(225 ILCS 50/8) (from Ch. 111, par. 7408)

(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 103-495)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)

Sec. 8. Applicant qualifications; examination.

(a) In order to protect persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, the Department
shall authorize or shall conduct an appropriate examination, which may be the International Hearing Society's licensure examination, for persons
who dispense, test, select, recommend, fit, or service hearing
instruments.   The frequency of holding these examinations shall
be determined by the Department by rule.  Those
who successfully pass such an examination shall be issued a license
as a hearing instrument dispenser, which shall be effective for
a 2-year period.

(b) Applicants shall be:

(1) at least 18 years of age;

(2) of good moral character;

(3) the holder of an associate's degree or the equivalent;

(4) free of contagious or infectious disease; and

(5) a citizen or person lawfully present in the United States.

Felony convictions of the applicant and findings against the applicant
involving matters set forth in Sections 17 and 18 shall be considered in
determining moral character, but such a conviction or finding shall not make an
applicant ineligible to register for examination.

(c) Prior to engaging in the practice of fitting, dispensing, or servicing
hearing instruments, an applicant
shall demonstrate, by means of written
and practical examinations, that such person is qualified to
practice the testing, selecting, recommending, fitting, selling, or
servicing of hearing instruments as defined in this
Act.  An applicant must obtain a license within 12
months after passing either the written or practical examination, whichever is passed first, or must take and
pass those examinations again in order to be eligible to receive a license.

The Department shall, by rule, determine the conditions under which an
individual is examined.

(d) Proof of having met the minimum requirements of continuing education
as determined by the Board shall be required of all license renewals.
Pursuant to rule, the continuing education requirements may, upon petition to
the Board,
be waived in whole or in part if the hearing instrument dispenser
can demonstrate
that he or she served in the Coast Guard or Armed Forces, had an extreme
hardship, or obtained his or her license by examination or
endorsement within
the preceding renewal period.

(e) Persons applying for an initial
license
must demonstrate having earned, at a minimum, an associate degree or its equivalent from an
accredited institution of higher education that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or that meets the U.S. Department of Education equivalency as determined through a National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) member, and meet the other requirements of
this Section.  In addition, the applicant must demonstrate the successful
completion of (1) 12 semester hours or 18 quarter hours of academic undergraduate
course work in an accredited institution consisting of 3 semester hours of
anatomy and physiology of the hearing mechanism, 3 semester hours of
hearing science, 3 semester hours of introduction to audiology, and 3 semester
hours of aural rehabilitation, or the quarter hour equivalent or (2) an equivalent program as determined by the Department that is consistent with the scope of practice of a hearing instrument dispenser as defined in  Section 3 of this Act.  Persons
licensed before January 1, 2003 who
have a valid license on that date may have their license renewed
without meeting the requirements of this subsection.

(Source: P.A. 102-1030, eff. 5-27-22.)

(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 103-495)