The Roster Directory
States license nurses, attorneys, electricians, plumbers, and dozens of other professions, and the resulting rosters are public records. Most agencies will sell or release the full list under the state records law, usually for a filing fee. This directory maps where each list lives. Use it with our engine, with someone else’s, or with a spreadsheet: the data is public either way.
Every state has a public records law. Licensing agencies are covered by it, and a licensee list (name, license number, type, status, dates, and often county or mailing address) is generally releasable, minus fields the state exempts. You send a written request to the agency’s records custodian, pay the fee if there is one, and receive a file.
Three practical rules. First, check the agency website for a data download or list-purchase page before writing a request: several states publish license files for free. Second, ask for CSV or Excel explicitly, or you may get a PDF. Third, ask the agency to release the releasable fields rather than deny the request if one field is exempt.
To the Records Custodian, [Agency Name]: Under the [state public records law], I request a copy of the current licensee list for the following license types: [RN, LPN / Journeyman Electrician / etc.]. Requested fields, to the extent releasable: full name, license number, license type, license status, original issue date, and county or city of address of record. Preferred format: CSV or Excel, delivered electronically. If fees apply, please advise the amount before fulfilling. If any field is exempt from disclosure, please release the remaining fields rather than denying the request. Thank you, [Name, Company, Contact]
RNs, LPN/LVNs, CNAs, NPs, therapists
Where the list lives
Every state has a Board of Nursing (in a few states, nursing sits inside a larger licensing agency). All maintain complete rosters of every active license.
What to ask for
Request the full licensee list for the license types you recruit: name, license number, type, status, issue date, and county or mailing address where releasable. Ask for CSV or Excel.
Worth knowing
Roughly 40 states participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so one multistate license can work across most of the country. Nursys is a verification tool, not a discovery list: the roster is the discovery list.
Associates, laterals, in-house counsel
Where the list lives
Mandatory-bar states publish member directories through the state bar. In voluntary-bar states, the attorney roll lives with the court system or a registration agency instead.
What to ask for
Admission year, practice status, firm, and county are the fields that matter: admission year is a proxy for class year, section membership is a proxy for practice area.
Worth knowing
Many bars sell mailing lists or member data directly; where they do not, the public directory is searchable and the records law applies to the agency that holds the roll.
Electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, contractors
Where the list lives
About two-thirds of states license major trades at the state level through a licensing department or standalone boards. The rest (see the table) license at the city or county level, where the same records request goes to the municipality.
What to ask for
Request by license class (apprentice, journeyman, master) and status. Issue date matters: new journeyman licenses are recently promoted techs nobody has ever recruited.
Worth knowing
Several states publish license data files for free download. Always check the agency site for a data download page before paying for a records request.
The records law to cite and where trade licensing lives in each state. Nursing rosters: every state maintains one through its Board of Nursing or umbrella licensing agency. Attorney rolls: the state bar in mandatory-bar states, the court system or registration agency elsewhere.
| State | Records law to cite | Trade licensing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama Public Records Law | State electrical + plumbing boards | |
| Alaska | Alaska Public Records Act | Dept. of Commerce (CBPL) | |
| Arizona | Arizona Public Records Law | Registrar of Contractors (ROC) | |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Freedom of Information Act | State licensing boards | |
| California | California Public Records Act | Contractors State License Board (CSLB) | Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) is separate from the LVN board. CSLB license data is public. |
| Colorado | Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) | DORA electrical + plumbing boards | |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Freedom of Information Act | Dept. of Consumer Protection | |
| Delaware | Delaware Freedom of Information Act | Division of Professional Regulation | |
| District of Columbia | DC Freedom of Information Act | DLCP licensing | |
| Florida | Florida Public Records Law (Ch. 119) | DBPR | Florida publishes downloadable licensee data files for many professions at no charge. Start here to learn the format. |
| Georgia | Georgia Open Records Act | Secretary of State licensing boards | |
| Hawaii | Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA) | DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing | |
| Idaho | Idaho Public Records Act | Division of Occupational & Professional Licenses | |
| Illinois | Illinois Freedom of Information Act | Mostly local (plumbers via IDPH) | Nursing licenses sit under IDFPR, not a standalone board. |
| Indiana | Access to Public Records Act (APRA) | Mostly local | |
| Iowa | Iowa Open Records Law | State electrical + plumbing/mechanical boards | |
| Kansas | Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) | Mostly local | |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Open Records Act | HBC (HVAC, electrical, plumbing) | The Kentucky Board of Nursing sells its full licensee roster under open records rules. The play that started this directory. |
| Louisiana | Louisiana Public Records Act | State Licensing Board for Contractors | |
| Maine | Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) | Office of Professional & Occupational Regulation | |
| Maryland | Maryland Public Information Act | Dept. of Labor licensing boards | |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Public Records Law | Division of Occupational Licensure | |
| Michigan | Michigan Freedom of Information Act | LARA | |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Government Data Practices Act | Dept. of Labor & Industry (DLI) | |
| Mississippi | Mississippi Public Records Act | State Board of Contractors | |
| Missouri | Missouri Sunshine Law | Mostly local | |
| Montana | Montana Public Records Act | Dept. of Labor & Industry | |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Public Records Statutes | State Electrical Division | |
| Nevada | Nevada Public Records Act | State Contractors Board | |
| New Hampshire | Right-to-Know Law | Office of Professional Licensure & Certification | |
| New Jersey | Open Public Records Act (OPRA) | Division of Consumer Affairs | |
| New Mexico | Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) | Regulation & Licensing Dept. (CID) | |
| New York | Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) | Mostly local (NYC DOB etc.) | Nursing and most professions license through NYSED Office of the Professions, not a standalone board. Attorney roll is at the court system, not the bar association. |
| North Carolina | North Carolina Public Records Law | Separate state boards (electrical, plumbing, GC) | |
| North Dakota | North Dakota Open Records Statute | State Electrical Board + plumbing board | |
| Ohio | Ohio Public Records Act | OCILB (commercial trades) | Ohio eLicense system exposes license data across boards. |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma Open Records Act | Construction Industries Board (CIB) | |
| Oregon | Oregon Public Records Law | Construction Contractors Board (CCB) | |
| Pennsylvania | Right-to-Know Law | Mostly local | Professional licensing sits under the Bureau of Professional & Occupational Affairs. |
| Rhode Island | Access to Public Records Act (APRA) | Contractors Registration Board + DLT | |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Freedom of Information Act | LLR | |
| South Dakota | South Dakota Open Records Law | State Electrical Commission + plumbing commission | |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Public Records Act | Board for Licensing Contractors | |
| Texas | Texas Public Information Act | TDLR (electricians) + TSBPE (plumbers) | Texas agencies routinely publish or fulfill license data files. TDLR and the Board of Nursing both hold statewide rosters. |
| Utah | GRAMA | DOPL | |
| Vermont | Vermont Public Records Act | Office of Professional Regulation | |
| Virginia | Virginia Freedom of Information Act | DPOR | |
| Washington | Washington Public Records Act | Dept. of Labor & Industries (L&I) | L&I publishes contractor and trade license data for download. |
| West Virginia | West Virginia Freedom of Information Act | Division of Labor | |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin Public Records Law | DSPS | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Public Records Act | State electrical licensing (Fire Prevention) |
Verify process, fees, and releasable fields with each agency before ordering: boards change policies, and some states restrict commercial use of released lists or exempt address fields. Nothing here is legal advice. Spot an error or a state with a great data-download page we should note? Tell us and we will update the directory.
Import the roster, filter to your market, enrich cell phones and personal emails at wholesale provider rates, and hand your recruiters a warm list. The playbooks show the whole roadmap.