A passing <a href="/career-guides/attorney/uniform-bar-exam/">UBE</a> score does not always finish a bar application: NCBE notes that some UBE jurisdictions require a separate jurisdiction-specific law component — a test, a course, or both — before they will admit you.
The states our research documents include Texas, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, Missouri, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, New Mexico, Arizona, Alabama, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Montana, with more announced as the NextGen UBE arrives.
Format and timing are set state by state.
What are state-specific law components?
A UBE score travels between adopting jurisdictions, but admission still happens one jurisdiction at a time.
Each UBE jurisdiction independently decides who may sit and be admitted, educational requirements, character and fitness, retake limits, ADA accommodations, local-law components, passing scores and how long incoming scores are accepted.
Local-law components are on that list, and NCBE's UBE page states the requirement plainly: "Some UBE jurisdictions require a pre-admission jurisdiction-specific law component."
The component is where a jurisdiction covers its own law.
Arizona's admissions office, for example, says the Arizona bar exam does not test Arizona law and that the required online Course on Arizona Law covers local law instead.
The names differ — law component, law exam, law course, educational component, course of study — and so does what each one involves.
Who runs the process varies too.
Texas bar admission, for instance, is administered by the Texas Board of Law Examiners under the Supreme Court of Texas' Rules Governing Admission to the Bar — separate from the State Bar of Texas.
Wherever a component is required, that jurisdiction's own admitting authority is the body to confirm it with.
Where the component fits among the other admission gates — the score, the MPRE, character and fitness — is on our bar admission requirements page.
Which jurisdictions require a state law component?
NCBE's answer to the headline question is narrow: some UBE jurisdictions require one, not all.
The table lists the jurisdictions whose admitting-authority pages, court rules or NCBE profile our research recorded a component for, as of October 2026.
It is a record of what those sources said — not a promise that the list is complete or current, because requirements are moving with the NextGen transition.
| Jurisdiction | Component | What the sources record |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | Texas Law Component | Required of every Texas applicant before licensure |
| New York | NYLE + New York Law Course | Exam and UBE-transfer applicants complete the online course, then pass the online exam on New York law (22 NYCRR 520.9) |
| Washington | Washington Law Component | Self-administered online course and test; 80% to pass |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Law Component Examination | Every applicant, including those admitted on motion |
| Missouri | Missouri Educational Component Test (MECT) | Mandatory open-book test on Missouri law for exam applicants |
| Maryland | Maryland Law Component (Rule 19-212) | Every applicant — by exam, UBE transfer or admission without exam; study outlines plus an online open-book test |
| Ohio | Ohio Law Component (Gov.Bar R. I, Sec. 7) | Before admission by exam or UBE transfer; a new timed, closed-book multiple-choice format applies from November 1, 2026 |
| Indiana | Indiana Law Course | Exam admittees complete it within six months after admission |
| New Mexico | A New Mexico-specific component | Pre-admission, in addition to the UBE — the board's own pages our research read do not confirm the name or format |
| Arizona | Course on Arizona Law | Required online course; the bar exam does not test Arizona law |
| Alabama | Online course on Alabama law | Every applicant, exam or UBE transfer; not a scored test |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin law and practice educational component | 21 hours before admission, for UBE takers and UBE-transfer applicants |
| North Carolina | NC State-Specific Component | Multiple-choice exam on Decedents' Estates and Trusts; transfer applicants complete it too |
| South Carolina | Course of Study on South Carolina Law | Taken after filing a complete application |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Law Course | All applicants — exam, UBE transfer, comity and military spouse; covers Tennessee law not tested on the UBE |
| Montana | Montana Law Seminar | Every applicant, whatever the admission route; an online, pre-recorded course on Montana law that earns no CLE credit |
The Texas Law Component shows how one state's version works in practice.
The Texas Board of Law Examiners requires every Texas applicant to complete it before licensure, and the window is wide: exam takers may complete it up to one year before sitting the exam and up to five years after passing.
Lawyers seeking Texas admission without examination — the AWOX route for lawyers licensed elsewhere — must complete the component as well.
The board's pages our research read do not state the component's format or fee, so confirm both with the board; our Texas bar admission page collects the rest of the state's requirements.
More components are arriving with the NextGen UBE.
Between July 2026 and July 2028 most jurisdictions transition from the current exam to the NextGen UBE, and seven UBE jurisdictions — Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, Washington and the Virgin Islands — switched in July 2026.
Among the states with announced plans: Virginia keeps a law component when it switches in July 2028 — a 2-hour, 5-question essay on the afternoon of day two — and plans to require score transferees to sit for the Virginia component.
Florida pairs its July 2028 switch with a Florida Law Component.
Georgia plans a Georgia-specific requirement from July 2028, Delaware lists a jurisdiction-specific requirement for its first NextGen exam in February 2028, and California's July 2028 exam will be the NextGen UBE with no California component on it — one is being designed for no earlier than July 2029.
The other side of the list matters just as much when you are choosing where to send a score.
The sources our research read record no state-specific law component for UBE admission in Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska or Kansas; Colorado records none for the legacy UBE, and Maine records none for exam takers.
Two of these states still attach their own duties: Idaho requires new admittees to take Idaho substantive law CLE within a year, and Alaska requires applicants to view a board-prescribed attorney ethics course and file an affidavit (Bar Rule 64) that they have read the Alaska Rules of Professional Conduct — neither is a law exam or course.
Component lists move — confirm before you rely on one
What format does each component take?
NCBE sorts the requirement into three shapes — a test, a course, or both — and the jurisdictions above use all of them.
The details: delivery, passing standard, even scheduling, are set locally.
- Online courses, no score. Alabama requires every exam and transfer applicant to complete an online course on Alabama law before admission, and the state is explicit that it is not a scored test. Arizona's Course on Arizona Law is likewise a course rather than an exam.
- Open-book tests. Missouri's MECT is a mandatory open-book test on Missouri law. Maryland's component pairs study outlines with an online open-book test of 50 multiple-choice questions — at least 40 of 50 correct in one 90-minute attempt to pass, and retakes are unlimited.
- Timed, closed-book exams. From November 1, 2026, Ohio replaces its component with a timed, closed-book multiple-choice exam: one 2-hour remotely proctored session, offered at least four times a year.
- Standalone exams. Massachusetts requires every applicant, including those admitted on motion, to pass the Massachusetts Law Component Examination. North Carolina's State-Specific Component is a multiple-choice exam on a single subject area, Decedents' Estates and Trusts.
- Course plus test. New York sequences the two — the online New York Law Course first, then the online New York Law Exam. Washington combines a self-administered online course and test with an 80% pass score.
- Credit hours and essays. Wisconsin requires 21 hours of a Wisconsin law and practice educational component — two hours each in six core subjects plus nine elective hours. Virginia's coming component is an essay format: 2 hours, 5 questions.
Even the calendar is local.
North Carolina offers its component in February, May, July and November — at no extra cost alongside the February and July bar exams, and $100 at the May and November administrations.
Ohio's replacement exam will be offered at least four times a year.
For everything else — proctoring, registration, fees — the jurisdiction's admitting authority is the only current source.
When do you complete the law component?
NCBE's word for the requirement is pre-admission: in jurisdictions that require one, the component sits between a passing score and admission.
The clocks around it are set state by state — and one documented version is not pre-admission at all.
Indiana is the exception: exam admittees there must complete the Indiana Law Course within six months after admission, not before it.
North Carolina puts a 12-month limit on its component, counted from the start of the bar exam the applicant passes.
Wisconsin requires its 21 hours before admission but ties them to a 12-month clock — from the passing notification for exam takers, and from filing for transfer applicants.
Where the requirement is pre-admission, the windows can still be wide.
Texas exam takers may complete the Texas Law Component up to one year before the exam and up to five years after passing.
New York ties its components to the exam date: the New York Law Course cannot be completed more than one year before the candidate first sits the UBE, and an NYLE score is valid for three years.
Alabama grants exam takers access to its online course 7–10 days after the bar exam; the state describes that timing as approximate.
Sequencing matters elsewhere too: Arizona's Character and Fitness Committee will not make a final admission decision until the Course on Arizona Law is complete, and South Carolina's course is taken after filing a complete application.
The dates themselves are moving.
Ohio's new format takes effect November 1, 2026; Virginia's essay component arrives with its July 2028 switch; Florida's component starts with the July 2028 exam; California's is slated for no earlier than July 2029.
Career information, not legal advice. Component requirements, formats and deadlines are set jurisdiction by jurisdiction and change — confirm the current rule with the admitting authority in the state where you are applying.