lpn license and felony

Ethernaut · Apr 10, 2006

First of all, you need to go to your local police station and pull a criminal background check to see if you in fact have a clear record. If you do, that means the conviction was successfully expunged. You may even want to go so far as to go to your courthouse and request final court dispositions of your case (if you have an expunged record, they will not have this information).

Legally, in most if not all states, you do not have to report expunged records, even if some applications ask for the information. All expunged records are sent to a special facility for expunged records. The records cannot be accessed for general law enforcement or civil use. However, there are certain exceptional situations under which the expunged records can be searched, retrieved, and used, but this is rare and normally requires a court order or statutory authorization. One way to look at it is, expunged records do not "disappear", but they do "go away", and in most cases are never heard from again.

Again, after you have confirmed you have a clean criminal record from your local police station you should be ok. However, although the information I provided you is accurate for most states, your state may be different. Even if you do have a clear criminal record, you may want to confirm with your lawyer that you do not have to report expunged convictions.

BTW: Are you sure it was a felony conviction? Normally, you cannot expunge a felony conviction unless you first receive a government pardon. Even after a pardon it's hard to expunge a felony.

Good luck!

1happygirl · Apr 10, 2006

A lot of the kids in my class have had to do what is called a declaratory (sp?) order to the BON. This includes, but is not limited to, drunk driving, MIP (minor in possession), and all expunged offenses. Some have had offenses far worse than the OP (felonies and prison time) and ones that were not expunged. Also, their offenses were more recent then yours. What it really amounts to is extra $$$ for the BON and paperwork to notify them of what happened along with a letter and several letters of recommendation. They then send back a letter giving you the okay for you to sit for the NCLEX. I am surprised that your school didn't inform everyone since it takes several months sometimes due to the backlog and slow management at the BON. It is now a policy with our school (starting this semester) and the agreements with clinical agencies that to register and do clinicals, you must have filed a declaratory order with the BON and received your letter back that you will be allowed to sit for the NCLEX. We are also now required to pay for a background check to be on file with our school. If it turns up anything, we must file the declaratory order before they will let us continue.

My program is an RN program, but I am assuming it is the same for all since in my state, the LPN and RN boards are combined.

TazziRN, RN · Apr 10, 2006

The fact that it was so long ago and was expunged will actually go a long way in your favor. There are still certain people you have to disclose to, and the BON is one of them, or any other board for other licensed personnel. You may have to jump through some extra hoops to get your license granted, but it is not impossible. My ex applied for an RT license and had had a conviction, trial, and punishment expunged but still had to disclose it to the RT board. It took him a couple of months longer than his classmates, but he got his license.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2006

I hear this kind of stuff all the time. I'm beginning to think that the state boards would be having the nursing schools do criminal background checks if these were really important issues. At this point in your position on the nursing career track I'm more inclined to think that it's more of a mission by the BON to double check that no one with serious violent felonies slips by, but that they don't lie about it either. Your question is one that more license candidates ask than you would think. And, you'd be surprised at how many people have a little misdemeanor picked up during those rebellious young years lurking in their past that they'd like to just magically go away now that they are older and have more wisdom. The state lawmakers know this too and a lot of forgivenessess have been built into the professional licensing laws all over the country to account for this. I've even seen a couple of state boards of nursing web sites that address similar questions on their FAQ lists. Check your BON web site to see if this is addressed in a FAQ list or as a position statement as well as your state nursing law. It's a big decision to make as to whether to disclose or not. I always thought that expunge meant that the record was totally cancelled out and destroyed. However, this is the computer age, so who knows. I did read one position statement of one state board of nursing that stated that, in general, misdemeanors older than 5 years were generally forgiven. That may not have been your state, however. I'm thinking that, like the DMV, they just need a sworn affidavit on record so that later on if they can't get you for some nursing practice issue that might come up with you they can nail you for falsifying your application for a license.

acw2 · Nov 24, 2007

Its best to be honest and disclose everything...even those records that have been expunged (sic). You don't want to have to explain to the board why you failed to disclose an incident. Chances are you should be able to get your license.

rockermom · Nov 27, 2007

I'm not sure what state you are in, but Texas just changed their application to read that expunctions need not be reported. However, they clearly state that you had better be sure it's truly expunged, or it will show and they will hold it against you. I have heard of some pretty serious records being approved - and the BNE is reputed to be very tough here in Texas! I'm sure you will have no problems proving yourself. Good luck to you, I know it's a crummy feeling. Just keep praying. If God leads you to it, He will lead you through it.