Criminal Charges and State Licensing Boards: Need to Knows

Most Oklahomans have heard of the Corporation Commission, the state agency overseeing the oil and gas industry. Plenty of Oklahomans have heard about the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, the agency in charge of water rights. And since the passage of State Question 788, lots of Oklahomans have heard about the Oklahoma State Department of Health, the agency assigned to oversee the state’s emerging medical marijuana program.

But what about the Board of Chiropractic Examiners? The Polygraph Examiners Board? The State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors? The State Board of Registration for Foresters, the State Board of Osteopathic Examiners, or the Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology? Chances are strong the vast majority of Oklahomans have never heard of the State Board of Examiners of Perfusionists (and frankly, very few have probably even heard of a perfusionist in the first place - you might have even had to look up the definition).

These entities may be obscure to the general public, but not to the members of Oklahoma’s professional trades, who are licensed, registered, and regulated by these agencies.

And if you happen to be a licensed professional who’s arrested for a criminal offense, you need to know exactly how your licensing agency will respond.

When a licensed professional is charged with a crime, they don’t just have one problem, they have two. Not only do they need an experienced and talented defense attorney to guide them through the criminal courts, they also need a lawyer who can tell them whether the particular criminal charge they’re facing is also a potential violation of the ethical or professional standards enforced by their industry’s licensing agency.

If you’re a professional licensee facing criminal charges or allegations of professional misconduct, contact Ball Morse Lowe or call 405-701-5355 today to speak to an attorney who can help you.