As a licensed nurse working in Idaho, you already know what the requirements are for earning your nursing license. After years of education and training, you worked hard to study for and pass the NCLEX, as well as pass the state's background check requirements for licensed nurses. On top of that, on a day-to-day basis, you've worked to provide the quality of care that is expected of you as a licensed nurse in Idaho.
You may be aware that when it comes time to renew your nursing license, you'll be required to report any felony convictions – including guilty pleas, withheld judgments, and suspended sentences – to the BON along with your renewal application. But when it comes to criminal allegations – including any relating to domestic violence – there is currently no reporting requirement. Similarly, if a protective order is issued against you, you typically do not have to report that to the BON either. These kinds of questions are the ones that the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is here to help you answer. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or fill out our contact form, and we will schedule a confidential consultation.
Domestic Abuse Crime in Idaho
Idaho has a Domestic Violence statute that applies in cases where one “household member” commits assault or battery against another “household member.” The definition of who is considered to be a household member under the Domestic Violence statute is a broad one, and includes:
- Spouses
- Former spouses
- Anyone having a “child in common”
- People living together, whether or not they are married or have “held themselves out to be husband or wife”
An assault or battery committed by one household member against another household member can qualify as a domestic violence crime. The penalties depend on whether or not the attack caused a “traumatic injury” to the victim. A traumatic injury is also defined; it is a “condition of the body, such as a wound or external or internal injury,” that is “caused by physical force.” The wound can be “of a minor or serious nature.” In other words, almost any visible mark caused by a physical attack can qualify as a traumatic injury under Idaho's Domestic Violence statute.
A battery – which includes use of force, unlawfully touching, or causing bodily harm to someone – or an assault – which is essentially a threat or attempt to commit a battery – that is committed against a household member is a misdemeanor that can result in a year in prison and a $1000 fine for a first offense. If a battery causes a traumatic injury to a household member, it is a felony that can send the defendant to prison for up to 10 years and require them to pay a fine of up to $10,000.
Penalties increase for subsequent convictions. A second conviction within 10 years of a first misdemeanor-level conviction increases the potential fine from $1000 to $2000. A third conviction within 15 years is a felony, with up to 5 years in prison and a $5000 fine. When the crime was committed “in the presence of a child,” meaning anyone under 16 years of age, the potential penalties are doubled.
If the battery was committed against a household member involved in strangulation by a defendant who was previously convicted of Domestic Violence within the past 15 years, the crime is a felony, and the potential sentence is up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
This is important to understand if you are facing a Domestic Violence criminal charge, because how your case resolves itself can have a significant effect on your nursing license. If you are facing felony charges, and you plead guilty to any of them, or if judgment is withheld or you receive a suspended sentence, you will still be required to report the matter to the BON when you renew your nursing license. When you work with an experienced attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, we will coordinate with you and your criminal attorney to make sure you both consider how any plea agreement may affect your nursing license.
If you do have a conviction that needs to be reported to the BON when you renew your nursing license, the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is there for you and can help provide the BON with all of the information it needs to consider whether your conviction should impact your nursing license. Anticipating the kinds of questions that the BON may ask and providing the answers to those questions up front are things we can do to increase the chances that the BON will not suspend or revoke your nursing license after a felony criminal conviction.
It is also possible to “self-report” your conviction to the BON, which you may want to consider if only to get ahead of any issues that may arise if you report it while renewing your license. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help you decide whether it makes sense to self-report in your case. We can also prepare the report for you and act as your representative with the BON to answer any questions the BON may have and follow up with any additional information it may request.
In any case where you report a conviction to the BON, it is likely to open an investigation to consider your conviction and whether it should have an impact on your nursing license. When that happens, it can be enormously helpful to be working with an experienced professional license defense attorney – someone who understands the laws, rules, and regulations that apply to nurses and to disciplinary matters. Your attorney can help answer the BON's questions, prepare you for any interview the BON investigator may conduct, and defend you if the BON decides to bring disciplinary charges against you. When you have an attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team on your side, your chances of emerging from a BON disciplinary investigation or proceeding with your ability to practice nursing intact are going to be substantially greater than if you were to try to defend yourself with no help.
Protection Orders in Idaho
Idaho law includes provisions that allow victims of domestic violence to apply to the court for a protection order. These are civil matters, not criminal ones. The fact that a protection order is issued against someone does not mean that they are guilty of a crime, including the crime of Domestic Violence. It only means that the person requesting the order – the petitioner – has satisfied the court that “there is an immediate and present danger of domestic violence to the petitioner.”
Protection orders – known in many other states as restraining orders, protective orders, or orders of protection – can be issued without a hearing if the petitioner “alleges that irreparable injury could result from domestic violence” if the order is not issued immediately. These are called “ex parte” protection orders. When that happens, the court will schedule a hearing within 14 days so that the person against whom the protection order is directed can respond to the request for the protection order and present any arguments they may have against the order.
Protection orders that are not issued as ex parte orders will only be issued after a hearing takes place. At this hearing, the petitioner and the respondent (the person to whom the requested protection order would apply) can present their evidence and arguments to the court in favor of and against the requested order. In many cases, the attorneys for the parties may work to negotiate the terms of an agreed order that can be presented to the judge. When that happens, the judge will review the agreed terms and may or may not decide to question the parties about what they've agreed to, particularly if children are involved.
While you do not have to report a protection order that has been issued against you to the BON, that doesn't mean it's not a stressful situation. A protection order can significantly affect your usual day-to-day life. It can:
- Award temporary custody of any children to the petitioner
- Prohibit you from contacting the petitioner
- Evict you from your home if you and the petitioner were living together
- Require you to participate in substance abuse treatment, domestic abuse counseling, or both
- Order you to pay the petitioner's court fees
- Prohibit you from going near where the petitioner lives, works, or goes to school, or from where any children who the petitioner has custody of live or go to school
- Order other relief that the judge decides is appropriate in your case
It is vitally important to understand what any protection order issued against you requires you to do and prohibits you from doing. If you violate a protection order, you can be charged with a misdemeanor and can face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5000.
It is also important that if you want any changes to the protection order, you ask the court to make those changes first. It's not unusual for parties to a protection order to resolve many of the issues that resulted in the order, and to begin to act as though the order is not in place without asking the court to modify or rescind it. This is a mistake. Courts take their orders very seriously, especially where the order impacts the welfare of children. If you want to change the terms of an existing protection order, the way to do that is by asking the judge to modify the order – before you start acting as though the order doesn't apply. If you don't, you may be held in contempt for disobeying the order.
Abuse Allegations, Protection Orders, and Your Nursing License
Even though you may not be required to report misdemeanors to the BON or to report when a protection order is issued against you, you could still face a disciplinary investigation if someone decides to file a complaint with the BON against you. The BON maintains a webpage where anyone can file a complaint against any licensed nurse for any reason. Whether the BON decides to pursue an investigation based on such a complaint is up to the BON, but generally, if the complaint is somehow able to connect the nurse's alleged misconduct with their nursing practice, the BON may open an investigation to look into the matter further.
If the BON opens an investigation, you will likely be contacted by the BON's investigator and will need to sit for an interview. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help here. We know the kinds of questions that BON investigators are likely to ask based on the allegations you are facing. We can help prepare you for the unfamiliar and stressful process of being interviewed by an investigator who is considering misconduct allegations made against you. Knowing in advance what questions to expect and how best to fairly and honestly respond to those questions can make a significant difference in how your interview goes.
In addition, we can be there with you when you are interviewed, to help make sure the questions the BON investigator asks are fair, and that you understand them before you respond. You want to make sure you don't give the BON a chance to argue that you were not cooperating with them during their investigation, but at the same time, you also want to protect your rights and defend yourself against the allegations you are facing.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Protect Your Nursing License in Idaho
If you've been charged with a crime in Idaho – whether it's Domestic Violence or another crime – or if a protection order has been issued against you, it is likely a very stressful time for you. It can be enormously helpful to have an experienced attorney by your side, someone who understands the laws, rules, and regulations that apply to your nursing license and who knows what you need to do and when to help preserve your license. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team includes attorneys with years of experience helping nurses all across the country, including in Idaho, protect their licenses during misconduct investigations and proceedings. We know what it takes to protect our clients' rights and to defend them against any misconduct charges they may be facing.
We can also coordinate with your criminal attorney so that they understand the effect that any steps they may be taking to defend you or resolve your criminal case might have on your nursing license. Otherwise, you may risk accidentally resolving your criminal case in a way that puts your nursing license at risk, when there may have been another path to take that would not have had an impact on your license.
If you are a licensed nurse facing criminal charges or misconduct allegations in Idaho, contact the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys. Tell us about your case, and let us tell you how we can help you protect one of your most valuable assets – your nursing license.
