The Six-Tier Source Hierarchy Behind Every Page
Every state-and-profession walkthrough on verificationlicense.org/ is built from the same evidence stack — issuing authority first, federal regulators and statutes second, state practice acts third, national association sources fourth, federal verification platforms fifth, reputable press and research sixth. This page names the actual sources and explains how each tier is used.
What’s on this page
- Why we publish a hierarchy
- Tier 1 — Issuing authorities
- Tier 2 — Federal statutes & regs
- Tier 3 — State practice acts
- Tier 4 — National associations
- Tier 5 — Federal verification platforms
- Tier 6 — Press & research
- State public-records statutes
- Federal regulations cited
- Update cycle
- Quality assurance
- Corrections
1. Why We Publish a Hierarchy
U.S. license verification is decentralized. The same profession is regulated by different boards, under different statutes, with different lookup interfaces in every state. Information about a single license type appears on hundreds of different official sites, with hundreds more adjacent association and policy sources. Without a clear hierarchy, it’s easy to publish content that sounds authoritative but is sourced from a third-party summary that itself misread the agency page.
The six-tier hierarchy below is how we decide what to trust as the source of truth. Tier 1 always wins for portal URLs, current procedures, current contacts, and lookup procedures. Lower tiers are useful for context but are never the sole basis for a current portal URL or lookup procedure.
Issuing Authorities — Source of Truth
The official .gov portals run by the state boards and federal agencies that actually issue and verify licenses. These are the source of truth for portal URLs, current procedures, fees, processing times, and on-screen field labels.
| Source | What we use it for | URL |
|---|---|---|
| State licensing boards (50 states + DC + territories) | State-issued professional and occupational licenses — primary source | Linked on each state-and-profession page |
| FAA Airman Inquiry | Pilot, flight instructor, and mechanic certificates | FAA Airman Inquiry |
| USCG National Maritime Center | Merchant Mariner Credential verification | dco.uscg.mil/nmc |
| DEA Diversion Control | DEA registration verification (paid through approved providers) | deadiversion.usdoj.gov |
| FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) | FCC radio operator and station licenses | FCC ULS |
| FMCSA SAFER | Motor-carrier USDOT and MC numbers | safer.fmcsa.dot.gov |
| ATF Federal Firearms License system | Federal Firearms Licenses | atf.gov/firearms |
Federal Statutes and Regulations
The federal legal framework that affects license verification — FCRA, HIPAA, CFAA, federal aviation/maritime/controlled-substance regulations.
| Authority | Subject | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| FCRA — Fair Credit Reporting Act | Consumer reporting; “permissible purposes” for employment, tenant, credit, insurance use | 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. |
| HIPAA — Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act | Healthcare privacy; PHI handling rules | 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164 |
| COPPA | Online services collecting data from children under 13 | 15 U.S.C. §§6501–6506; 16 C.F.R. Part 312 |
| Computer Fraud and Abuse Act | Unauthorized access to computer systems | 18 U.S.C. §1030 |
| FAA regulations | Airman certification framework | 14 C.F.R. |
| USCG mariner credential regulations | Merchant mariner credentialing | 46 C.F.R. |
| DEA controlled-substance regulations | Practitioner registration framework | 21 C.F.R. |
| FTC Endorsement Guides | Affiliate disclosure requirements for site references | 16 C.F.R. Part 255 |
State Practice Acts and Administrative Rules
Every regulated profession is governed by a state practice act (statute) and the issuing board’s administrative rules. These are where scope of practice, license categories, status terminology, and discipline procedures are defined.
State public-records statutes also apply to licensing-board records (with carve-outs for confidential applicant materials):
| State | Public-records statute |
|---|---|
| Texas | Texas Public Information Act — Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 552 |
| California | California Public Records Act — Cal. Gov’t Code §7920 et seq. |
| Florida | Florida Public Records Law — F.S. Ch. 119 |
| New York | New York Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) — N.Y. Pub. Off. Law §§84–90 |
| Illinois | Illinois Freedom of Information Act — 5 ILCS 140 |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law — 65 Pa. Cons. Stat. §67.101 et seq. |
| Ohio | Ohio Public Records Act — Ohio Rev. Code §149.43 |
| Georgia | Georgia Open Records Act — O.C.G.A. §50-18-70 et seq. |
National Associations of State Boards
National associations that aggregate state-board information, administer compacts, develop exams, and publish governance trends.
| Association | Profession | URL |
|---|---|---|
| NCSBN | Nursing — administers NLC and the NCLEX exam | ncsbn.org |
| FSMB | Medical — Federation of State Medical Boards; administers IMLC support and DocInfo | fsmb.org |
| NASBA | Accountancy — National Association of State Boards of Accountancy | nasba.org |
| NCEES | Engineering & Surveying — National Council of Examiners | ncees.org |
| NCARB | Architecture — National Council of Architectural Registration Boards | ncarb.org |
| NABP | Pharmacy — National Association of Boards of Pharmacy | nabp.pharmacy |
| CLEAR | Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation — multi-profession | clearhq.org |
Federal Verification Platforms and Specialty Certification
National lookup tools and specialty certification bodies.
| Source | What it covers | URL |
|---|---|---|
| NPI Registry / NPPES | National Provider Identifier for healthcare providers | npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov |
| FINRA BrokerCheck | Securities brokers and firms | brokercheck.finra.org |
| NMLS Consumer Access | Mortgage loan originators | nmlsconsumeraccess.org |
| SAM.gov | Federal contractor and entity registration | sam.gov |
| NPDB | National Practitioner Data Bank — adverse-action data on practitioners (restricted access) | npdb.hrsa.gov |
| HHS OCR | HIPAA enforcement; healthcare civil-rights complaints | hhs.gov/ocr |
| ABMS | American Board of Medical Specialties — physician specialty certification | abms.org |
| ABA | American Bar Association — legal-specialty information; state bar directories | americanbar.org |
Reputable Press and Peer-Reviewed Research
Used for context and background. Never the sole source for a current portal URL or procedure.
- Reputable U.S. legal and professional trade press
- State bar journals’ professional-licensing sections
- Peer-reviewed regulatory research
- State-level press for licensure stories
Federal Regulations Most Frequently Cited
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. | FCRA — Fair Credit Reporting Act |
| 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 & 164 | HIPAA implementing regulations |
| 14 C.F.R. | FAA aviation regulations |
| 46 C.F.R. | USCG mariner credential regulations |
| 21 C.F.R. | DEA controlled-substance regulations |
| 16 C.F.R. Part 312 | COPPA implementing regulations |
| 16 C.F.R. Part 255 | FTC Endorsement Guides |
| 18 U.S.C. §1030 | Computer Fraud and Abuse Act |
Update Cycle
| Content | Review interval |
|---|---|
| State licensing-board verification portal URLs | Quarterly |
| Federal verification portals (FAA, USCG, DEA, FCC, etc.) | Quarterly |
| Practice acts and administrative rules | Annually + on legislative session |
| License renewal fees and CE requirements | Annually + on rule revision |
| Federal regulations | On Federal Register update |
| Interstate compact participation | Annually |
| External links sitewide | Quarterly |
Quality Assurance
- Two-editor sign-off before publication for every state-and-profession page
- Live sample-search verification before publication
- Quarterly link-rot check across all external links
- Annual statute citation re-verification on legislative session
- Reader-reported corrections logged and addressed within seven business days
- “Last reviewed” date on every page reflects most recent verification
Corrections
If a source on this page is wrong, outdated, or missing, please email info@verificationlicense.org with the subject line “Sources correction” and what you believe should be changed.
Read the Full Editorial Methodology
The seven-step verification process, AI policy, and corrections workflow are on the Editorial Policy.
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