Reporting Arrests or Convictions
When an individual with a professional license is involved with the criminal justice system, an additional responsibility is created. Licensed individuals in the State of Florida are required to report criminal dispositions. The reporting obligation arises not only for criminal convictions, but usually also for any plea to a criminal allegation, including a plea of no contest and a withhold of adjudication. Failure to report the criminal disposition can become an independent basis for disciplinary action.
For many licensed persons, the crime itself may not be sufficient to lead to any disciplinary action, but the failure to report the criminal outcome can subject the individual to professional licensing penalties. We have created an entire website to assist individuals in determining what must be reported, how it must be reported and when it must be reported. Please click on the link below to review our guide to your reporting obligations.
We represent a number of individuals in the process for reporting criminal dispositions to state licensing boards. We find that we can sometimes provide a valuable service in reporting the outcome in a fashion that will reduce the possibility of additional penalties being taken against an individual’s license. While a licensed individual may certainly report a matter himself or herself, having an attorney provide representation sometimes is beneficial, especially when the attorney can cite to the appropriate statutory and case law basis for establishing that a certain offense does not warrant additional professional licensing penalties. If you wish for our firm to provide representation to you in reporting a criminal disposition, please contact us quickly so that we can ensure we take action within the necessary time limitations.