Mississippi Radiologic Technologist Licensing Guide
License Snapshot
Board Processing Time
7-10 days
Board turnaround on a complete application — see lead time below
Application Fee
$200
Renewal: $50
Credential
ARRT
Required national certification
Renewal
24 hours
Every 2 years
State Overview
Mississippi licenses radiology as more than a single credential. Alongside the general radiologic technologist license, it recognizes 2 separate base licenses (Nuclear Medicine Technologist and Radiation Therapist), plus a limited-permit tier (Limited X-Ray Machine Operator (LXMO)).
A few other modalities are credentialed by the hiring facility or not licensed by the state at all, rather than carrying their own Mississippi license. The specialty section below covers each, including where a single-modality candidate may not be placeable.
Across radiology, ARRT certification is the national credential that anchors state licensure. A license you hold in another state does not transfer automatically, so you apply directly to Mississippi's licensing board for each assignment.
General Requirements
If you perform radiology procedures in Mississippi, the baseline below applies regardless of where you trained or which modality you work in.
- National certification: an active ARRT credential is the prerequisite the state license is built on. The state credential sits on top of ARRT, not instead of it.
- Credential required: ARRT Registered Medical Radiologic Technologist (ARRT (R)).
- Scope of the base license: Applies x-radiation/ionizing radiation to any part of the human body for diagnostic purposes, including administration of contrast media and procedures incidental to radiologic examinations.
- Verification: ARRT or direct board verification.
Fees & Credentials
Mississippi issues more than one radiology credential, so fees vary by what you actually do. The table below is one row per state-recognized credential.
| Credential | Application | Renewal | Cycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radiographer (Radiologic Technologist) | $50 | $50 | Every 2 years |
| Nuclear Medicine Technologist | $50 | $50 | Every 2 years |
| Radiation Therapist | $50 | $50 | Every 2 years |
| Limited X-Ray Machine Operator (LXMO) | $50 | $50 | Every 2 years |
There is no state fee line for MRI Technologist, Sonographer / Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound, and Medical Physicist, because Mississippi does not license those modalities. Their absence from the table is the point, not an omission.
Verify with MSDH: both sources' $50 is stale, the current figure is roughly $200, and a new fee schedule takes effect 2026-07-01. The licensing body is MSDH Professional Licensure, not the Board of Medical Licensure.
Renewal & Continuing Education
- Renewal cycle: every 2 years, based on date of initial registration.
- Continuing education: Mississippi sets 24 hours per 2-year cycle, but maintaining an active ARRT certification satisfies the state's CE requirement. If your ARRT credential is current, you do not file separate state CE.
- Limited X-Ray Machine Operator (LXMO) CE: 12 continuing education hours per biennial renewal period (versus 24 ARRT-approved clock hours per registration term for the full MSDH radiographer registration).
Getting Licensed
Radiology licensure is ARRT-primary, so the path is shorter than the multi-step endorsement other professions run. For most candidates it is four steps:
- Hold the right ARRT credential for the work you will do (Radiography for general x-ray; the matching post-primary credential for a modality the state licenses).
- Complete a board-approved program if the state requires one for your credential.
- Apply to Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure through the application portal.
- Have ARRT verify your credential to the board directly. You do not self-attest the certification.
Common slip-ups travelers hit here: failure to provide explicit current CE documentation (24 hours required every 2 years), applicants assume ARRT records are automatically pulled but must manually attach proof.
Processing & Timing
Board processing time is how long the board takes once it has a complete application. In Mississippi: 7-10 days (after a complete application). Boards rarely publish a guaranteed turnaround, so treat this as a planning number rather than a promise.
Recommended lead time before your start date is the total runway, and it runs longer than the board's processing window. Start the application as early as you can, because your ARRT verification has to reach the board before it can act.
If you need more than one credential here, for example a base license plus an add-on authorization, they may process as separate items rather than in one pass. Do not assume you can layer the second credential on at the last minute.
No temporary license option means permanent license must be issued before first day of work. Combined with 2, 3 week processing and potential board meeting delays, assignment start dates are inflexible and require early application (8+ weeks lead time).
Quick start: Mississippi is one of the states where the credential can be in hand within days of a complete application, so licensing does not have to gate a fast assignment start.
Specialty Differences
Most of the radiology family in Mississippi runs on the general license. A handful of credentials genuinely diverge, and those are the ones worth reading closely. Below is one subsection per real difference, then roll-up lines for everything else.
Nuclear Medicine Technologist
Divergence: separate license. Performs in vivo imaging and measurement procedures and in vitro non-imaging laboratory studies, prepares radiopharmaceuticals, and administers diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceutical doses under the supervision of an authorized user.
- Fee: $50 application, $50 renewal, every 2 years
- Credential: ARRT Registered Nuclear Medicine Technologist and/or Nuclear Medicine Technologist Certification Board (NMTCB)
How it differs from the general license: Mississippi issues nuclear medicine technologist registration as its own MSDH registration type, distinct from the radiographer registration, and uniquely accepts NMTCB certification as an alternative to ARRT. Its scope is radiopharmaceutical-based rather than external-beam diagnostic imaging.
Radiation Therapist
Divergence: separate license. Applies x-radiation and ionizing radiation from particle accelerators, cobalt-60 units, and sealed sources to humans for therapeutic purposes, under the supervision of a licensed radiation oncologist or board-certified radiologist designated as an authorized user.
- Fee: $50 application, $50 renewal, every 2 years
- Credential: ARRT Registered Radiation Therapist (ARRT (T))
How it differs from the general license: Radiation therapy is a separate MSDH registration type with a therapeutic (treatment-delivery) scope rather than diagnostic imaging. The radiographer registration does not cover therapeutic radiation, and vice versa.
Limited X-Ray Machine Operator (LXMO)
Divergence: limited-scope tier. Limited radiographic procedures on chest, abdomen, and skeletal structures only. Explicitly excludes fluoroscopy (stationary and mobile/C-arm), contrast studies, computed tomography, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, and mammography.
- Fee: $50 application, $50 renewal, every 2 years
- Credential: Board of Medical Licensure permit (not full ARRT registration); for non-radiologic-technologist personnel working under specific direction of a licensed practitioner
- CE: 12 continuing education hours per biennial renewal period (versus 24 ARRT-approved clock hours per registration term for the full MSDH radiographer registration)
How it differs from the general license: A reduced-scope permit for non-radiologic-technologists, issued by the Board of Medical Licensure rather than MSDH, restricted to chest/abdomen/skeletal radiography under a licensed practitioner's direction and excluding fluoroscopy, CT, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, and mammography. It requires no full ARRT registration and carries a lower 12-hour CE obligation.
CT Technologist
Divergence: facility-credentialed. CT credentialing is the hiring facility's responsibility; Mississippi issues no CT registration or permit. A CT technologist who entered through radiography still holds the underlying MSDH radiologic technologist registration.
- Credential: ARRT (CT) post-primary certification, credentialed by the hiring facility
How it differs from the general license: Mississippi does not regulate CT as a separate state credential (per ASRT's states-that-regulate listing, and the modality is absent from the MSDH registration scheme). CT is credentialed by the employer against the holder's ARRT post-primary certification rather than by the state. LXMO permits explicitly exclude CT.
MRI Technologist
Divergence: no state credential. MRI uses no ionizing radiation and falls entirely outside Mississippi's medical-radiation-technology registration scheme. No Mississippi license, registration, or permit exists for MRI technologists.
- Credential: ARRT (MR) or ARMRIT, employer-set; no state credential exists
How it differs from the general license: An MRI-only technologist needs no Mississippi state credential whatsoever. The MSDH scheme governs only ionizing-radiation modalities (radiography, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy), and ASRT confirms MRI is not regulated; practice is governed by employer and national-certification standards.
Sonographer / Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound
Divergence: no state credential. Ultrasound uses no ionizing radiation and sits outside Mississippi's medical-radiation-technology scheme. The state issues no license, registration, or permit for sonographers.
- Credential: ARDMS/CCI, employer-set; no state credential exists
How it differs from the general license: Mississippi is not among the few states that license sonographers; ASRT confirms sonography is not regulated. A sonographer needs no Mississippi state credential, governed instead by national certification (ARDMS/CCI) and the employer.
Medical Physicist
Divergence: no state credential. Mississippi does not appear to issue a medical physicist personnel license within the radiology licensing landscape. The MSDH medical-radiation-technologist scheme covers only radiographer, nuclear medicine, and radiation therapist registrations; no medical physicist credential surfaced in MSDH or MSBML radiology materials.
How it differs from the general license: Mississippi is not among the small set of states (e.g., TX/FL/HI/NY) that license medical physicists, and no medical-physicist personnel license appears in the state's radiologic-technology registration scheme. Any oversight would fall under radiation-control/equipment regulation rather than a personnel license; this is a personnel-licensing negative rather than an affirmatively-confirmed statutory prohibition.
Credentialed by the facility, not the state
Mississippi does not separately license these modalities. The hiring facility credentials them against your ARRT post-primary certification, and you still need the general radiologic technologist license underneath: Mammography.
Before you pay: confirm your modality
Within radiology, whether a modality needs its own state credential is not consistent, and it is the thing travelers most often get wrong. MRI, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, sonography, and CT can each be a separate state license in one state, a facility credential checked against your ARRT registration in the next, and nothing extra in a third.
The divergences we verified for Mississippi are above. What we cannot see is your specific assignment and the site you land at. Before you submit any application fee for an advanced modality, confirm with your recruiter whether Mississippi issues a state credential for it or whether the facility handles that against your certification. We would rather you ask first than pay for something the role never required.
Official Resources
Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure
Board Website·Application Portal
Phone: (601) 364-7360
Email: [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
Please note that while Fusion Medical Staffing strives to provide the most current and accurate information, we cannot guarantee the completeness or timeliness of the information provided. Requirements and processes can change frequently. Healthcare professionals are strongly encouraged to verify details directly with Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure's official website.
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