Maine State Requirements

You must obtain a Pharmacy Technician License from the Maine Board of Pharmacy before performing pharmacy technician duties or beginning technician training. Note that a pending application does not authorize you to work. Maine offers one standard pharmacy technician license rather than separate trainee and certified tiers. A separate Certificate of Administration is available to technicians who qualify to administer vaccines.

An unlicensed employee may perform limited support activities such as stocking shelves, processing insurance claims, gathering demographic information, delivering completed prescriptions, and performing customer checkout. Duties such as prescription data entry, accepting prescriptions, selecting medications, counting, packaging, and labeling require an active pharmacy technician license.

A pharmacy technician is defined as someone employed by a pharmacy in a supportive role. Applicants must therefore have pharmacy employment, and a technician who is no longer employed as a pharmacy technician cannot renew the license.

Maine does not set a minimum age for a standard pharmacy technician license. Employers or training programs may set their own age requirements.

Maine does not require a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent qualification for pharmacy technician licensure.

Maine does not require applicants to complete a particular pharmacy technician training program or a specified number of training hours before obtaining the standard license. Employers are responsible for ensuring that pharmacy technicians are adequately trained for the duties they perform.

Note that PTCB or NHA/ExCPT certification is not required to obtain or renew a Maine Pharmacy Technician License. Maine does not offer a separate state-certified technician tier based on national certification.

Applicants must complete a criminal background check as part of the licensing process. The current State Bureau of Identification background-check fee is $21. The standard application requirements do not list fingerprint submission as a separate requirement.

Applications may be submitted online through the Maine Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation’s online licensing system. A paper Pharmacy Technician License application is also available from the Board.

The Pharmacy Technician License fee is $20, and the criminal-background-check fee is $21, resulting in a standard initial cost of $41.

Pharmacy technician licenses are renewed annually. The Board’s current licensing overview states that renewal is due at the end of the month based on the technician’s original licensure date. Confirm the precise expiration date displayed on your individual license.

There is currently no annual pharmacy technician renewal fee. A $50 late fee applies when a license is renewed after its expiration date. Late renewal is permitted for up to 90 days; after that period, the technician must apply again as a new applicant.

The 90-day late-renewal period does not authorize a technician to continue working. Pharmacy technician duties cannot be performed after the license expires and before renewal is completed.

Under 32 M.R.S. § 13831.6, enacted through Maine Public Law 2023, Chapter 245, a pharmacy technician may administer vaccines after obtaining a separate Board-issued Certificate of Administration. You must hold an unrestricted Maine Pharmacy Technician License, complete at least six hours of Board-approved vaccine-administration training, maintain qualifying cardiovascular life-support certification, and work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist who is authorized to administer vaccines. Note that national certification through PTCB or NHA is not required for vaccine administration.

The Board’s current pharmacy-technician vaccine-administration application lists no application fee for the Certificate of Administration. Note that pharmacy technicians are not authorized to administer vaccines while the certificate application is pending.