Can You Do CLE Online? Online CLE Rules by State

Each state's CLE regulator writes its own format rules, and the states in our research take three broad approaches: letting every required hour happen online, capping how much can be on-demand or self-study, and requiring a set number of hours in person or live.

The approach that applies to you is the one your own state's rule takes — another state's format rule does not substitute for it.

Kansas lets all of its CLE hours be taken online, with no cap on prerecorded programs, and Georgia allows every hour to be completed through approved online programs.

Texas has no in-person requirement, so all 15 hours can be completed online — though at least 12 must be accredited CLE, and no more than 3, including 1 ethics hour, can be self-study.

Oklahoma credits approved online, on-demand, webcast and podcast courses with no annual limit, and Minnesota has placed no cap on approved on-demand CLE since January 1, 2024.

Delaware requires at least 12 of its 24 hours to be earned in person at live courses under Delaware CLE Rule 4(A); senior attorneys have a reduced 12 hours, of which 6 must be in person.

Maine requires a live ethics-and-professionalism hour every year plus one in-person hour on harassment and discrimination, and caps self-study at 5 of its 12 annual hours.

Indiana accepts no self-study or downloaded CLE, and distance courses count only if they are interactive and attendance is verified.

Maryland, Michigan and South Dakota have no mandatory CLE, and the District of Columbia has no general requirement for lawyers once admitted.

DC still assigns its newly admitted lawyers one course, the Mandatory Course on the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct and Practice, which is online and on demand, costs $229, and must be finished within 12 months of swearing in.

Where a state caps on-demand or self-study credit, the cap — not the provider's catalog — decides how many hours an online course can cover.

Each rule below is that state's own; none of them transfers to another state.

The hour totals and reporting periods these caps sit on are in our CLE requirements by state guide.

State	Online, on-demand and self-study rules
Alabama	No credit for self-study; on-demand programs that are not real-time count for no more than 6 of the 12 annual credits, while interactive live webcasts count as live.
Alaska	No cap on recorded or technology-delivered CLE; courses approved by any other mandatory-CLE jurisdiction are automatically approved.
Arizona	Self-study — non-verifiable recorded programs — capped at 5 hours per year; interactive online programs are not capped as self-study.
California	At least 12.5 of the 25 hours must be participatory; up to half may be self-study.
Colorado	Accredited on-demand (homestudy) programs count; non-accredited independent study is capped at 9 general credits per three-year period and earns no professional-responsibility credit.
Connecticut	Self-study, including recorded and online courses, counts with no cap stated in the rule.
Delaware	At least 12 of 24 hours in person at live courses (Delaware CLE Rule 4(A)); senior attorneys: 12 hours including 6 in person.
Georgia	All hours may be completed through approved online programs.
Idaho	No more than 15 of the 30 credits may be self-study (recorded) credits.
Illinois	No cap on recorded or online courses, provided interactivity — such as the chance to ask questions — is a key component.
Indiana	No credit for self-study or downloaded CLE; distance courses count only if interactive with verified attendance.
Kansas	All hours may be taken online; no cap on prerecorded programs.
Louisiana	Lawyers under 65: no more than 4 hours a year of computer-based (online or recorded) CLE. From 2026, lawyers who turn 65 on or after January 1, 2026 complete 5 hours a year until 75, all of which may be online; lawyers 65 before 2026, and all lawyers 75+, are exempt.
Maine	Self-study capped at 5 of 12 annual hours; the harassment-and-discrimination hour must be attended in person unless the CLE Committee pre-approves live-streaming for good cause.
Minnesota	No cap on approved on-demand CLE since January 1, 2024; the earlier 30-credit limit applies only to courses reported before 2024.
Mississippi	Online, telephone and recorded/satellite CLE capped at 6 hours per year; no credit for self-study otherwise.
Missouri	Up to 6 hours a year of self-study, including on-demand video and audio; it cannot satisfy the ethics or bias hours and does not count toward carryover.
Montana	At least 10 of 15 hours from interactive seminars; no more than 5 from other methods.
Nebraska	Computer-based CLE capped at 5 of the 10 annual hours.
New Jersey	At least half of credits must be earned live; on-demand and other alternative verifiable learning formats are capped at half, except that lawyers who neither live nor work in a mandatory-CLE state may do all credits that way.
New Mexico	All 12 credits may be self-study (on-demand or pre-recorded) as of January 1, 2024.
New York	Newly admitted attorneys cannot count self-study, recorded or online formats toward transitional credit unless the regulations or the CLE Board permit it.
Oklahoma	Approved online, on-demand, webcast and podcast CLE counts with no annual limit.
Pennsylvania	Distance-learning credit capped at 6 hours per compliance period, and distance credits do not carry forward.
Tennessee	Hours may be earned in person or by distance learning, with no cap stated in Rule 21.
Texas	No in-person requirement — all 15 hours may be completed online; at least 12 must be accredited CLE and up to 3, including 1 ethics hour, may be self-study.
Utah	At least 6 of 12 hours must be verified live CLE — in person, remote group, or verified e-CLE; the other 6 can be self-study.
Vermont	At least 12 of 24 hours must be moderated or interactive programming; no more than 6 may be non-moderated programming without interactivity.
Virginia	Only 8 of 12 hours may come from pre-recorded programs, and 4 live-interactive hours are required.
West Virginia	No more than half of the required hours may come from pre-recorded presentations without an interactive component.
Wisconsin	Pre-approved repeated on-demand programs count; wellness topics are capped at 6 hours and law practice management at 6 hours per reporting period.
Wyoming	Self-study (on-demand, pre-recorded) capped at 8 hours a year, and self-study hours above 8 cannot be carried forward.

Accreditation is where provider choice gets state-specific.

Alaska automatically approves courses that any other mandatory-CLE jurisdiction has approved.

Arizona does not pre-approve CLE providers or programs at all — lawyers self-certify compliance by affidavit.

New Hampshire courses no longer need pre- or post-approval.

In Colorado, lawyers enter their own credits and sponsors do not report attendance, while Minnesota's Board of Continuing Legal Education collects attorney reports online through OASIS.

The District of Columbia has no CLE accreditation body, so there are no DC reporting deadlines, carry-over rules or on-demand caps to work around.

The checks that matter are about delivery, not branding.

Match the format to your state's definition of live: Alabama counts interactive live webcasts as live, and Utah accepts in-person sessions, remote group courses or verified e-CLE toward its verified hours, but Illinois requires interactivity to be a key component of recorded and online courses, and Indiana verifies attendance.

Then keep your own records — Connecticut attorneys must keep CLE records for 7 years, and New Hampshire lawyers must keep certificates of attendance for 2 years after the reporting year closes.

An unlimited subscription sells a catalog of on-demand courses for a flat price.

The catalog is not the constraint — your state's cap is, because hours beyond it do not count toward your requirement.

Kansas, Oklahoma, Alaska and Illinois set no cap on recorded or online formats (Illinois keeps its interactivity condition), Connecticut and Tennessee state no cap in their rules, and Minnesota and New Mexico dropped theirs as of January 1, 2024.

In those states, no format cap stands between your requirement and an online catalog.

In capped states the math inverts.

Texas counts at most 3 self-study hours, Louisiana's under-65 lawyers count 4 computer-based hours a year, Virginia credits 8 of 12 hours from pre-recorded programs, Pennsylvania allows 6 distance-learning hours per compliance period, Missouri 6 of self-study, Wyoming 8, Nebraska 5 of 10 computer-based, and Maine 5 of 12.

Format-mix minimums bind separately: Montana requires at least 10 of 15 hours from interactive seminars, Vermont at least 12 of 24 from moderated or interactive programming, and New Jersey at least half of its credits live — an on-demand library alone cannot cover those states' requirements.

Two more mechanics decide what surplus hours are worth.

Carryover can strand them: Wyoming will not carry self-study hours above 8 forward, Pennsylvania does not carry distance credits forward, and Missouri's self-study does not count toward carryover.

And in self-certification states the paperwork is yours — Colorado lawyers enter their own credits because sponsors do not report attendance, and Arizona lawyers self-certify by affidavit — so it is worth knowing whether a provider reports attendance for you.

A bar can keep offering programming even where CLE is voluntary: in South Dakota, where CLE is not required, the State Bar of South Dakota provides live and online programming for members.

Career information, not legal advice. Online, on-demand and self-study rules are set by each state's CLE regulator — confirm the current rule with the regulator in your state before you book hours.