Expunged Offense and Renewal

[Ajon905]

I'm up for first renewal this month, and I've been waiting till I had official paperwork in my hands, but I was arrested 6/18 for DUI, completed 12 months of supervision as a requirement of a pre-trial diversion, and now, I have an order for expungement of the charge (just received this last week.) My question is, am I better off renewing and selecting 'no' to those questions and keeping the order close by? Or being upfront and just sending a copy of the order for expungment? I've read the renewal form, and it states,

"NOTE: Expunged and Sealed Offenses: While expunged or sealed offenses, arrests, tickets, or citations need not be disclosed, it is your responsibility to ensure the offense, arrest, ticket or citation has, in fact, been expunged or sealed. It is recommended that you submit a copy of the Court Order expunging or sealing the record in question to our office with your application. Failure to reveal an offense, arrest, ticket, or citation that is not in fact expunged or sealed may subject your license to a disciplinary order and fine. Non-disclosure of relevant offenses raises questions related to truthfulness and character. (See 22 TAC §213.27)."

My understanding is that I don't necessarily have to report it, but I can always just send the copy of the expungement order to be safe....I've always heard you don't want to necessarily offer up any information that isn't asked for, but I don't want to risk being delayed for renewal either. I worry that submitting the Order means a mailed application for renewal, and that THAT could cause the renewal process to be drug out longer than it should be. License is in Texas. Please help. Thank you.

[K. Everly, BSN, RN]

I would talk to a lawyer who specializes in healthcare licensure about this.

[rn1965, ADN]

Definitely speak with an attorney. The BON will find it and it could land you in hot water.

Contact an attorney from TAANA.org and get their advice. Do not do this alone!

[Anonynurse66]

A lot of states require nurses to report charges or arrests within a month so if your state requires that and you didn't do that in 2018 but now you say "look here, it's expunged" they might say "great, we won't hold the dui against you but you failed to report the charge within 30 days so here's a fine or stips." Does Texas have a reporting requirement for charges or arrests?

I would also hope that they'd allow you to send in the expungement order after they tell you about it. Having to be up front with it seems kinda against the 5th.

Also let me third the suggestion to talk to a lawyer in Texas who knows the board rules.