Montana Radiology License Requirements: Permits, Renewal, and ARRT

To work as a radiologic technologist in Montana, you need a license from the Montana Board of Radiologic Technologists, and the Montana radiology license requirements are built on two things: current ARRT certification and a completed state application with a $100 nonrefundable fee. Licenses renew every year on February 1. If your role is narrower, the Board also issues limited permits for technologists trained to perform a defined set of x-ray procedures. The framework sits in Montana Code Title 37, Chapter 14.¹

Who Needs a License

Montana law is broad. No one may perform x-ray procedures on a person in the state without either a full radiologic technologist license or a limited permit from the Board. A handful of roles are exempt:²

Students in medical, osteopathic, dental, chiropractic, or radiologic technology programs, when working under the specific direction of a licensed practitioner.
Anyone performing dental x-rays who has been certified as proficient by the Board of Dentistry.
Darkroom-only workers, supervised by a licensed technologist or radiologist, or who have completed formal darkroom training.
Operators of x-ray equipment that is never used on people.

Physicians, dentists, and chiropractors are not restricted by Chapter 14 in practicing their own professions. Everyone else performing diagnostic x-rays on patients goes through the Board.

Qualifications for the Full License

To qualify for a full radiologic technologist license, you must be at least 18 and have completed a 24-month Board-approved radiologic technology program.¹ You also need current ARRT certification in radiography. Montana explicitly ties licensure to that national credential, so a state license is not available to anyone who has not first earned ARRT status.³

ARRT certification itself has three parts: complete an ARRT-recognized educational program, meet the ethics standards, and pass the ARRT examination.⁴

How to Apply

Once ARRT-certified, you submit an application to the Montana Board with the $100 nonrefundable fee. Your package needs to include personal information, proof of education, verification of your ARRT certification, and official license verification from every state where you hold or have ever held any professional license.⁵ A background check is part of the process. Plan for several weeks of processing time, longer if the Board is waiting on verifications from other jurisdictions.

Limited Permits

Not every x-ray job in Montana requires full ARRT certification. The Board issues limited permits to technologists who complete a shorter formal training program and pass the required examination. Permit holders can perform a defined set of procedures but work under tighter restrictions than fully licensed technologists.⁶

A limited permit covers:

Routine chest exposures (AP/PA, lateral, apical lordotic), but never mammography.
Standard AP/PA, lateral, and oblique exposures of the extremities.
Routine cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine views.
All routine skull and sinus views except internal auditory canal and mastoid series.
Routine supine and upright abdominal projections, plus IVP scout and follow-up films at a physician’s direction.
Assisting a physician during fluoroscopic GI exams and producing the associated overhead films.

Permit holders who completed the 104-hour training track cannot perform fluoroscopy procedures independently because cumulative radiation dose is harder to control at that level of training.⁶ A permit holder can add bone densitometry after passing the ARRT or ISCD bone densitometry examination.

Advanced Modalities

The base Montana license covers general diagnostic radiography. Working in computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or mammography requires additional ARRT certification in that specific modality, and the hiring facility is responsible for verifying you hold the right credential for the discipline you perform.³

Mammography adds a federal layer. Under the Mammography Quality Standards Act, technologists performing mammograms must have completed at least 40 contact hours of mammography-specific training, including a minimum of 25 supervised examinations and at least 8 hours of training in each mammographic modality they use.⁷

Coming From Another State

Montana does not offer automatic reciprocity, but the Board’s staff will help verify out-of-state credentials through online verification portals where available. You still complete the standard application, pay the $100 fee, and submit license verifications from every jurisdiction where you have held a professional license.³

The practical bottleneck is waiting on other states to respond. To bridge the gap, Montana offers a provisional license with a reservation of rights once all other licensing requirements are met. It functions as an active, full license for 60 days, so you can start working while the Board finishes verification.³

Annual Renewal, Fees, and Continuing Education

Montana licenses expire February 1 each year. Renewal is $75 for fully licensed technologists and $60 for limited permit holders. Miss the deadline and you owe a late fee equal to your renewal fee, so a late-renewing technologist pays $150 in total.³

The full fee picture:

Initial application: $100 (nonrefundable)
Annual renewal, radiologic technologist: $75
Annual renewal, limited permit holder: $60
Late renewal penalty: an additional fee equal to the renewal amount

These cover only the state side. ARRT certification and renewal, continuing education courses, and background check processing are billed separately.

For continuing education, Montana follows the ARRT requirements: 24 approved CE credits every two-year ARRT biennium in topics relevant to radiologic technology.⁸ The Montana license renews annually, but the CE clock runs on ARRT’s two-year cycle.

ARRT runs random audits of CE compliance. If you cannot document the credits you reported, you land on a six-month CE probation running retroactively from the end of your biennium. Ignoring the audit notice can cost you your ARRT certification altogether, which forces a full reinstatement process to get the credentials back.⁹

How ARRT Certification and Your State License Are Linked

ARRT and the Montana Board are separate bodies, but Montana ties them together by requiring ARRT certification as a condition of licensure.³ Earning ARRT credentials does not by itself let you work in Montana; you still need the state license.¹⁰ The reverse is the risky part: if ARRT suspends or revokes your certification, the foundation of your Montana license disappears with it.

ARRT requires technologists to self-report potential ethics violations within 30 days, including criminal charges, actions by other licensing boards, and dismissal from educational programs. Failing to disclose can be treated more seriously than the underlying violation, because it may amount to falsifying a renewal or application.¹¹ Sanctions run from private reprimand up to full revocation.¹²

Practicing Without a License

Working as a radiologic technologist in Montana without proper credentials is a criminal offense. Both the technologist and the employer face a fine of up to $500, and each day of violation counts as a separate offense.¹³ Because the hiring facility shares the exposure, most employers will verify credentials carefully before assigning anyone to x-ray equipment. The Board also has authority to revoke or suspend licenses, impose probation of up to three years, restrict practice, order remedial education, or fine a licensee up to $5,000 per violation.¹⁴

1
Professional Boards & Licensing. Montana Code Title 37 Chapter 14 – Radiologic Technologists
2
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 37-14-301 – Limitation of License Authority – Exemptions
3
Professional Boards & Licensing. Radiologic Technologists Licensure
4
ARRT. Initial Requirements for Earning ARRT Credentials
5
Montana Board of Radiologic Technologists. Licensing Requirements and Application Checklist Radiologic Technologist
6
Cornell Law School. Montana Administrative Rule 24.204.504 – Permits – Practice Limitations
7
eCFR. 21 CFR 900.12 Quality Standards
8
ARRT. Continuing Education and Renewal Questions
9
ARRT. Understanding Continuing Education Audits
10
ARRT. State Licensing
11
ARRT. Reporting Ethics Violations
12
ARRT. Types of Sanctions
13
Professional Boards & Licensing. Montana Code 37-14-323 – Penalty for Violation
14
Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 37-1-312 – Sanctions – Stay – Costs – Stipulations