The states without mandatory CLE, as of our October 2026 research into each jurisdiction's CLE rules, are Maryland, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington, D.C. — with one catch: newly admitted D.C. lawyers must still complete a mandatory course.
Massachusetts is widely reported to require no CLE hours, but we could not confirm that against a primary source.
Below: the full list, the new-admittee exceptions, and the multi-state caveats.
The list: states without mandatory CLE
Four jurisdictions had no general CLE requirement for lawyers in the research behind this page, which draws on the regulator and bar pages we read in October 2026:
- Maryland. No mandatory CLE. The Supreme Court of Maryland studied the idea — a workgroup reported on June 16, 2023 — and on April 28, 2025 postponed consideration of both mandatory CLE and mandatory reporting of voluntary CLE until further notice. Lawyers' recurring license obligations there are the annual Client Protection Fund assessment and the annual pro bono and IOLTA reports, not hours.
- Michigan. No mandatory CLE for attorneys as of 2026. The Michigan Law Basics course bar applicants complete is a pre-admission requirement, not CLE — more on that below.
- South Dakota. CLE is not required to keep a law license; the State Bar of South Dakota describes the state as a non-mandatory CLE state.
- Washington, D.C. No general mandatory CLE requirement — and no CLE accreditation body at all, so there are no D.C. reporting deadlines, carry-over rules or on-demand caps. The one requirement attached to admission is covered in the next section.
Massachusetts is the boundary case.
It is widely reported to have no mandatory CLE hours, but the primary source our research needed was not readable when we checked (October 2026), so we cannot confirm the state's status here.
What is verified: the state's new-admittee Practicing with Professionalism course was repealed effective August 14, 2024.
Every other jurisdiction's CLE rule is its own — hours, cycle lengths and named sub-credits are set state by state.
Our CLE requirements by state guide lists what we verified for each one — Massachusetts appears there as "not verified" for the same reason.
No-CLE lists go stale — verify with the regulator
New-admittee exceptions: when no-CLE states still require a course
"No mandatory CLE" governs lawyers already licensed.
For people coming through the door, two of the four no-mandate jurisdictions still put a required course in front of new admittees — and a third repealed its course in 2024:
- Washington, D.C. Newly admitted lawyers must complete the Mandatory Course on the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct and Practice (DC Bar Rule II, Section 2). It is online and on demand, costs $229, and must be finished within 12 months of swearing in — otherwise the lawyer faces administrative suspension. Special Legal Consultants are exempt.
- Michigan. The Michigan Law Basics online training — $129 from August 1, 2026 — is required of every applicant, whether taking the exam, transferring a UBE score or applying without exam. It is an admission requirement, not ongoing CLE: once you are licensed, no CLE hours attach, because Michigan had no attorney CLE mandate as of 2026.
- Massachusetts. The SJC repealed the Practicing with Professionalism course for new admittees effective August 14, 2024, concluding that a mandatory course is no longer the best way to help newly admitted attorneys transition into practice.
- South Dakota. We did not find any new-admittee course requirement on the pages we read, and our state research lists the question as open — check with the State Bar of South Dakota before assuming a new South Dakota license carries no course at all.
Mandatory-CLE states run first-year rules of their own.
New York requires 32 transitional credits across a new admittee's first two years.
Ohio exempts new lawyers from regular CLE for their first biennial period but requires 12 hours of New Lawyers Training.
Illinois requires a Basic Skills Course — at least 6 professional-responsibility hours plus 9 more CLE hours, 15 total — by the last day of the month one year after admission.
Those first-year tracks have their own mechanics: CLE for newly admitted attorneys covers them state by state.
Why these states skip mandatory CLE
Where the record in these jurisdictions explains itself, it is a series of formal looks at a mandate that stopped short — or, in Massachusetts' case, one requirement that was rolled back:
- Maryland. A Supreme Court of Maryland workgroup reported on mandatory CLE on June 16, 2023. The Court voted on December 19, 2024 to continue considering the question, and weighed an alternative — requiring lawyers to report their voluntary CLE — before postponing consideration of both options on April 28, 2025 until further notice. The question there is parked, not answered.
- Michigan. In 2025–26 the Michigan Judges Association urged the Supreme Court and the State Bar of Michigan to adopt a CLE requirement; the State Bar Board took no action, and its board minutes record the officers telling the Chief Justice that any MCLE decision should be data-driven.
- Massachusetts. When the SJC repealed its new-admittee course, it gave a reason: a mandatory course is no longer the best way to help newly admitted attorneys transition into practice. The state's competence expectation sits in Comment [8] to Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1: lawyers should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including technology, and engage in continuing study and education. That is an ethical expectation, not an hours requirement.
Two structural notes round out the picture.
D.C. runs no machinery: it has no CLE accreditation body, so there is nothing to report to and no credit system to police.
And a mandatory bar is a separate question from a CLE mandate — the D.C. Bar, the State Bar of Michigan and the State Bar of South Dakota are all mandatory bars whose members face no general CLE requirement.
In South Dakota, CLE itself sits on the voluntary side: the State Bar describes the state as non-mandatory but still provides live and online CLE programming for members.
Multi-state licensees: a no-CLE home state covers one license only
Hold licenses in a no-CLE state and a mandatory-CLE state, and each license answers to its own state's rule.
How the mandatory states treat compliance earned somewhere else splits three ways in the rules we read:
- No credit for foreign compliance. Kansas does not accept other states' CLE compliance as reciprocal.
- Exemption, by rule or on request. Alabama exempts lawyers who live and keep their principal office in another mandatory-CLE state and comply with that state's CLE — except reporting and the professionalism course. Tennessee non-residents who comply with CLE in another approved U.S. jurisdiction can request an annual exemption.
- A different first-year track for experienced admits. Illinois lets lawyers who practised at least one year of the prior three in another state skip the Basic Skills requirement, completing 15 CLE hours — including 4 professional-responsibility hours — in their first year instead.
Inside the no-mandate jurisdictions themselves there is no CLE to report, but other recurring items still come due.
D.C. has no CLE accreditation body, so there are no reporting deadlines or carry-over rules, and Maryland's recurring items — the annual Client Protection Fund assessment plus the annual pro bono and IOLTA reports — come due whether or not a single CLE hour exists.
If you are weighing where a second license is worth carrying, being licensed in multiple states walks through that decision, and the admission mechanics sit in bar reciprocity and admission on motion.
Career information, not legal advice. CLE rules are set jurisdiction by jurisdiction and do change — confirm your current obligations with the CLE regulator or state bar that administers them where you are licensed: the Supreme Court of Maryland, the State Bar of Michigan, the State Bar of South Dakota, the D.C. Bar, or the Board of Bar Overseers in Massachusetts.