Your Home State and the Dietitian Compact

Every compact privilege will start from one place: your home state. Under the Dietitian Licensure Compact, that is not wherever you were first licensed or wherever your employer is. It is the member state where you live. Choosing the wrong license to keep, or moving without planning, can leave you without a path to privileges once they open. No state issues privileges yet; the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) expects the first ones sometime in 2027.

What counts as your home state?

The model law defines it as "the Member State that is the Licensee's primary State of residence or that has been designated pursuant to Section 6" (Model Compact § 2.O). Section 6 is the military provision, covered below. For everyone else, residence decides it.

The Commission has not yet adopted the rule that will say how residence is proven. In its September 17, 2026 meeting, the Rules Committee discussed having dietitians notify the home state and submit proof of residence, with flexibility for each state on what proof it accepts and how it checks.

Do you need a license in the state where you live?

Yes. To exercise a privilege you must "hold an Unencumbered License in the Home State" (§ 4.A.2). The Commission's FAQ adds: "If you do not hold a license in the state where you reside, you must obtain a license from your home state prior to using the compact to obtain privileges to practice in other compact states."

That catches a common pattern. Plenty of telehealth dietitians live in one state and hold licenses only where their clients are. If you live in Kansas but have licenses only in Missouri and Iowa, you would need a Kansas license before any privilege. Kansas, Missouri and Iowa are all members, so the fix is straightforward. A dietitian living in a non-member state has no fix short of moving.

Can you have more than one home state?

No. "A Licensee may hold a Home State License, which allows for a Compact Privilege in other Member States, in only one Member State at a time" (§ 5.A). You can still hold as many ordinary single-state licenses as you like; the model law says nothing in the compact interferes with that (§ 5.D). Only one of them, the one where you live, anchors your privileges.

What happens when you move?

It depends on where you move from and to.

• Member state to member state. You apply for a new home-state license based on your privilege, pay the fees and notify both states. The new state verifies your eligibility through the data system and requires an FBI fingerprint check, any other criminal history check it uses, and its own jurisprudence requirement. Once the new license is active, your old home license converts into a privilege (§ 5.B). The Rules Committee has a separate draft rule on this process that it had not yet reached as of September 2026.
• Member state to non-member state. The new state's ordinary licensing rules apply (§ 5.C), and you lose access to privileges because your new home is not a member.
• Non-member state to member state. Again the new state's ordinary rules apply. Once you hold that state's license and meet the other requirements, you can seek privileges.

The practical lesson: a dietitian relocating into a member state should apply for the new state's license early, since it will become the foundation for every privilege.

How does the compact treat military families?

Section 6 lets an active military member, or their spouse, "designate a Home State where the individual has a current License in good standing," and keep that designation while the service member is on active duty. A military spouse who moves every few years can keep one home state instead of relicensing at each new residence for compact purposes. The model law defines active military member to include the National Guard and Reserve on full-time duty (§ 2.B). Our post on licensing for military spouses covers the federal portability law that works alongside it.

Does a certification or title state work as a home state?

A certification state does. The compact defines a license as a state authorization to practice or to use a title like "certified dietitian" (§ 2.R), so Utah, Wisconsin and Washington residents with their state's certification can use those as home licenses.

A state that issues nothing does not. California, Colorado and Virginia protect titles without issuing any license or certification, and Arizona has no dietitian law at all. The Commission's FAQ says those states, along with Michigan, cannot participate. Residents there cannot use the compact.

Which home-state duties carry over to privileges?

Several. Your privilege lasts only as long as your home license and renews in step with it (§ 4.B). You meet continuing education rules only for your home state (§ 4.D). And if your home state takes adverse action that encumbers your home license, your privileges in every other member state are revoked until the encumbrance is removed, after which you must reapply (§ 7.H and 7.I). Trouble at home follows you everywhere you practice on a privilege, and since a privilege is valid only until the home license expires, the home renewal date becomes the one date you cannot miss. Our post on privilege versus state license weighs that risk.

How do you get your home state ready now?

Make sure you hold a license in the state you live in, that it is active and unencumbered, and that your CDR registration is current. If you are about to move between member states, start the new license as soon as the move is certain. If you live outside the compact, plan on separate licenses in each client state that requires one.

We can prepare the home-state license for you. License by Endorsement is $599 per state; we build the file and track it with the board while you review, sign, pay and submit. Check your state on the state license index, or start with a Readiness Review ($149).