If you are a licensed nurse working in Maryland, you're already familiar with your obligations to provide nursing care that meets the standards adopted by the Department of Health's Board of Nursing. You also are aware of your continuing education requirements, as well as the need to renew your license every two years. One thing you may not consider until you're faced with the issue is what you are supposed to do with respect to your license if you've been accused of what Maryland calls a “domestically related crime,” or if a court has issued a protective order against you based on allegations that you committed domestic violence or abuse.
Maryland does not require nurses to report when they've been accused of criminal behavior, including a domestically related crime, or when a protective order has issued against them. That said, it's very important to understand the effects that a conviction of a domestically related crime can have on your license. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is here to answer your questions, as well as to protect your rights if you are facing allegations of domestic abuse in Maryland. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to set up a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys to learn more about how we can help.
Domestically Related Crimes in Maryland
Unlike a number of other states, Maryland does not have a specific crime of domestic violence or domestic assault. Instead, Maryland designates certain types of crimes as “domestically related crimes” based on the relationship between the alleged victim and the accused defendant. The most notable consequence of being convicted of a domestically related crime is that the defendant will be prohibited from owning or possessing firearms. The term is also important when it comes to a court considering a petition for a protective order.
A “domestically related crime” is defined to include a crime committed against
- A current or former spouse
- Someone who lives with the defendant
- A relative – by blood, marriage, or adoption – of the defendant
- A parent, step-parent, child, or step-child
- A “vulnerable adult”
- Someone with whom the defendant has a child in common
- Anyone with whom the defendant has had a sexual relationship with during the past year
- Anyone who accuses the defendant of committing rape or attempted rape within the past 6 months
Crimes that qualify for this designation include a number of “crimes of violence,” such as
- Abduction and Kidnapping
- Arson in the first degree
- Assault in the second degree
- Burglary
- Carjacking and armed carjacking
- Murder and Voluntary Manslaughter
- Robbery
- Home invasion
- Rape
- Attempts to commit any of the above
While a defendant accused of any of these crimes must be convicted “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the crime can be classified as a domestically related crime if the court determines that only a “preponderance of the evidence” supports that classification.
In terms of your obligations as a licensed nurse in Maryland, however, whether the crime you are alleged to have committed is or is not a domestically related crime does not affect whether you need to disclose it to the BON. Only criminal convictions need to be disclosed.
This may become relevant when you are defending against the charges and have an opportunity to accept a plea deal. Whether you do so depends significantly on the facts of your particular case, but it also may depend on the effect that your plea deal may have on your nursing license.
This is where the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help. Our experienced attorneys can advise you how the Maryland BON is likely to respond when you disclose any conviction, guilty plea, or “no contest” plea. We can also help you provide the information that the BON needs when you disclose your license, and of course, we will be there to protect your rights and defend your license through any disciplinary proceedings that may follow.
Protective Orders in Maryland
When someone requests a protective order in Maryland, it is a civil matter, not a criminal one. The petition filed by the person requesting the order (the petitioner) may claim that the person to be targeted by the protective order (the respondent) committed crimes, but the protective order process is not a criminal one. As a result, you are not required to disclose to the BON if a protective order has issued against you.
People who are eligible to seek protective orders in Maryland include:
- The current or former spouse of the respondent
- Someone who lives with the respondent
- Someone related to the respondent by “blood, marriage, or adoption”
- A parent, step-parent, child, or step-child of the respondent
- A “vulnerable adult”
- Someone with whom the respondent has a child in common
- Someone who had a sexual relationship with the respondent within the past year
- Someone who alleges that the respondent committed certain sexual offenses against them within the past 6 months
Protective orders are issued in cases where the petitioner accuses the respondent of abuse. The term “abuse” is defined when it comes to protective orders. Abuse includes:
- Any act that causes bodily harm
- An act that causes someone to fear they will suffer “imminent serious bodily harm”
- Assault
- Rape or certain other sexual offenses
- False imprisonment
- Stalking
- Revenge porn
The petition requesting the protective order must allege “abuse of any person eligible for relief, “ and that the respondent is responsible for that abuse.
At some point, the court will hold a hearing on the petition for the protective order, though the court may issue the order almost immediately, on what is called an “ex parte” basis, and then schedule a hearing shortly afterwards. The purpose of the hearing is to give the respondent a chance to defend themselves against the petition requesting the protective order.
Alternatively, in Maryland the petitioner can also consent to the protective order. Depending on the circumstances, this may be prudent as it can avoid having the judge make a finding “by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged abuse has occurred.” The preponderance standard, as noted above, is a lower standard of proof than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal cases – so that it's easier to prove abuse for purposes of a protective order than it is to prove abuse in connection with criminal charges.
When you work with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, we can counsel you on how your response to a petition for a protective order could ultimately affect your nursing license. Even though the protective order is a civil matter and not a criminal one, as will be explained below, findings made in the protective order could still lead to disciplinary proceedings that could affect your nursing license.
Protective orders can upend your life. They can prohibit or restrict you from doing a wide range of things that you may have taken for granted until you received a court order that said you could no longer do them. A protective order can
- Prohibit you from having contact with the petitioner
- Require you to move out of a home that you had been sharing with the petitioner
- Force you to stay away from places where the petitioner is regularly found, such as work, school, and child care centers
- Award the petitioner temporary custody of any minor children
- Set a visitation schedule, which may be supervised, for you to see those children
- Require you to pay “family maintenance” to the petitioner
- Give the petitioner temporary possession of a vehicle that the two of you co-own
- Require you to participate in counseling or a domestic violence program
- Give the petitioner temporary possession of any pet
The court is also free to order “any other relief that the judge determines is necessary” to protect the petitioner from abuse.
Violation of the terms of a protective order can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor and can land you in jail for up to 90 days; second or additional offenses can lead to a one-year prison term. This is important, because it's not unusual for couples to informally agree to ignore certain terms of a protective order, especially as time passes or circumstances change. The best way to do this is to go back to court and request a formal modification of the order to reflect the new terms that both you and the petitioner have agreed to. Otherwise, as the person who is restricted by the protective order, you are in danger of being accused of violating it even if the petitioner told you it was okay to do so at the time. Remember: protective orders are issued by the judge. They are court orders. Only the judge can modify their terms.
Abuse Allegations, Protective Orders, and Your Nursing License
Licensed nurses in Maryland are not required to notify the BON when they have been accused of a crime – including a domestically related crime – or when a protective order has issued against them. That doesn't mean, however, that if you are facing criminal charges or have received a protective order that the BON will not learn about it and take action against you. It could happen in two ways.
First, anybody can file a misconduct complaint with the BON against a licensed nurse in Maryland. Complaints are often filed by patients, members of a patient's family, or co-workers – but there is nothing to stop any member of the public from filing a complaint against a nurse based on allegations that the nurse committed some kind of domestic violence. A misconduct complaint could come from an alleged victim of domestic violence, a friend or a family member, or even a member of the public who has learned about the allegations or criminal charges that the nurse is facing.
Once the BON receives a complaint, it will typically review it to determine whether it complains of the type of conduct that the BON regulates. (For example, complaints that a nurse was rude often will not result in an investigation.) The BON's focus is primarily on ensuring the safety of patients; and while a domestic violence allegation may not relate to a particular patient, it's possible that the BON may consider the allegations concerning enough that it decides to investigate them further. It's at this point – when an investigation is opened – that the nurse can benefit from the help of an experienced professional license defense attorney from the Lento Law Firm.
The second way that criminal allegations or allegations made in a petition for a protective order can result in the BON opening disciplinary proceedings against the nurse named in the allegations is if they result in a conviction – whether it's a guilty verdict, a plea of guilty, or a plea of “no contest.” Convictions will be discovered when the nurse renews their Maryland nursing license – renewal requires a criminal background check – but it can often be more prudent to disclose the conviction to the BON even before your license is up for renewal. This allows you to provide information about the conviction to the BON that the BON can use to determine how to respond to it. It can also make you appear diligent, aware of your responsibilities to the profession, and respectful of the BON's role in protecting patient safety. All of this may benefit you when the BON determines whether or how to discipline you based on the conviction.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Protect Your Nursing License in Maryland
If you are a licensed nurse who has been accused of any crime in Maryland – including a domestically related crime – or if a petition has been filed for a protective order against you, now is the time to review your case with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team. Our attorneys understand the laws, procedures, and policies that apply in nursing disciplinary cases in Maryland, and we also know what to do to help protect your license if you've been accused of misconduct.
We regularly defend nurses and other professional license holders from discipline in states across the US, including Maryland. Our attorneys also know that steps you take to defend yourself in your criminal case, or in response to a petition for a protective order, can sometimes have an effect on your nursing license, especially if a misconduct investigation or proceeding is brought against you. We can help you consider your criminal defense or your defense against a protective order petition so that you don't mistakenly threaten your nursing license with your efforts. And if the BON does begin an investigation based on a misconduct complaint or a conviction report, we will be there to protect your rights and defend your nursing license.
If you are facing criminal allegations of any type, including allegations that you committed a domestically related crime, or if a protective order petition has been filed against you, contact the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team immediately. The sooner we become involved, the more likely it will be that you will be able to protect your nursing license and your ability to make a living. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your case and learn how we can help.
