If you are a licensed professional, you should know that arrests on criminal charges, especially for felony charges, can lead to disciplinary action against you by your professional licensing board. If you are in this situation, an experienced professional license defense attorney at Bertolino LLP will work to keep you informed of your rights and responsibilities when you become subject to a disciplinary proceedings as a result of a felony arrest.
Licensing Board Rules
Each profession has a state licensing board or agency that issues rules that professionals must follow to maintain their licenses. That board also enforces laws passed by the state legislature that affect the various professional licenses. These rules and laws typically guide professionals about criminal misconduct, including arrests, criminal charges, and criminal convictions.
While the rules and laws for each profession vary widely, criminal activity, whether it involves an arrest, criminal charge, or criminal conviction, can impact your ability to obtain or remain a licensed professional. For instance, if a professional is arrested for a felony criminal charge, some licensing boards will consider whether the applicant continues to be suitable for licensing. In other words, disciplinary proceedings may ensue even if a professional is merely arrested, even if they are never criminally charged or convicted. Licensing boards are often authorized to look at the underlying criminal conduct when considering disciplinary action, not just the outcome of any criminal case.
For instance, many professions, including attorneys and certified public accountants (CPAs), have rules or laws that require a licensee to maintain a good moral character. A history of behavior that leads to an arrest thus can form the basis for disciplinary action.
The nature of the conduct that led to the arrest also can affect licensing in some professions, which have laws or rules that make certain types of behavior impermissible. For example, many professions list illegal drug usage as grounds for disciplinary action. Therefore, an arrest for possessing illegal drugs could lead to a board filing disciplinary action against a licensee, regardless of the outcome of the arrest.
Likewise, some rules and laws governing professions target specific types of crimes that are closely related to the duties of the profession at issue. For instance, if you are a doctor, prescribing narcotics for family members or non-patients could result in disciplinary action, as the ability to prescribe medications is a core function of a doctor.
Finally, the severity of the arrest and any subsequent criminal charges can impact the potential for disciplinary action by your licensing board. For some professions, an arrest, charge, or conviction for any felony criminal offense is sufficient to result in discipline. Other professions require a loss of licensure only for certain felony convictions.
Felony Arrests and Your Nursing License
Neither the Nursing Practice Act nor the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) rules require that a licensed nurse report a minor misdemeanor arrest or provide documentation of misdemeanor convictions unless required by BON. However, licensed nurses must report all felony arrests. The failure of a licensed nurse to report a felony arrest can be an independent ground for disciplinary action by BON, aside from any disciplinary action that can occur because of the underlying criminal offense.
Furthermore, all licensed nurses must renew their licenses every two years. Nurses must disclose all criminal history, including convictions, pending charges, and arrests when renewing their licenses. Therefore, one way or another, a licensed nurse must report all arrests to BON.
22 Tex. Admin. Code § 213.28 permits the BON to take disciplinary action against a licensed nurse if they are convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision or deferred disposition for a felony directly related to the practice of nursing. Licensed nurses can also face BON disciplinary action if the underlying offense involves moral turpitude directly related to nursing practice.
BON considers various felony offenses to relate to the practice of nursing, including crimes involving fraud or theft, sexual misconduct, lying, falsification, deception, drugs and alcohol, and violent or threatening behavior. The BON specifically names several felonies as grounds for license revocation and/or other disciplinary actions. However, BON notes that it may still determine that other offenses besides those listed directly relate to the nursing profession.
Nonetheless, BON rules are clear that not every felony arrest or offense will automatically result in disciplinary action. If a nurse has a conviction for a felony offense wholly unrelated to nursing practice, then a nurse potentially could escape discipline or at least experience only minor disciplinary action.
Felony Arrests and Your Medical License
The Texas Medical Board (TMB) requires doctors and other medical professionals to report any criminal convictions or adjudications when renewing their licenses. However, under the Texas Medical Practice Act, found at 22 Tex. Admin. Code §180.1, unprofessional or dishonorable conduct likely to injure the public or likely to deceive or defraud the public is grounds for disciplinary action. In many cases, if credible evidence indicates that a licensee engaged in some criminal activity, it may constitute impermissible unprofessional or dishonorable conduct.
For example, the Act specifically lists “engaging in sexually inappropriate contact or behavior directed towards a patient, patient’s family, other licensees, hospital personnel, or other medical personnel in a medical setting” as an example of unprofessional or dishonorable conduct likely to injure the public. Another example of relevant conduct includes “behaving in an abusive or assaultive manner towards a patient or the patient’s family or representatives.”
Like BON, the TMB focuses on the conduct underlying the criminal offense, not whether the licensee is necessarily charged with or convicted of a crime. Disciplinary action can stem from a conviction, deferred adjudication, community supervision, or deferred disposition for any felony.
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Allow Bertolino LLP to Help You with Your Professional Disciplinary Case
Understanding the implications of a felony arrest for a licensed professional can be critical to your future. Disciplinary proceedings based on your arrest can result in negative consequences, including the suspension or revocation of your professional license. When you face disciplinary proceedings, you need an experienced professional license defense attorney to assist you. Contact Bertolino LLP today at (512) 980-3751 or visit us online.
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