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Kansas License Reinstatement

Kansas state flag for the Kansas Behavioral Health Licensing overview

Written by

A. Ant, CADC-II

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Author: A. Ant, CADC-II, Licensing & Accreditation Expert

Disclaimer: This content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, regulatory, or licensing advice. Requirements change frequently. Consult qualified professionals for guidance specific to your situation.

A Kansas mental health license that gets revoked keeps its holder out for two years. An addiction treatment license revoked by the same office carries no waiting period that we could find. Both sit with the Survey, Certification and Credentialing Commission of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), but they come from two different statutes. Substance use disorder programs are licensed under K.S.A. 65-4012 et seq., while psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers and crisis intervention centers fall under K.S.A. 39-2001 et seq., which expressly leaves SUD services out. Before planning a way back, find out which act your license was issued under. Almost everything in this guide depends on that answer.

Two Enforcement Tracks Side by Side

Everything in this table comes from the official statute text on the Revisor of Statutes site, the KDADS-posted 2006 SUD Standards and K.A.R. 30-60-7. The last row is our interpretation.

QuestionSUD programs (K.S.A. 65-4012 et seq.)MH providers, CMHCs, psychiatric hospitals, crisis centers (K.S.A. 39-2001 et seq.)
Grounds for action“substantial failure to comply” (65-4015)Failure to comply with requirements, standards or rules (39-2013)
Available actionsDeny, suspend or revokeDeny, condition, restrict, suspend or revoke
HearingKansas Administrative Procedure Act, hearing date at least 30 days after noticeKansas Administrative Procedure Act
Civil penaltiesNone found in 65-4012 to 65-4015Up to $500 per day per deficiency, $2,500 cap, doubled cap $5,000 (39-2016)
Waiting period after revocationNone foundTwo years from denial, suspension or revocation (39-2013)
Practical route backFix the cited problems, then file a new program applicationWait out the two years, or use the written waiver route after an emergency order

The SUD Clock After a Site Visit

For addiction programs, the 2006 “Standards for Licensure/Certification of Alcohol and/or Other Drug Abuse Treatment Programs” set the pace. Under R03-804, once a site visit finds noncompliance, “the licensee shall provide a written response, within 30 calendar days.” If the violations aren’t remedied “within 90 calendar days from the date of the site visit report,” the department “shall commence proceedings to suspend or revoke the license pursuant to K.S.A 65-4015.” That gives a cited program roughly three months from the report to show the fix is real. KDADS posts a Corrective Action Plan Form and a Major Violations List on its Behavioral Health Licensing page, and we would use its form rather than a homemade one, though we haven’t reviewed what either document contains.

Complaints run on a much longer fuse. R03-810 says staff “shall investigate all complaints,” protects the complainant’s identity, and ends with a sentence operators tend to miss: “If the complaint is not resolved within twelve months of date of the initial complaint, the license may be revoked.” An open complaint file is a liability that grows with time, so close it out with documentation instead of waiting for KDADS to follow up.

Two smaller tools can buy room. R03-805 allows an extension of a full license “for a period not exceeding 90 days,” and R03-807 lets a provider ask in writing for a waiver of a standard, with a decision due “within 30 days of the receipt of the provider’s written request.” Neither one cures a violation. They can keep a program operating while a legitimate fix is under way.

Hearings and Appeals Under K.S.A. 65-4015

Before KDADS denies, suspends or revokes an SUD license, K.S.A. 65-4015 requires notice and an opportunity for a hearing, with the hearing set “not less than 30 days from the date of such notice.” The hearing is “conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Kansas administrative procedure act,” and a final order can then go to district court under the Kansas judicial review act. Thirty days is short when you’re assembling records, audits and staff statements, so start preparing your response on the day the notice arrives rather than the day before the hearing.

Getting an SUD License Back

Nothing in 65-4012 through 65-4015 or in the 2006 Standards describes reinstatement of a revoked SUD license, and we found no waiting period. Our reading is that the way back is a fresh New Program Application with the full application packet, the $100 fee per location, a rewritten policy manual and a new State Fire Marshal inspection. KDADS then has 90 calendar days from a complete application. Expect reviewers to read that file against the history that led to revocation, and put the corrective evidence in it from the start.

Operating in the gap isn’t an option. K.S.A. 65-4012 treats operating a treatment facility without a license as a class C misdemeanor, and the act also provides for an injunction. If a program is winding down, KDADS posts an SUD Program Closure Notice on the licensing page.

The Two-Year Bar Under the Mental Health Act

The 39-2001 act is stricter. K.S.A. 39-2013, as amended in 2024 (L. 2024, ch. 103, effective July 1), says that after a denial, suspension or revocation “the applicant or licensee shall not be eligible to apply for a new license or reinstatement of a license” “for a period of two years from the date of denial, suspension or revocation.” The one exception involves emergency orders, where the provider “may apply for a new license or reinstatement of a license at any time upon submission of a written waiver.” For a psychiatric hospital or crisis center, our view is that contesting the action at the hearing stage is usually worth more than any plan to reapply, because losing means two years out.

Money penalties come first in many cases. Under K.S.A. 39-2016, KDADS issues a written correction order stating the deficiency and may assess a civil penalty “in an amount not to exceed $500 per day, per deficiency,” with “the maximum assessment” set at $2,500. If the secretary doubles the penalty, the ceiling becomes $5,000. Payment is due within 10 days of the written notice of assessment, an appeal to the secretary also has to be filed within 10 days, and the appeal doesn’t pause the payment.

CMHCs and Private Psychiatric Hospitals

The license-type rules add their own steps. For community mental health centers, K.A.R. 30-60-7 calls for registered-mail notice of a revocation with the reasons, the effective date and the right to appeal to the Office of Administrative Hearings. It limits suspension to situations posing a serious threat, permits voluntary surrender, and lets KDADS require a plan for transferring consumers. A CMHC on a provisional license under K.A.R. 30-60-6 must turn in a plan of corrective action within 30 days of the division’s written request. Any applicant or licensee has 15 days to answer survey findings in writing, and each provisional license lasts six months at most, though the rule allows successive ones.

Private psychiatric hospitals move faster still. K.A.R. 30-22-6 gives them a two-year license and asks for renewal 45 days before it expires, and under 30-22-7 the notice of suspension or revocation gives the hospital a chance to appear before the division “not less than five (5) nor more than fifteen (15) days” after the notice is mailed or served. A psychiatric unit inside a general hospital is a different matter. K.A.R. 30-22-5 says licensing of those wards “rests with the Kansas state department of health and environment,” so its enforcement runs through the hospital license, not KDADS.

Across the whole 39-2001 act, K.S.A. 39-2012 lets KDADS issue a provisional license “for not more than six months,” with one more six-month provisional term at the agency’s discretion and State Fire Marshal approval required. Selling the provider during that window doesn’t buy extra time.

Accreditation During a Licensing Problem

Accreditation can carry a Kansas program through renewal, but only while it lasts. K.S.A. 65-4014(b)(2) gives an SUD program that already holds a KDADS license and has CARF, Joint Commission, COA or other approved accreditation a license based on that accreditation, and K.S.A. 39-2008(e) does the same for CMHC renewals. Both acts also require the provider to notify KDADS “immediately” if accreditation is lost. On our reading, a program whose accreditor pulls its status during a KDADS dispute loses the easier renewal path and should report it the same week. KDADS also keeps inspecting accredited programs for state standards the accreditor doesn’t cover.

Renewal terms reward a clean record too. An SUD license can be renewed for one, two or three years based on compliance (65-4014 and R03-803), and the $100 renewal fee is due within two weeks after the licensure visit notice. A program coming off a corrective action plan should expect the short end of that range.

Building a Correction KDADS Will Accept

The R03-804 response is the document that decides most SUD cases, in our experience. We tie each cited standard to a specific change: the rewritten policy, the date staff were trained on it, and a sample of records pulled afterward showing the change in practice. When the finding involves staffing, include the BSRB license verification for each counselor named, since the 2006 Standards still describe an SRS counselor credential that no longer exists. Send it well inside the 30 days and keep proof of delivery. If you’re unsure where the response should go, ask Wendy Jacobs, who is named as Behavioral Health Services Licensing Manager on KDADS’s 2024 and 2025 hospital and crisis center forms: Wendy.Jacobs@ks.gov or 785-596-3161.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long must a Kansas mental health provider wait to reapply after revocation?

Two years. Under K.S.A. 39-2013 the applicant or licensee cannot apply again, for a new license or for reinstatement, until two years have passed since the denial, suspension or revocation. The exception is an emergency order, after which the provider may reapply at any time by submitting a written waiver.

Is there a waiting period to relicense a Kansas SUD program after revocation?

We found none. The SUD statutes, K.S.A. 65-4012 to 65-4015, and the 2006 KDADS Standards contain no reapplication bar. In our reading the program files a new program application with the 100 dollar fee once it has corrected the problems behind the revocation.

How long does a Kansas SUD program have to fix site visit violations?

Standard R03-804 requires a written response within 30 calendar days. Violations still unremedied 90 calendar days after the site visit report trigger suspension or revocation proceedings under K.S.A. 65-4015.

Working against the R03-804 deadline right now? Let us know where things stand.

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