Texas MCLE Requirements: Hours, Reporting, and Exemptions

To keep an active Texas law license, you must complete 15 hours of continuing legal education every compliance year, and 3 of those hours have to cover legal ethics or professional responsibility. The Texas MCLE requirements are administered by the State Bar of Texas, and the entire calendar — deadlines, grace period, late fees, and suspension — runs off your birth month rather than the calendar year.¹

The 15 Hours, Broken Down

At least 12 of the 15 hours must come from accredited participatory CLE. Up to 3 hours can come from self-study, and of those self-study hours, no more than 1 can count toward the ethics minimum.² Ethics coverage can include substance abuse and mental health topics as they relate to legal practice.¹

Participatory credit is broad. Live seminars, live webinars, on-demand online courses, and teaching or presenting at an accredited CLE program all qualify. Texas has no in-person attendance requirement — all 15 hours can be earned online.³ Self-study covers independent activities like reading legal articles or listening to recorded presentations.

If you earn more than 15 hours in a year, you can carry up to 15 hours forward into the next compliance year, including up to 3 ethics hours.⁴

Your Compliance Year and Grace Period

Your compliance year is a 12-month cycle that starts on the first day of your birth month and ends on the last day of the month before your birth month the following year. An attorney born in September has a compliance year that runs September 1 through August 31.⁵

Your birth month itself functions as an automatic grace period. Any hours completed and reported by the last day of your birth month satisfy the prior year without penalty. In the September example, that means until September 30.⁶ The grace period is your birth month, not an extra month tacked on after it. Once your birth month ends, penalties start.

Newly Licensed Attorneys

Your first compliance period is 24 months, not 12. It begins on the first day of the birth month after your licensing date and ends two years later on the last day of the month before your birth month. CLE credits earned between your licensing date and the start of that first compliance year count toward the initial 15-hour requirement.³

Reporting Hours

Hours are reported through the My Bar Page portal on the State Bar of Texas website. For each course you’ll need the nine-digit course number assigned by the accredited sponsor, the completion date, and the split between general and ethics hours. The course number is normally printed on the certificate of attendance.³

Reporting is on you. The State Bar does not track or file hours for its members.⁷ After submitting, check that your status shows as compliant in the system.

Late Fees and Suspension

If your 15 hours are not completed and reported by the end of your birth month, the State Bar assesses fees on a sliding scale based on when the hours are received:

$100 within one month after your birth month
$200 within two months after your birth month
$300 any time after that, up until suspension³

An attorney who is still non-compliant is automatically suspended on the last business day of the fourth month after their birth month. A suspended attorney cannot practice law in Texas until all outstanding hours are completed and every owed fee and penalty is paid.⁸

Exemptions and Reduced Requirements

Some attorneys qualify for exemptions or reduced requirements, but none of these apply automatically. You have to contact the MCLE Department to request them.⁹

Attorneys on inactive status under the State Bar Act are exempt while inactive. Returning to active status brings back the standard obligation.¹
Emeritus members qualify if they are at least 70 years old, an active or inactive member in good standing, and have filed a written request for emeritus enrollment.¹⁰
State and federal judges may claim a judicial exemption.⁹
Full-time faculty at ABA-accredited or Texas Supreme Court-approved law schools can request a 15-hour allowance covering the general credit portion. The 3 ethics hours are still required.
Part-time faculty at qualifying law schools can request a 12-hour allowance on the same terms, and still owe the 3 ethics hours.⁹
Attorneys serving in the armed forces in a designated combat zone can file a hardship exemption form waiving both membership dues and MCLE requirements for the duration of service.¹¹

The faculty categories are allowances, not full exemptions. Ethics hours remain due every compliance year.

1
Supreme Court of Texas. State Bar Rules Article XII – Minimum Continuing Legal Education
2
State Bar of Texas. Definition of MCLE Credit
3
State Bar of Texas. MCLE Requirements and FAQs for Newly Licensed Attorneys
4
State Bar of Texas. About Reporting Your MCLE Hours
5
State Bar of Texas. Definition of Compliance Year
6
State Bar of Texas. Report Your MCLE Hours
7
State Bar of Texas. Minimum Continuing Legal Education
8
Supreme Court of Texas. Order Suspending Attorneys Pursuant to Article XII
9
State Bar of Texas. MCLE Exemptions
10
State of Texas. Texas Government Code GOV’T 81.052
11
Supreme Court of Texas. Order Regarding the Waiver of State Bar of Texas Dues