How a Minor Arrest Record Nearly Derailed One Woman’s Professional License Dreams
Several months ago I was contacted by a woman (I will call her Martha) who applied for a licensed professional counselor (LPC) license in a West Coast state.
As with most license application forms, it included a criminal history question. The criminal history question on the form Martha filed out read as follows:
Have you ever been cited, arrested for, charged with or convicted of any crime, offense or violation of the law in any state or by the federal government even if those charges were dismissed or expunged?
Martha answered “no” to the question. As she would later discover, the correct answer was “yes.”
A Forgotten Arrest Record
More than 15 years earlier, while living in Illinois, Martha had been arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a small amount of cannabis (under a local city code). Both charges were eventually dropped.
When I asked Martha why she answered “no” to the question, she told me that she’d forgotten about the incident. She added that she’d been led to believe the case record had been automatically erased. Previous background checks she’d undergone hadn’t reported the arrest.
The state licensing board accused Martha of providing “false, misleading or deceptive statements” on her application form. In response, Martha explained why she answered the question incorrectly. She stressed that she had not knowingly sought to mislead or lie about her background.
Sanctioned For Not Disclosing Criminal Record
Fortunately for Martha, the licensing board elected to give her only a slap on the wrist, a civil penalty in the amount of several hundred dollars. The sanction would not be reported to the National Practitioner’s Data Bank but would be attached to Martha’s license. In other words, anyone seeking to verify Martha’s license status on the licensing board’s website would learn of her civil penalty (and the reason why she was sanctioned).
Had Martha’s criminal record involved something more serious than an arrest record – say a felony conviction or multiple misdemeanor convictions – it appears fairly certain she would have faced a more severe punishment. There are cases where the licensing board refused to issue a license to someone for providing a false answer to the criminal history question.
Lessons Learned
Martha’s story highlights the following truisms about how people get themselves into trouble when they are careless in reading and/or answering a criminal history question:
Lying about your criminal background on any application form can be as damaging – or more so -- than being honest and forthcoming about having a criminal record;
If you don’t reside in a state that, by law, automatically expunges criminal case information after a case is dismissed, the only way criminal records get erased is if you petition a court to expunge or seal the record. This is how it works in Illinois. Of course, this also assumes you live in a state where you have the right to expunge or seal your criminal history; and
Whenever you fill out an application for a professional/occupational license, college admission, or a job, you must read the criminal history question carefully. If need be, read the question several times before you answer it. There is no universal, one-size-fits-all criminal history question. Every criminal history question is worded differently. You don’t want to overlook the devil is in the details.
Sadly, there is nothing unique about Martha’s story. That said, it is a story we can all learn a lesson from.
Ina R. Silvergleid assists individuals with criminal backgrounds in applying for their professional licenses in Illinois. She specializes in assisting clients with felony records in getting their insurance license and real estate license.