(1) Unless exempt pursuant to section 10-2-403, a resident individual applying for an insurance producer license shall pass a written examination. The examination shall reasonably test the individual applicant's minimum acceptable level of competence as to the particular line or lines of authority for which the individual applicant seeks qualification, unless an individual applicant has been licensed as an insurance producer for the same line or lines of authority in another state within the twelve months immediately preceding the date of receipt of application and files with the commissioner a letter of clearance, issued by the public official having supervision of insurance in the applicant's former state of residence, stating the individual held a license for the same line or lines of authority during such twelve-month period and that the license was in good standing.

(2) Examination for licensing shall be held at such reasonable times and places as are designated by the commissioner, and such times and places shall be made public.

(3) (a) Each individual applying for an examination shall remit a nonrefundable fee as prescribed by the commissioner in accordance with section 10-2-413.

(b) The application for examination shall request the applicant to provide the following information:

(I) The applicant's name, age, residence address, business address, and mailing address;

(II) The name of any required prelicensing course he or she has completed or is in the process of completing;

(III) The method by which the applicant intends to qualify for the license if other than completing a prelicensing course;

(IV) The highest level of education achieved by the applicant; and

(V) The applicant's gender, native language, and race or ethnicity; except that the application shall contain a statement that an applicant is not required to disclose his or her gender, native language, or race or ethnicity, that he or she will not be penalized for not doing so, and that the department will use this information exclusively for research and statistical purposes and to improve the quality and fairness of the examinations.

(c) No later than six months after August 5, 2008, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall prepare and publish a report that summarizes statistical information relating to insurance producer examinations administered during the preceding calendar year. The report shall include the following information for all examinees combined and separately by race or ethnicity, gender, race or ethnicity within gender, education level, and native language:

(I) The total number of examinees;

(II) The percentage and number of examinees who passed the examination;

(III) The mean scaled scores on the examination; and

(IV) Standard deviation of scaled scores on the examination.

(d) If the commissioner arranges to have the examinations for licensure administered by an independent testing service pursuant to section 10-2-402 (5), the commissioner may provide demographic information to the testing service if the commissioner requires the independent examiner to review and analyze examination results in conjunction with the gender, native language, education level, and race or ethnicity of the examinees.

(4) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2001, p. 1195, § 9, effective January 1, 2002.)

(5) The commissioner shall give, conduct, and grade all examinations, or the commissioner may arrange to have examinations administered and graded by an independent testing service, as specified by contract, in a fair and impartial manner and without discrimination as to individuals examined. The commissioner may arrange for such testing service to recover the cost of the examination from the applicant.

(6) There shall be a separate portion of the examination required for each line of insurance which the applicant proposes to transact under the license.

(7) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2001, p. 1195, § 9, effective January 1, 2002.)

(8) An individual who fails to pass an examination shall remit the required fee and any forms required to retake the failed examination.

(9) An individual who fails to appear for a scheduled examination shall remit the required fee and any forms required to reapply to take the examination.

(10) Applicants for life, health coverages, property, or casualty examinations shall comply with prelicensure education requirements as prescribed in section 10-2-201 prior to taking the written examination.

(11) An insurance producer license issued on or before January 1, 2002, for health maintenance organizations ("HMO") or nonprofits may be renewed or continued until the licensee fails to meet the requirements of this part 4.