Overview

The mission of the Division of Professional Regulation (DPR) is to ensure protection of the public’s health, safety and welfare. Our services benefit the citizens of Delaware, professional licensees, license applicants, other state and national agencies, and private organizations.

DPR provides regulatory oversight for 34 boards/commissions comprised of Governor-appointed public and professional members. Oversight activities include administrative, investigative and fiscal support for 54 professions, trades and events with over 200 types of licenses and permits.

License fees fund DPR and the expenditures related to each licensing board.

Key Objectives

• Assist applicants seeking licensure throughout the licensure process.
• Issue and renew licenses for qualified professionals and business entities.
• Maintain a licensing database to provide the public with vital licensure information, to notify licensees of renewal periods and continuing education requirements and to help other state and federal agencies in accomplishing their missions.
• Answer inquiries from the public, other state and national agencies and private organizations about Delaware-licensed professionals.
• Investigate complaints from the public who receive services from licensed professionals.
• Partner with the Attorney General’s Office to coordinate complaint disposition and disciplinary proceedings in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act.
• Oversee all board/commission activities to ensure that testing, licensing, disciplinary proceedings, rule-making and other regulatory activities are efficiently completed and comply with the Delaware Code and applicable rules and regulations.
• Assist boards and commissions during Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee review and with compliance with its recommendations.

Key Activities

The number of active licenses exceeds 85,000. On average, DPR issues over 11,000 new licenses and renews over 30,000 licenses each year. In addition, DPR receives over 900 complaints and conducts over 600 investigations each year.