PROFESSIONAL LICENSEE FACING DUI CHARGES
Are You A Professional Licensee Facing DUI Charges?
You worked hard to obtain your professional license and you will take the steps necessary to retain your professional license if it were ever threatened to be taken away. If you are a professional licensee facing DUI charges, or any criminal charge for that matter, you need an experienced professional licensing defense attorney to get you through the process and retain your professional license.
If you are a professional licensee facing DUI charges, or any criminal charges, contact Peter F. Iocona, Attorney at Law and the Professional Licensing Defense Lawyers of The SoCal Law Network to learn how they can help you retain the professional license you worked so hard to obtain.
Professional License Arrest Reporting and Background Checks
As a professional licensee facing DUI charges, you know that as part of the licensing process, almost every professional licensee is required to submit to a background check. This background check, more than likely, is conducted through the California Department of Justice (DOJ), which maintains a statewide criminal records repository. Sheriff’s Departments, police agencies, probation departments, district attorney offices, and courts share their arrest and conviction information with the DOJ.
California Department of Justice RAP Sheets
As a professional licensee facing DUI charges, you should know that the DOJ uses the information you provided on your application to collate records of arrests and convictions, known as “RAP sheets.” RAP sheets, which are compiled and confirmed through the booking process when the professional licensee is fingerprinted. Because the DOJ Record reveals that the person being subject to the fingerprinting is a professional licensee, the record of the arrest is reported to the respective Board. Typically, this is how the process of the Board's Inquiry into a Professional Licensee's arrest begins.
The Department of Consumer Affairs Oversees The Respective Boards
Licensing agencies must ensure the professionals they place in positions of trust meet each agencies’ criteria. Each agency is therefore required to conduct background checks of new and renewing, applicants to verify criminal histories and the failure to do so exposes the agency to unwanted liability.
The background check begins with an applicant’s submission of a BCIA 8016 Request for Live Scan Service form. An applicant completes the form, brings it to a live scan operator, and provides the necessary identification. In California, the fingerprinting must be performed by a certified fingerprint roller or qualified law enforcement personnel. The fingerprint is captured electronically and then transmitted to the DOJ database. The applicant is then given an applicant transaction identifier (ATI) to verify the transaction. The DOJ will after that search the fingerprint against the other fingerprints in its database, and if there is a match, the RAP sheet will be reviewed by a technician. In such cases, the applicant will be sent a "delay-notice" response. Once an arrest and corresponding conviction are confirmed, the DOJ technician will then forward the agency-specific requested information.
The DOJ must make a “genuine effort” to confirm the outcome of each arrest. The RAP sheet is then reviewed, the agency-specific information is then collated, and the response to the requesting agency is prepared. If a federal background check is requested, the fingerprint images are turned over to the FBI to perform a fingerprint-based national criminal history database search.
If an applicant believes there is a discrepancy in his criminal history record, he can obtain a copy of his California criminal history record by completing the form BIA 8016RR, Request for Live Scan Service.
Professional Licensee Facing DUI Charges
If you are a professional licensee facing DUI charges, contact Peter F. Iocona, Attorney at Law and the Professional Licensing Defense Attorneys of The SoCal Law Network for a free consultation and case evaluation.