Is Your Professional License at Risk Due to Your DUI Arrest?
Your professional license could be at risk due to your DUI arrest or conviction. Depending on your profession and the current rules of your professional licensing board, you may need to report your arrest or conviction. Alternatively, someone may report it anonymously or you may fail a pre-employment check or drug test. As a result, you may have no choice but to participate in extensive monitoring programs, take drug tests, and more.
Professional licensing organizations for medical professionals take drinking or drug-related arrests particularly seriously. Nurses and doctors may face required diversion and discipline in their state. For example, in Oklahoma nurses will receive discipline for being “intemperate in the use of alcohol or drugs” that in the Board of Nursing’s eyes “endangers or could endanger patients” and may receive a letter of warning for even “errant conduct”. 59 O.S. § 567.8. These terms are not clearly defined in the Oklahoma Nursing Practice Act.
The professional organizations that enforce rules for professional practitioners who commit DUIs justify discipline by explaining that it protects patients and clients who could be harmed by a professional who practices while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Often, however, the required discipline does little to address a professional’s underlying problems, instead inhibiting his or her ability to work and hold a job.
A few concerns arise from the typical discipline process, including deceptive required disclosures and lack of legal advice at disciplinary hearings. Many medical professionals are asked to self-disclose their arrests or convictions and then asked a series of follow-up questions about their alcohol and drug use. The answers to these questions then can be used against the professional. Later, at a disciplinary hearing, inadmissible evidence and faulty testimony can be used against a professional without legal representation. A lawyer can help the professional object to the evidence and testimony and present defenses to the disciplinary charges.
Professionals arrested for DUI should immediately consult the licensing rules for their profession and the employee guidelines for their job to determine whether they must self-disclose an arrest and which charges they could face. They should seek out legal representation for disciplinary proceedings.
If you need representation in an Oklahoma court for a DUI charge, seek out the attorney who teaches other attorneys and law enforcement about sobriety testing techniques. Clint Patterson, Esq., of Patterson Law Firm, a former Tulsa prosecutor now using his trial experience and expert-level knowledge of DUI science to defend drivers, may be able to challenge gas chromatography testing for you. To schedule a case evaluation, visit Patterson Law Firm online or call Clint’s office at (918) 550-9175.