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Licensing with prior arrest in Mass and specific question regarding license App


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Long time follower of so much of the content posted on here and I thank you all for helping over the past several years.

 

Long story short, I just passed my boards, started the Mass application for licensing and question 15 specifically states "Have you ever been arrested, charged, arraigned, indicted, prosecuted, convicted or been the subject of any criminal investigation or any court proceeding in relation to any criminal violation? Do not report minor violations for which a fine of $250 or less was imposed. Check YES or NO"

I was arrested 18 years ago, when I was 17, for possession of a minuscule amount of marijuana (I had 112 times less than what is now legal to be in possession of). I went to the court today and got a copy of the docket and the case was dismissed, no charges filed, and all I had to do was pay a fine of $200 dollars... So, pertaining to question 15, my minor violation was under "250" dollars and thusly leads me to believe that I can check "NO"...

 

However, I am not sure if this will come back to bite me or if it is just better to check yes, explain myself in the space provided and deal with the delay that will likely occur.. I have spoken to the Board and they said that this charge will not prevent me from being licensed in the state of Massachusetts but it could slow down the process by a couple of months and I have a job waiting.  I have looked into sealing my record, which would legally allow me to check "No", once it goes through but that could take several weeks. Anyone dealt with this before or have any insight???

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Was this an infraction or a misdemeanor at the time?

If it was an infraction, there's absolutely no reason to report it.  If it was a misdemeanor, you're in murkier waters, because that could be construed as not "minor."  There's essentially two ways to parse the text you quoted:

1) Do not report issues that were a) minor (i.e. an infraction rather than a misdemeanor or felony), AND b) with a fine of <$250 and no jail time, probation, etc.

2) Do not report minor issues, AS DETERMINED BY the total fine being <$250, regardless of what sort of charge it was.

I'm suspecting it was, in fact, a misdemeanor.  But yeah, a singleton pot possession issue as a minor 18 years ago is pretty chump change as far as things needing explanation go.

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10 hours ago, MedicinePower said:

When in doubt you should disclose it out of a desire to be completely honest with the board. They might agree that it's below their requirement for reporting and ignore it. Worst that will happen is they will appreciate your honesty.

I'm not sure I agree with this.  If he has a solid leg to stand on not reporting it, (less than $250), I would not report it.  Sometimes less is more when dealing with these boards.

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Have you ever been arrested, charged, arraigned, indicted, prosecuted, convicted or been the subject of any criminal investigation or any court proceeding in relation to any criminal violation? Do not report minor violations for which a fine of $250 or less was imposed. Check YES or NO"

Reading the question, it clearly states "ANY" criminal violation.  

The real question is whether this is considered a "minor" violation.  Is there a technical definition of "minor"?  Or do we use the fine as the definition, meaning any offense that levies a fine of $250 or less would be minor.  

While I certainly appreciate your zeal to be "completely honest", better if you just give them what they ask for.  I mean, lawyers literally wrote out this question.  

 

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Need legal definition of “minor”

 

if time allows I would report it now to put the entire issue to rest and you never have to worry about t in future.     Sort of like getting a vaccine, little pain now for rewards later.  

 

One other choice.   Write the board and ask for a binding decision on rather you need to report it.  They might be able provide that quicker (maybe ask for written decision)

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@ventana and the rest of you, thank you all for your responses. I am actually in the process of expungement. Since this offense is no longer a crime in Massachusetts, the law states this will be expunged without question... However, that process takes 3 months and I have an astronomical amount of loans to pay back, as most of you can appreciate. I should have started this process months ago but school/rotations/board prep were so busy and time consuming.

This is such a tough call as the wording literally states, don't report anything minor for which less than 250 etc etc etc... 

 

I am going to reach out to the board again to clarify if this question is a 2 part question or if "a minor violation" constitutes anything that required less than a 250 dollar payment..

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So here are the likely scenarios:

1 You don't report. It never comes to light. It's over

2. You don't report it but it shows up on some background check. You have to appear at a board meeting, get sworn in, and explain. You explain that you were following the $250 guideline from the instruction packet.

3. You can report it and they likely will call you in to meet with the board and get sworn in to explain.

Any which way this should not hinder a license, unless you're a pothead, Fokker...

Image result for pothead focker gif

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I had a similar issue when licensing and I chose to disclose it. It was a non-issue with the board and maybe held up the process by a month.

After I disclosed I felt a thousand times better and now 5 years later I'm not worried that it will ever come back to bite me. What is an extra month when you are talking about a whole career and your peace of mind?

 

 

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10 hours ago, Cideous said:

If you do list it, get ready to list it on everything credentialing app from now until the end of time.  Every job today does a criminal background check, not just the board.  Just fyi.

I already have a job, I am supposed to start in October. They ran a CORI and have seen the record and never mentioned it. I also got into PA school, who ran a CORI. I was credentialed at 9 clinical sites, CORI for all 9... Never hindered anything. No one actually cares...  I ran a CORI on myself the other day and it comes up, from 2001. This is what makes it more confusing because I'm 50/50 on whether to disclose it or not. If my gut was telling me to disclose it, I would... but I also feel like the state of mass wouldn't have written "do not report violations resulting in less than a 250$ fine"

I would be shocked if that was a trap....

Edited by LMNOP
forgot to add
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39 minutes ago, LMNOP said:

I already have a job, I am supposed to start in October. They ran a CORI and have seen the record and never mentioned it. I also got into PA school, who ran a CORI. I was credentialed at 9 clinical sites, CORI for all 9... Never hindered anything. No one actually cares...  I ran a CORI on myself the other day and it comes up, from 2001. This is what makes it more confusing because I'm 50/50 on whether to disclose it or not. If my gut was telling me to disclose it, I would... but I also feel like the state of mass wouldn't have written "do not report violations resulting in less than a 250$ fine"

I would be shocked if that was a trap....

 

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