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RBT Lookup and Behavior Technician Credentials by State

March 31, 2026 · Updated September 3, 2026 50 states + DC Special Learning

To look up an RBT, use the BACB Certificant Registry at bacb.com/verify-certification: search the person's name or certification number and the registry shows whether the certification is current and whether any reportable disciplinary action is attached. The BACB says the registry is updated daily. That check takes under a minute and it answers the question most people land here with.

Is the RBT a license or a certification?

A certification. The Registered Behavior Technician credential is issued by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, a private national board, after a 40-hour training, a competency assessment and an exam. It is not a state license. Some states add their own registration or license for behavior technicians on top of the RBT, a few have a parallel state credential, and many have no state requirement at all. That state layer is what the search below is for.

How to check an RBT in three steps.

  1. Ask for the technician's full name as it appears on their certification, or their RBT certification number.
  2. Open the BACB Certificant Registry and search. If you have the certification number, search by number. If you do not, search by first and last name, and narrow by country, state or province, city, or a postal code within 5 to 200 miles. A current certification shows as active; an inactive or expired one shows as such. A dagger beside the status means the BACB has published one or more sanctions or actions against that certificant.
  3. Then check your state below. If your state registers or licenses behavior technicians, the state board's own lookup is the second place to look, and the state credential is in addition to the RBT, not instead of it.

If you are a parent checking who works with your child, the same registry lists BCBAs and BCaBAs, so you can look up the supervisor too. Our guide to the credentialing bodies in ABA explains what each set of letters means.

What your state adds

Does your state require the RBT? Does it have its own behavior technician credential? Do you need both? Search your state to find out what credentials you need to work as a behavior technician.

~25
States: RBT required or accepted
~10
States: RBT + state registration
~3
States: Parallel state credential
~13
States: No state BT requirement
Whether a particular employer or payer requires the credential depends on the state and the plan. In the states marked below, it is the credential written into behavior technician rules. The state-level requirements below are in addition to the BACB RBT, not instead of it.

Search Your State

About the 51 entries below: they were compiled in March 2026 from secondary sources and have not been checked against the state boards. Confirm your own state with its behavior analyst licensing board before acting on anything here.
How current is this, honestly: the 51 state entries above were compiled in March 2026 from secondary sources, not from the state boards themselves, and nobody has since checked them against a board. We are telling you that rather than leaving you to assume they were verified. On a sister page of ours the same kind of table turned out to be wrong on the first six states we checked, so please treat every entry here as a starting point and confirm it with your state licensing board before you act on it — particularly the payer and billing lines, which describe what insurers typically ask for, not a legal requirement. Special Learning is not a legal authority on state licensure. For the BACB national RBT requirement, visit bacb.com/rbt.

Get Your RBT Credential

The RBT is the national credential. 40 hours of training, no degree required; your state may add a registration step, see the table above.

How to Become an RBT BT vs RBT Explained PDU Requirements by State

Related: BT vs RBT | How to Become an RBT | PDU by State | Salary Guide | RBT FAQ

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If the RBT credential is your next step

The national credential, before the state paperwork

The RBT Readiness Webinar is $39, a recorded session on what the BACB requires and what the exam covers. State registration is separate and this does not replace it.

RBT Readiness, $39 →

Questions about state BT credentials

Requirements vary. The state table on this page lists 51 entries (50 states plus DC): 38 where the RBT is required, 2 with a parallel state-specific credential, and 11 with no state-level behavior technician requirement. Treat those as a starting point, not a legal answer — the table was compiled in March 2026 from secondary sources and has not been checked against the state boards themselves, so confirm your own state with its licensing board. Many accept the BACB RBT as meeting their state requirement. Some states (like Pennsylvania) have parallel state-specific credentials. A handful of states have no state-level BT requirement at all. Whether a particular employer or payer requires the credential depends on the state and the plan. Ask, then look the name up in the BACB registry.

In some states, yes, legally. Whether a particular employer or payer requires the credential depends on the state and the plan. Some states write the RBT into their behavior-technician rules; check your state in the table above and ask the agency what it requires.

The RBT is a national credential from the BACB. State registration or licensure is a separate state-level requirement. In many states, holding the RBT satisfies the state requirement. In others, you need both: the BACB RBT plus a separate state registration. Check your state's specific rules.