Texas Radiologic Technologist Licensing Guide

Texas Radiology License Overview

Texas licenses radiology as more than a single credential. Alongside the general radiologic technologist license, it also recognizes:

• Separate license: Medical Physicist
• Limited-permit tier: Limited Medical Radiologic Technologist (LMRT)

A few other modalities are not licensed by the state at all, rather than carrying their own Texas license. The specialty section below covers each.

A license you hold in another state does not transfer automatically, so you apply to Texas's licensing board before your first assignment there.

Texas Radiology License Requirements

The baseline below is the general Texas radiologic technologist license. The specialty section covers the modalities that differ from it.

• National certification: confirm with the board which ARRT credential Texas accepts, and whether it must stay current.
• Credential required: ARRT certification in a radiography discipline; pass the Texas Jurisprudence (JP) exam; fingerprint-based criminal history check.
• Scope of the base license: Authorization to perform radiologic procedures (procedures that achieve their purpose through the emission of ionizing radiation). The base certificate for ARRT-certified technologists practicing full-scope radiography in Texas.
• Verification: ARRT or direct board verification.

Texas Radiology License Fees and Credentials

Texas issues more than one radiology credential, so fees vary by what you actually do. The table below is one row per state-recognized credential.

There is no state fee line for Sonographer / Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound, because Texas does not license those modalities.

$130 GMRT (includes the jurisprudence exam + a $5 OPP fee), biennial (TMB). A mandatory IdentoGo fingerprint fee applies on top.

Texas Radiology License Renewal and CE

• Renewal cycle: every 2 years, expires February 28th or August 31st.
• Continuing education: Texas sets 24 hours per 2-year cycle, but maintaining an active ARRT certification satisfies the state's CE requirement.
• Limited Medical Radiologic Technologist (LMRT) CE: Subject to a 24-hour/24-month CE requirement like the general certificate; an active ARRT card in good standing can satisfy CE except the human trafficking prevention course.
• Medical Physicist CE: Continuing education governed under a separate Medical Physicist schedule (TMB CE requirements for Medical Physicists), independent of the MRT 24-hr/24-month requirement.

How to Get a Texas Radiology License

In outline, applying takes four steps:

1. Confirm the credential Texas requires for the work you will do (the requirements above and the specialty section below).
2. Complete a board-approved program if the state requires one for your credential.
3. Apply to Texas Board of Medical Radiologic Technology through the application portal.
4. Arrange the verification the board asks for: ARRT or direct board verification.

Common slip-ups travelers hit here: incorrect or missing ARRT certification number or verification method, board cannot verify qualification without valid ARRT documentation; resubmission adds 1-2 weeks.

Texas Radiology License Processing Time

Board processing time is how long the board takes once it has a complete application. Texas does not publish a standard turnaround for radiology, so allow extra time before your start date.

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.

Texas assignment feasibility is moderate-risk. A Temporary Medical Radiologic Technologist certificate is issued for one year, with no renewal, and ends when the general certificate is issued, so it can bridge an assignment start while the general certificate processes. Answering yes to any professionalism question on the application, or not following the document instructions, adds processing time.

Texas Radiology Specialty Rules

Below is one subsection per credential that differs from the general Texas license, then roll-up lines for everything else.

CT Technologist

Divergence: specialty difference. Computed tomography performed under the authority of the general MRT certificate.

• Credential: General Medical Radiologic Technologist certificate; ARRT post-primary CT certification is employer/facility-applied, not a separate Texas credential

Sonographer / Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound

Divergence: no state credential. Diagnostic ultrasound uses no ionizing radiation, so it falls outside the Ch. 601 'radiologic procedure' definition. Texas issues no sonography license.

• Credential: No Texas state license. Employers effectively require national certification (ARDMS RDMS/RDCS/RVT or ARRT(S))

How it differs from the general license: Unlike the radiographer license, Texas does not regulate or credential sonographers at all; competency is established through voluntary national certification required by employers rather than any state authorization.

Limited Medical Radiologic Technologist (LMRT)

Divergence: limited-scope tier. Authorization to perform radiologic procedures only on specific parts of the human body. Texas categories include skull, chest, spine, extremities, podiatric, chiropractic, and cardiovascular.

• Fee: $94 renewal, every 2 years
• Credential: Pass the ARRT Limited Scope of Practice in Radiography exam for the applicable category and the Texas LMRT exam/Jurisprudence requirements; does not require full ARRT radiography certification
• CE: Subject to a 24-hour/24-month CE requirement like the general certificate; an active ARRT card in good standing can satisfy CE except the human trafficking prevention course

How it differs from the general license: A below-full-license credential restricted to enumerated body regions, rather than full-scope radiography. It requires only the ARRT limited-scope exam (not full ARRT certification) and cannot perform the complete range of radiologic procedures the general MRT certificate authorizes.

Medical Physicist

Divergence: separate license. Practice of medical radiological physics in one or more licensed specialties: Diagnostic Radiological Physics, Therapeutic Radiological Physics, Medical Nuclear Physics, and Medical Health Physics.

• Fee: $130 application, every 2 years
• Credential: Distinct license, not derived from the MRT certificate. Requires CAMPEP-accredited education (or equivalent physics/physical-science degree), passage of board-approved specialty examinations, and a Texas Jurisprudence exam
• CE: Continuing education governed under a separate Medical Physicist schedule (TMB CE requirements for Medical Physicists), independent of the MRT 24-hr/24-month requirement

How it differs from the general license: An entirely separate professional license (Ch. 602), not a technologist certificate. It licenses physicists rather than technologists, requires advanced physics education and specialty board exams, and is divided into four physics specialties unrelated to the MRT certificate.

Specialties That Follow the General Texas License

These run under the general radiologic technologist license and need no separate state credential: Radiation Therapist, Nuclear Medicine Technologist, and Mammography.

Before You Pay: Confirm Your Modality

States differ on whether a radiology modality needs its own state credential. 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 specialty differences we have on file for Texas 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, check whether Texas 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.

Texas Licensing Board and Resources

Texas Board of Medical Radiologic Technology

Board Website · Application Portal · License Verification

Phone: (512) 305-7030