The Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, also known as DOPL, is one of seven agencies within the Utah Department of Commerce.

DOPL is legislatively responsible to administer and enforce specific laws related to the licensing and regulation of certain occupations and professions.  The statutes are mostly located in Title 58 of Utah Code.

There are 60 categories of licensing, some with many classifications within each that they oversee.

DOPL reviews an average of over 24,000 new applications and processes approximately 58,000 renewal applications a year.

DOPL has two primary responsibilities:  licensing and investigations. In addition to this DOPL has several independent programs related to their licensing and investigative functions.

They are led by a division director, appointed by the Department of Commerce’s Executive Director, and with the Governor’s approval.

Licensing

There are eight bureaus overseeing the regulation of similar groups of occupations and professions. Each is headed by a “bureau manager” and is assisted by a board secretary, usually two or more licensing specialists, and sometimes, several auditors or other licensing or compliance specialists.  Staff of each bureau processes license applications, questions, and responds to other inquiries for each profession within its respective bureau.

Applicants are required to meet some minimum standards for their respective occupations or professions.  Requirements are developed by the licensing boards and DOPL to determine which applications are reviewed and which applicants are interviewed by the respective boards.  If the board is not involved in either review, clear-cut requirements are evaluated by DOPL’s licensing staff before a license is granted to the applicant.

For more information on a specific license, look at the list below and click to see the respective page at DOPL.

Investigations

DOPL is legislatively responsible to investigate all unlawful and unprofessional practices as detailed in statute or rule that is performed within its regulated occupations and professions.

DOPL’s Bureau of Investigations is comprised of approximately thirty investigators who are trained and experienced in investigative procedures.

DOPL’s investigators often work with the Utah Attorney General’s Office, which provides DOPL with legal assistance for licensure and investigative functions.

When a complaint of unprofessional or unlawful conduct is made, investigative personnel enters the information into a computerized database.  Complaints are not only posted for immediate investigative purposes, but also for analyzing long-term patterns of behavior.  Complaints are confidential in nature and are not generally available to the public. That is an important point to note for our readers here. We are not able to determine if a person has a history of a large number of complaints against them or none. They only share complaints with other governmental agencies, and only if the other agency demonstrates a legal basis for the sharing of the information.

Complaints are reviewed by DOPL’s chief investigator or by an investigative supervisor who determines its priority for investigation.  This means and our experience informs us, that only the most egregious or clear cut proved complaints are investigated and decided. Many valid complaints are dismissed, and to add insult to injury, they post that the person is in good standing with them and has had no complaints when consumers look up their status! We find this to be greatly misleading to consumers!

They state on their website, it can be true in some instances that “DOPL is legally unable to investigate or take action on a complaint due to a lack of authority or jurisdiction.  It may also be determined that the complaint would be better handled by another agency.”

The DOPL website can be found at https://dopl.utah.gov/