FREE CASE EVALUATION

Question: Will a DUI charge impact my professional license when it is time for renewal in Maryland?

Answer: Yes. Generally there are questions, whenever somebody is up for renewal for any kind of professional license, whether it be an RN, a doctor or whatever—there are questions about what has transpired during that period in between. You are supposed to be, obviously, honest with that. There’s a very good chance that they discover it, depending on the type of profession it is, and they really care about your positive reporting.

If it appears to be an issue—say somebody gets two DUIs—then the professional licensing group may demand some sort of treatment be done, or something like that, to comply and get back in their good graces. But there are some certain jobs that won’t allow somebody who has multiple DUIs or even a DUI to deal with it or to work with them, or to be licensed under them. But mainly, when it comes to a DUI, again it’s not a crime of moral turpitude, which basically means that it doesn’t assassinate your character in any way. What they’re really looking for are thefts, domestic violence cases, drug dealing, drug use, that kind of thing. Obviously you don’t want a pharmacy tech who has a severe drug problem or something like that. But we haven’t really seen where a DUI has that much affect on a professional license.

But, whenever you come up for renewal, they often hire people to do background checks. And if they bother to look at your driving record, there will be evidence of a DUI, whether you got a PBJ or not, so, you know, we always tell our clients to be honest and forthcoming, and that they care more about the honesty than they do the offense itself. So it can affect your professional license when it’s being renewed, it just depends on how you handle it and the veracity in which you actually use with the licensing agency or board during the process.