If you are a nurse licensed to practice in Missouri, you know that you are expected to meet certain standards when you work as a nurse or risk-facing discipline from the state's Board of Nursing. You might also know that certain criminal convictions can have an impact on your license. You may wonder, though, whether you need to report criminal allegations such as ones relating to domestic violence to the Board of Nursing or cases where someone has asked a court for an Order of Protection against you.
Generally, the answer is no – criminal charges and orders of protection do not need to be reported to the Missouri Board of Nursing. However, each situation is different, and it can be enormously helpful to have someone to help you when you have questions about what you're required to do to comply with your obligations as a licensed nurse in Missouri. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help. Our experienced attorneys are here to answer your questions and provide you with the guidance and support you need to make sure you meet your obligations as a licensed nurse in Missouri. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or complete our online form to learn more.
Domestic Violence in Missouri
There are four levels of Domestic Assault crime in Missouri. They apply in cases where the victim is a “domestic victim,” and the seriousness of the crime depends on the alleged actions of the defendant.
Domestic assault in the fourth degree is a class A misdemeanor for a first offense or a class E felony if it is a second or subsequent offense. This crime can be charged when the defendant is accused of the following actions and the victim is a domestic victim:
- Attempting to cause or recklessly causing injury to the victim
- Injuring the victim with a deadly weapon “with criminal negligence”
- Purposely placing the victim in fear of “immediate physical injury”
- Engaging in reckless conduct that creates a “substantial risk of death or serious physical injury”
- Knowingly making physical contact with the victim in a way that the defendant knows the victim will consider offensive
- Knowingly limiting the victim's access to others, to communication devices, or to transportation for the purpose of isolating the victim
A conviction of a class A misdemeanor can result in a sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2000. If convicted of a class E felony, the sentence can be up to four years in prison.
Domestic assault in the third degree is a class E felony. It can be charged when the defendant “attempts to cause physical injury or knowingly causes physical pain or illness” to someone who is a domestic victim.
Domestic assault in the second degree is a class D felony. A defendant can be charged with this crime if they:
- Knowingly injure a domestic victim by any means
- Recklessly cause serious physical injury to the victim
- Recklessly cause physical injury to the victim by means of “any deadly weapon.”
A conviction of a class D felony can mean spending up to 7 years in prison.
Domestic assault in the first degree can be charged when the victim is a domestic victim, and the defendant is accused of attempting to kill them or knowingly causing or attempting to cause them “serious physical injury.” It is a class B felony, with a potential prison sentence of between 5 and 15 years, unless the defendant “inflicts serious physical injury on the victim,” in which case it is a class A felony with a potential sentence of 10 to 30 years or, possibly, life imprisonment.
A “domestic victim” for purposes of these statutes means a “household or family member,” which includes:
- Spouses and former spouses
- Anybody related “by blood or marriage”
- People who live together or who have lived together in the past
- People who are or were “in a continuing social relationship of romantic or intimate nature”
- Anyone who has a child in common
If you have been accused of domestic assault or any other crime in Missouri, you do not have an immediate obligation to report it to the BON. While there is no specific requirement that you report a criminal conviction to the BON, as a practical matter, it may be beneficial if you do so rather than have the BON learn of your conviction some other way.
If you have questions about your conviction and whether you should disclose it to the BON, contact the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team for help. We will evaluate your situation and help you decide what you should do. If you are disclosing a conviction to the BON, we can prepare the disclosure and be your point of contact with the BON going forward.
Protection Orders in Missouri
Missouri allows anybody who has been “subject to domestic violence by a present or former family or household member,” as well as anyone who has been a “victim of stalking or sexual assault,” to file a petition with the court asking for a protection order against the person they allege is responsible for any of those acts.
There are two main types of protection orders that a court can issue. One is called “ex parte,” meaning it issues without a hearing based only on the allegations made by the alleged victim. An ex-parte order of protection is meant to be temporary. It stays in effect only until there is a hearing where the person targeted by the protection order can defend against it.
Once a hearing has been held, a court can issue the other type of protection order, which is a more permanent one. At that hearing, the person requesting the protection order must prove “the allegation of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault by a preponderance of the evidence.” The respondent (the person targeted by the protection order) can defend against the allegations made by the petitioner at this hearing. This type of protection order will last for up to one year, or from two to ten years, if the court finds that the respondent poses a “serious danger to the physical or mental health” of the petitioner or a child in the household. The court can set the protection order to renew automatically unless the respondent requests otherwise.
Protection orders can seriously disrupt the life of the person who is named in the order. In addition to forbidding the respondent from harming or threatening to harm the petitioner and other family members, the order can direct the respondent not to contact the petitioner and to stay away from the petitioner's home, even if they were formerly living together. The order can also:
- Award custody of children to the petitioner
- Set a visitation schedule
- Require the respondent to pay child support and maintenance to the petitioner
- Require the respondent to make mortgage or rent payments
- Give the petitioner “temporary possession” of personal property such as cars, checkbooks, and keys
- Prohibit the respondent from transferring mutually-owned assets
- Require the respondent to enroll in court-approved counseling
Protection orders are not criminal proceedings. If a protection order has been issued against you, you have not been convicted of a crime. They do not need to be disclosed to the BON.
Abuse Allegations, Protection Orders, and Your Nursing License
While the Missouri Board of Nursing does not require nurses to report criminal charges or protective orders issued against them, that doesn't mean you won't face a disciplinary investigation or misconduct charges in either case. There are a couple of ways this can happen.
First, anyone can file a complaint against a nurse at any time for any reason. That means anybody who knows about the charges against you can report them to the BON in the form of a complaint against you. It doesn't have to be the alleged victim – a friend, or relative could file the complaint or even a member of the public with no connection to the case. The BON has a webpage that offers instructions to members of the public about filing complaints.
Second, the BON could learn of the charges if they end up as a conviction, for example, through press reports. This is where it's important to consider the effect that any plea deal could have on your nursing license. For example, a plea of “no contest” to a criminal charge (also known as “nolo contendere”) is considered the same as a guilty plea by the BON and can lead to you being disciplined. You need to take that into account if your case resolves itself with a plea.
If you are convicted of a crime or plead nolo contendere, whether, when, and how to disclose it to the BON is something that the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help you with. Not all criminal convictions will necessarily result in the BON opening a disciplinary proceeding against you. In particular, what the BON considers important when it comes to nursing discipline is any conviction for an offense that “reasonably relates to the qualifications, functions, or duties” of the nursing profession. Alternatively, any conviction for an offense that has “fraud, dishonesty or an act of violence” as an element is one that the BON may discipline for. Finally, the BON may discipline for an “offense involving moral turpitude.”
A conviction on any of the domestic assault charges may, of course, be based on an act of violence, depending on the circumstances. This is where the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help. We can evaluate the circumstances of your case to determine whether it is the type of case that the BON will discipline a nurse for. In some cases, we may recommend you disclose the conviction to the BON because that may put you in a more positive light than if the BON discovers the conviction some other way.
Nursing Discipline in Missouri
The BON can open a disciplinary case against a nurse based either on a complaint filed by a member of the public or on the BON's own initiative. The first step will generally be an investigation, during which you are likely to be questioned. Your attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can prepare you for that interview and can be there with you when the questions are asked to help make sure the questions are clear and understandable before you answer them.
Once the investigation process is complete, the BON will typically review the findings and decide whether to bring formal charges against the nurse. If it does so, there will typically be a chance to respond to the charges and to negotiate an acceptable resolution. Cases that don't resolve themselves with an agreement will go to a hearing, after which a decision will be issued. Throughout this entire process, your chances of resolving your case in a way that will allow you to continue to practice nursing will be better if you're working with an experienced license defense attorney from the Lento Law Firm.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Protect Your Missouri Nursing License
If you are a nurse who is licensed to practice in Missouri and are facing criminal charges of any kind – including for domestic assault – or if a protection order has been issued against you, the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help you. We know the laws, rules, and regulations that apply in nursing misconduct cases in Missouri, and we regularly advise and defend nurses who face misconduct allegations in the state – as well as across the US. Our attorneys can help you decide what steps to take if you have been accused of a crime, including domestic violence of any type.
Our goal is to protect your rights and to defend your license. Call the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team today at 888.535.3686 or contact us online to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys. You have worked hard to earn your nursing license; let the Lento Law Firm help you protect it!
