2026 the Executive Committee approved a data system agreement and memorandum of understanding in closed session. The rule that will define the privilege application process was still in committee discussion on September 17, 2026, and the Executive Committee asked to schedule the next full Commission meeting for January to give the Rules Committee time to finish.

The timeline post on when Dietitian Compact privileges will start lays out each remaining step, and the Dietitian Compact hub keeps the member list current.

What should you do before privileges open?

If you have clients in another state today, the compact cannot help you today. Get licensed where you practice, and keep your home-state license in good standing, because that license will be the foundation of any future privilege. A few practical steps:

• List every state where your clients are located, not where your employer is based.
• Check whether each state licenses, certifies, protects only the title, or issues nothing. Our state-by-state license index shows each one.
• Look for a telehealth registration where one exists, such as Florida's. It can cost less than a full license.
• If you live in a member state, keep your RD registration current and your home license unencumbered.

We can help with the work that exists now. A Dietitian Licensing Readiness Review ($149) maps where you need a license and whether you will be compact-eligible later. License by Endorsement is $599 per state, and we prepare the file and track it while you review, sign, pay the board and submit. Our compact services wait until a state actually issues privileges. When that happens, you will complete the privilege application yourself, and we will help you get ready for it.