California has a law that determines how an expunged misdemeanor or felony conviction may be used by state and local licensing boards. However, licensees often wonder if past disciplinary actions by licensing boards can be expunged or sealed. There is no uniform policy for removing, expunging, or sealing disciplinary actions. Instead, you and your professional license defense attorney will need to research the specific board’s policies and discuss removal with the board’s disciplinary authorities.
The Different License Discipline Actions as Public Records
The purpose of licensing boards is public protection. They perform this duty in two primary ways. First, it sets standards for applicants to obtain professional licenses. In this respect, the state balances public protection with fairness.
For example, most boards can refuse to grant or reinstate a license for certain criminal convictions. Boards are particularly likely to refuse licensing when the criminal offense relates to the profession for which licensing is sought.
Second, licensing boards can discipline licensees for violating the professional rules. Notably, these violations are not criminal convictions. If the licensee overcomes the disciplinary investigation, they will face no adverse action. However, if they lose, the punishment could include public or private censure, suspension, or revocation.
In addition to blocking the professional’s ability to practice their trade, licensing boards also warn the public about those who have been disciplined. Unless the board imposes private discipline, the licensee’s punishment is publicly available, often on the board’s website.
As such, any member of the public can see that the professional has been disciplined. Some professional boards, such as the State Bar of California, also release public announcements about disciplinary proceedings.
A disciplinary action can interfere with your business. Colleagues, customers, clients, and employers will often search the public records to ensure that your license is in good standing. Even if you retain or regain your license, the disciplinary actions could dissuade them from working with you.
Can You Remove Disciplinary Actions From Your Record?
The best way to ensure you have a clean license record is to fight any allegations against you. Often, a professional license defense attorney can address allegations of wrongdoing before a formal accusation is ever filed against your license. Even after the accusation is filed, a vigorous license defense might persuade the board to refrain from disciplining you.
If discipline is imposed, there will be a public record. Even if the discipline is private, the licensing board may publicly disclose that the accusation was made and that discipline was imposed, even if it does not specify the exact punishment.
Faced with a public record of their disciplinary action, many licensees will look for options to clear their names. However, there is no uniform process for removing disciplinary actions from your license.
Instead, license boards generally handle the removal of disciplinary actions in three ways:
Automatic Removal Process
Some minor actions may be automatically removed after the passage of a specific period. For example, lawyers are subject to administrative suspensions when they fail to pay bar fees or report CLE hours.
The State Bar of California will automatically remove up to two administrative suspensions from a lawyer’s public record. The automatic removal occurs at the end of the suspension.
To be clear, the lawyer does not need to file a request or petition for an automatic removal. However, it may be worthwhile to reach out to the bar if a record is not corrected within a reasonable time after a suspension ends.
Removal Upon Petition
Many licensing boards retain records of serious disciplinary actions indefinitely. The idea is that the public should know when licensees commit certain violations.
However, a licensee may petition the board for removal of the public record. If the licensee meets the board’s criteria, the action may be deleted from their file.
For example, California’s Department of Real Estate accepts petitions for removal of disciplinary actions from its public website. To grant the petition, the licensee must meet the following criteria:
- Regain their license
- Wait ten years from the effective date of the disciplinary action
- Satisfy the department’s rehabilitation criteria
The last requirement will be the most rigorous. The licensee must submit a list of all criminal convictions, civil lawsuits, and license disciplinary actions that have occurred since the discipline was imposed.
If the licensee has not maintained a clean record, the board can deny the petition, and the disciplinary action will remain on the licensee’s record.
No Removal
Some disciplinary actions simply cannot be removed from the public record. For example, the Board of Registered Nursing automatically removes records of license suspensions after ten years. However, records of license revocations and surrenders will permanently remain in your public file.
Contact a Professional License Defense Attorney to Discuss Your Disciplinary Record
Licensing boards use different criteria and procedures for removing disciplinary actions from your record. Contact S J Harris Law to discuss how you can defend against disciplinary actions or have disciplinary records expunged.
