A felony DWI charge and conviction can seriously affect your professional license. In some cases, you could lose your license or suffer other restrictions that hamper or destroy your professional practice, employment, income, and career. A first-offense Texas DWI crime is ordinarily a Class B misdemeanor, typically punished with little or no jail time, moderate fine, and license and other restrictions. But Texas elevates the misdemeanor DWI crime to a much more serious felony DWI charge for things like a third or subsequent offense, an offense with a child passenger, or an offense causing serious injury to or death of another person. Elevated felony DWI charges can turn a misdemeanor into a first, second, or third-degree felony punishable with many years in prison, carrying large fines, and imposing severe collateral consequences, especially for a professional with a thriving and valuable professional practice. If you face Texas felony DWI charges, retain premier DWI Specialist defense attorney Doug Murphy for your best outcome to the charge and to help you retain your professional license. See below for further information on how felony DWI charges can affect these professional licenses:
- medical doctors;
- dentists;
- pharmacists;
- podiatrists;
- nurses;
- midwives;
- lawyers;
- accountants;
- securities brokers;
- teachers;
- real estate agents;
- commercial vehicle driver;
- pilots;
- security professionals;
- electricians and other tradesmen.
Medical Doctors
Regulatory Concerns
Medical doctors can face special concerns over criminal charges of many kinds, especially felony DWI charges. Physicians obviously hold a special place of trust in the views of their patients, given a physician's special skills and the extraordinary interest patients have in their physician's good character and competence. Criminal charges of many kinds can undermine patient trust in the physician's reliable character, even if the physician is ordinarily perfectly competent in meeting practice standards. Some criminal charges, particularly those like assault or sexual assault but also drug and alcohol charges, can suggest direct patient safety risks. The physician might, in those cases, intentionally harm a patient or practice while intoxicated, leading to unintentional but reckless harm. A felony DWI charge against a medical doctor falls into the latter category of a reckless intoxication risk. But criminal charges can also suggest indirect patient safety risks, that the physician might be so indifferent to the patient's care as to cause patient harm. A felony DWI charge also falls into this category. Medical license disciplinary officials address these concerns when initiating license proceedings against a physician facing a felony DWI charge. Texas Administrative Code Rule 190.8 defines as a disciplinary violation the physician's commission of any felony or involvement in substance abuse. A felony DWI charge implicates both of those provisions.
Regulatory Authority
The Texas Medical Practice Act governs the professional licenses of medical doctors practicing within the state. Don't doubt the Medical Board's authority to suspend or revoke your medical license for a felony DWI conviction. Under Texas Occupational Code Section 151.003, medical practice in the state "is a privilege and not a natural right of individuals," one in which the state must "protect the public interest…." The same law authorizes the Texas Medical Board as "the primary means of licensing, regulating, and disciplining physicians" in Texas. Under Texas Administrative Code Rule 190.2, the board decides contested discipline cases, including "to assess sanctions against licensees who are found to have violated the Medical Practice Act." Rule 190.2 provides that the sanction "should be consistent with sanctions imposed in other similar cases and should reflect the board's determination of the seriousness of the violation and the sanction required to deter future violations." Rule 190.2 expressly reserves to the board "discretion in the imposition of sanctions and remedial measures pursuant to the Act's provisions related to methods of discipline and administrative penalties."
What to Do
Texas Medical Board rules and practices generally require physicians charged with a felony DWI to report the charge for disciplinary review. Retain DWI Specialist Doug Murphy to help you confirm and comply with your reporting duties. Failure to report a reportable offense can lead to its own sanction. But a DWI charge and Medical Board report alone do not mean that you will face professional license discipline. To the contrary, your successful defense of the felony DWI charge in criminal court may lead to the Medical Board's prompt abandonment of the disciplinary investigation and dismissal of the professional license proceeding. And under Texas Administrative Code Rule 190.15, your medical license proceeding must permit you to present mitigating evidence to the disciplinary charge. Thus, your best move is to retain premier DWI Specialist defense attorney Doug Murphy. Your medical practice is certainly worth it.
Dentists
Regulatory Concerns
Dentists, like other medical professionals, hold special places of trust with respect to their patients. Dental care can have similarly beneficial or deleterious effects as other medical care has, depending on the dentist's fitness and competence. A dentist who practices carelessly below the standard for dental care can threaten not just the patient's oral health, comfort, and dental function but also the patient's overall health and safety. Felony DWI charges against a dentist can thus raise reasonable concerns with a dental practice regulator. A felony DWI charge can suggest that the dentist has a significant substance abuse issue, whether alcohol or drugs. Driving while intoxicated may not be practicing dentistry while intoxicated, but driving also has health and safety risks. Regulators could reasonably infer that a felony DWI charge means that the defendant dentist might also practice dentistry while intoxicated. Texas Administrative Code Rule 100.9 thus defines as unprofessional and sanctionable conduct that is "likely to disgrace, degrade, or bring discredit upon the licensee or the dental profession."
Regulatory Authority
Dentists charged with felony DWI face professional license review before the Texas State Dental Board of Examiners. Texas's Dental Practice Act creates and authorizes the State Dental Board of Examiners to license dentists practicing within the state. The Dental Practice Act authorizes the State Dental Board of Examiners to promulgate rules regulating dental practice, codified in Texas Administrative Code Rules 100.1 et seq. One of those rules, Texas Administrative Code Rule 100.2, prompts the State Board of Dental Examiners "to safeguard the health and safety of Texans" by, among other things, ensuring that "only qualified persons are licensed to provide dental care" and that "violators of law and rules regulating dentistry are appropriately sanctioned." The same rule authorizes the board to establish practice standards, receive complaints of standards violations, and investigate those possible violations through board procedures. Rule 100.2(b)(4) expressly authorizes the board to "[d]iscipline licensees for violations of the Dental Practice Act, other statutes relating to the practice of dentistry, and board rules through appropriate legal action." Rule 100.20 further assigns to the board the discretion to impose an appropriate license sanction, including remedial measures, provided that the sanction is similar to prior sanctions, reflects the seriousness of the violation, and deters future violations. The State Board of Dental Examiners has plenty of authority to discipline a dentist for a felony DWI.
What to Do
Dentists must generally report felony convictions, including felony DWI convictions, to the State Board for investigation. Reporting requirements for a felony DWI charge, short of a conviction, may not be as clear, although reporting a charge before a conviction may be wise to avoid failure-to-report penalties. Retain premier DWI Specialist Doug Murphy to help you evaluate your reporting requirements and to make an accurate and timely report as necessary or appropriate. At the same time, ensure your skilled, effective, and aggressive defense of the felony DWI charges with attorney Murphy's preeminent defense representation. Texas Administrative Code Rule 107.25 and other rules offer elaborate protective procedures to the dentist facing potential license discipline. Let attorney Murphy help you invoke those protective procedures to retain your license to practice dentistry.
Pharmacists
Regulatory Concerns
Pharmacists, holding doctoral or other graduate degrees like other healthcare professionals, are a critical part of the medical profession. Pharmacists have a relationship of special trust and care with their customers, very similar to the relationship of trust and care patients have with their physicians. The pharmacist who fills a physician's prescription incorrectly or otherwise violates pharmacy practice standards can expose the customer to health and safety risks much like those a physician might create by substandard medical practice. Texas pharmacy practice regulators thus take notice of criminal felony charges, including felony DWI charges, that suggest a pharmacist's potential unfitness to practice. Intoxicated driving may suggest to those regulators that a pharmacist has an addiction issue and may dispense prescription medication while intoxicated. Press report confirms that the Texas State Board of Pharmacy occasionally revokes pharmacy professional licenses relating to DWI charges.
Regulatory Authority
The Texas Pharmacy Act establishes the Texas State Board of Pharmacy to license pharmacists practicing in the state and to regulate their practice, including determining violations suggesting unfitness or incompetence in practice. Accordingly, Texas Administrative Code Rule 283.1 authorizes the Texas State Board of Pharmacy to promulgate rules regulating the practice of pharmacy in the state. Those rules require pharmacists to demonstrate their competency and fitness to practice pharmacy safely and meet all pharmacy standards. Information the State Board of Pharmacy publishes relating to pharmacy licenses and renewals states that criminal felony convictions violate the Texas Pharmacy Act. License application or renewal generally requires disclosure of criminal convictions and may require disclosure of charges or diversions. The State Board of Pharmacy clearly has the regulatory authority to suspend or even revoke a pharmacy license for felony convictions, placing your license at risk when facing a felony DWI charge.
What to Do
While the State Board of Pharmacy appears to require that you report all criminal convictions, whether felony or misdemeanor, and perhaps also criminal charges, retain DWI Specialist defense attorney Doug Murphy to evaluate and satisfy your reporting duties, if any. Any report you make should also be to the right licensing officials, in the right form, and timely and accurate, with all of which attorney Murphy can help you. Your discipline, though, is in no sense a foregone conclusion. Your successful defense of the felony DWI charge in criminal court may relieve you of any discipline, provided that your retained DWI Specialist has helped you respond to licensing officials with the documentation they require. Attorney Murphy can also counsel and guide you on your driver's license hearing, media requests, and accurate communications to employers or even customers about your license status. Pharmacists facing felony DWI charges do their best when retaining skilled and experienced DWI Specialist representation.
Podiatrists
Regulatory Concerns
As a medical practice, podiatry practice exposes patients to many of the same health and safety risks as the practice of other medical fields and specialties. Treating medical disorders of the foot, ankle, and leg, podiatrists can do similar good as other fit and competent medical care providers, and cause similar harm as other medical care providers cause when unfit or incompetent. Podiatric medicine regulators could infer from a felony DWI charge that the charged podiatrist has a substance addiction or abuse issue. Because a felony DWI charge involves greater alleged culpability than the basic first-offense DWI misdemeanor charge, a felony DWI charge could also indicate to regulators that the podiatrist may also be reckless or indifferent to patient care. Texas's Department of Licensing and Regulation (Texas Administrative Code Rule 130.55) outlines a podiatrist's code of ethics relating to state licensure. The code of ethics requires that podiatrists "be temperate in all things in recognition that his knowledge and skill are essential to public health, welfare, and human life." Other podiatry licensing rules, regulations, and enforcement customs confirm that a felony DWI charge or conviction could be a disqualifying violation.
Regulatory Authority
Texas's regulation of podiatrists differs somewhat from the state's regulation of medical doctors, dentists, and pharmacists. Podiatrists do not answer to a separately formed state medical board like the Texas Medical Board, State Board of Dental Examiners, or State Board of Pharmacists. Instead, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation maintains the state's podiatric medicine licensing program, doing so through its Commission of Licensing and Regulation. Texas Occupations Code Section 51.2032 specifically authorizes the Commission of Licensing and Regulation to regulate the practice of podiatry in the state, much as the commission regulates other professions. The same section does authorize an advisory podiatry board, but the commission retains the regulatory responsibility. The commission's process for podiatry license renewal, though, clearly requires disclosure of felony or misdemeanor convictions other than minor traffic violations. The commission has the authority to revoke, deny, suspend, or otherwise impose discipline against a podiatrist's license based on a felony DWI conviction.
What to Do
The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation process for podiatry license renewal does not expressly require disclosure of felony DWI charges, only felony DWI convictions, and other convictions. However, whether and when to disclose a felony DWI charge can be an important question to avoid failure-to-report sanctions. Retain DWI Specialist defense attorney Doug Murphy to help you evaluate and comply with your podiatry license reporting obligations. If licensing authorities find out from other sources, such as the prosecutor filing the charge, then attorney Murphy can help you manage your podiatry license proceeding to avoid suspension or other discipline. You should also rely on your retained skilled and experienced DWI Specialist to aggressively and effectively defend the criminal court proceeding on the felony DWI charge. Your license, freedom, finances, reputation, and relationships may all be at stake in the two criminal court and professional license proceedings.
Nurses
Regulatory Concerns
Nurses facing felony DWI charges have similar exposure to license disciplinary proceedings as other medical professionals have. Nursing practice has the capacity to positively or negatively affect patient health and safety in much the same way that other medical practices have that capacity. Nurses, after all, carry out physician orders and engage in other intimate and invasive health care of at-risk patients. When nurses do so under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or incompetently because of a reckless disregard for patient health and safety, serious injury or death can result. Regulators thus take appropriate concern over felony DWI charges and convictions, especially because those charges may indicate addiction, impairment, and reckless disregard risks. Texas Administrative Code Section 217.11, for instance, requires all licensed nurses in the state to conform to all "federal, state, or local laws, rules or regulations affecting the nurse's current area of nursing practice" as one among several provisions highlighting the concern of nursing regulators for safe practice.
Regulatory Authority
The Texas Administrative Code Section 217.11 confirms that the State Board of Nursing regulates nursing practice in the state and is to hold nurses responsible for conforming to state law. The same code section requires nurses to comply with mandatory reporting requirements of the Texas Nursing Practice Act. One of those Nursing Practice Act sections, Texas Occupations Code Section 301.401, obligates reporting of nursing conduct raising suspicion that drugs or alcohol impair the nurse's practice or that the nurse lacks conscientiousness, potentially posing a risk of harm to a patient or another person. Texas Occupations Code Section 301.4105 requires the Board of Nursing to determine whether alcohol or drugs may be impairing the nurse's practice and to restrict practice and discipline accordingly. Texas Occupations Code Section 301.452 further provides for disciplining a nurse for "intemperate use of alcohol or drugs that the Board determines endangers or could endanger a patient," "lack of fitness to practice because of a mental or physical health condition that could result in injury to a patient or the public," and similar grounds arguably relating to a felony DWI charge. The Board of Nursing has the regulatory authority to suspend or revoke a nurse's license.
What to Do
The first and best action that a nurse facing a felony DWI charge can take both for the defense of the criminal court charge and defense of a related licensing proceeding is to retain DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for representation in both proceedings. As to the license proceeding, attorney Murphy can first assist the nurse in satisfying any reporting requirements so that the nurse does not suffer license discipline simply for failure to report. Reports and responses to disciplinary proceedings must also be timely and accurate, which attorney Murphy's representation can help ensure. Vigorous defense of the felony DWI proceeding is also paramount for the nurse's license proceeding. Dismissal, reduction, or diversion of the felony DWI charge in the criminal court may result in the Board of Nursing abandoning the licensing investigation, dismissing the licensing proceeding, or mitigating any sanction.
Midwives
Regulatory Concerns
Midwives obviously have a special role in the health and safety of their patients preparing to deliver or delivering babies. Like other healthcare professionals involved in hands-on patient practice, midwives can, through competent practice, preserve and restore the health of their patients and their babies. Midwives can, conversely, harm and destroy the health of their patients and their babies through incompetent or recklessly indifferent practice. Depending on the circumstances, Texas regulators investigating a midwife's fitness and competence could reasonably construe felony DWI charges as creating inferences about the nurse's unfitness or incompetence. A felony DWI charge may reveal an underlying alcohol or drug addiction, which could potentially carry over into midwife practice under the influence of those intoxicants. A felony DWI charge may also leave an inference that the midwife is reckless or indifferent to the health and safety of others generally, potentially including patients. Expect midwife regulators to take notice of your felony DWI charges and convictions, either as they happen or when you pursue license renewal. Retain Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for the defense of your professional license proceeding.
Regulatory Authority
Practicing midwifery in Texas requires a current license issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Unlike Texas's licensing of physicians, dentists, and nurses, midwives don't have a separate licensing board. Instead, Texas's Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses midwives, much as the Department licenses podiatrists, certain therapists, orthotists, and various other health or health-related professions. The Department promulgates administrative rules for licensing and disciplining midwives. One of the first of those rules, Texas Administrative Code Section 115.2, requires midwives to obtain an initial license and to renew the license every two years to practice midwifery in the state. Other Department rules form an advisory midwives board to aid the Department in appropriate regulation, investigation, and discipline. Texas Administrative Code Section 115.70 states the Department's grounds for revoking, refusing to renew, or otherwise disciplining a midwife's license. Those grounds include "intemperate use of alcohol or drugs while engaged in the practice of midwifery," inability to practice midwifery safely due to various impairments, lack of personal or professional character, and other similar grounds potentially implicating felony DWI charges or convictions. The Department has the authority to discipline a midwife for those charges or convictions, preventing the midwife from practicing.
What to Do
Just because you face a felony DWI charge as a midwife in Texas doesn't mean that you will lose your professional license. Your retained DWI Specialist's vigorous defense of the criminal court charge could result in its abandonment, dismissal, or reduction. Your first and best move is to retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for skilled, experienced, and effective defense representation of the criminal charge. But at the same time, you should work closely with your retained DWI Specialist to report and respond to the Department of Licensing and Regulation officials responsible for investigating your fitness as a midwife. Depending on your unique circumstances, your retained DWI Specialist may advise you to self-report the charge or to await license renewal, when your DWI Specialist can advise you whether to disclose and what to disclose to accurately represent your criminal charge's status and disposition. Cooperate closely with your retained defense attorney. Hire attorney Doug Murphy for premier representation on both the criminal charge and license proceeding.
Lawyers
Regulatory Concerns
When prosecutors charge a Texas-licensed lawyer with felony DWI, regulator concerns are different from regulator concerns over healthcare professional competence and fitness. Obviously, lawyers do not medically treat patients. Lawyers instead represent clients in legal affairs. Those legal affairs are often critically important to the client. Legal affairs can be even more important than various health concerns requiring medical treatment. Lawyer regulators thus scrutinize felony DWI charges and convictions, although generally for different reasons. A lawyer's felony DWI charge may indicate alcohol or drug addiction, not endangering patient health or safety but instead risking a client's legal and financial harm. Intoxicated lawyers may miss deadlines, research and write ineptly, or negotiate and advocate incompetently. A lawyer charged with felony DWI may also have exhibited a reckless disregard for the law, when law practice regards the opposite keen devotion to the law. Lawyer regulators thus take special notice of felony DWI charges, requiring skilled and experienced professional license defense representation.
Regulatory Authority
The State Bar of Texas is the authority regulating lawyers practicing law in the state. The State Bar dedicates itself to "improving and advancing the quality of legal services to the public, protecting the public through the discipline system, and fostering integrity and ethical conduct in the legal profession." As such, the State Bar maintains Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that require competent and diligent representation. Lawyers must not neglect matters or fail to carry them out according to lawyer standards. The Disciplinary Rules also require lawyers to report any felony conviction or felony probation and certain misdemeanors. Other lawyers must also report a lawyer whose conduct indicates a substantial question of unfitness for practice.
What to Do
The State Bar of Texas maintains Rules of Disciplinary Procedures that differ in important respects from civil and criminal court rules of procedures. One big difference is that Texas lawyers facing disciplinary investigations have an affirmative obligation to make full and complete disclosures in response to disciplinary officials' requests for information. Lawyers have substantial legal and procedural training. But many fewer lawyers are trained and skilled in lawyer disciplinary proceedings. Very few lawyers are DWI Specialists with the skills and experience to defend high-stakes, complex felony DWI charges. And the lawyer who represents himself or herself has, as they say, a fool for a client. Retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your vigorous and effective defense of felony DWI charges and representation in your lawyer discipline proceeding.
Accountants
Regulatory Concerns
Certified public accountants facing Texas felony DWI charges risk losing their state-issued accountancy license. The misconception may be that accountants don't ordinarily transport clients or perform medical or other healthcare services, the failure in which, from intoxication, could physically injure a client. Yet CPAs handle their clients' most important financial and regulatory matters. And although financial and regulatory matters don't generally directly implicate a client's health or safety, those matters can certainly implicate a client's finances, legal status, and general welfare. Felony DWI charges can suggest a CPA's alcohol or drug addiction or generally reckless or indifferent behavior. Practicing accounting under the influence of intoxicants, or recklessly disregarding accounting obligations, can seriously damage a client's matters. Regulators of Texas accountants report license discipline for a felony DWI conviction, including license revocation. If you face felony DWI charges, your Texas CPA license is at risk.
Regulatory Authority
The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy licenses certified public accountants in the state. Its sole stated mission is to "protect the public by ensuring that persons issued certificates as certified public accountants possess the necessary education, skills, and capabilities and that they perform competently in the profession of public accountancy." The State Board of Accountancy both licenses CPAs initially and disciplines CPAs violating licensing standards under its own adopted regulations. Texas Administrative Code Rule 501.51 states the board's general regulatory requirements for state-licensed CPAs, including high standards of competence and protection of the public's best interests. The same rule recognizes that others rely heavily in their most important financial and regulatory matters on CPA competence, such that CPAs must "maintain[] high standards of personal and professional conduct in all matters." Rule 501.90 then lists the many violations an accountant could commit, including a felony conviction for a crime "involving alcohol abuse or controlled substances, or … the threat of physical harm." That provision clearly reaches a felony DWI conviction. Rule 501.53 also incorporates CPA rules of professional conduct. Those rules impose similar duties on the accountant to avoid conduct putting clients or others at risk. The State Board of Accountancy has plenty of authority to discipline a CPA for a felony DWI conviction.
What to Do
The above Rule 501.90, while authorizing discipline for a felony DWI conviction, does not expressly authorize discipline for felony DWI charges. Thus, the first and best thing you can do to preserve your CPA license in Texas is to retain a skilled and experienced DWI Specialist defense attorney to help you defend and, if possible, defeat or reduce the felony DWI charge. When you retain Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy, attorney Murphy can provide you with premier criminal defense representation. But you also have the license proceeding to potentially face. Attorney Murphy works closely with professionals facing DWI charges for their defense of license proceedings. You may need to report your felony DWI charge, or the prosecution may have already reported it to license disciplinary officials. Let attorney Murphy help you fill your professional license reporting and response obligations to give you the best opportunity to retain your professional license, even as he also vigorously defends your felony DWI charge.
Securities Brokers
Regulatory Concerns
Stockbrokers, financial analysts, investment advisors, bankers, and other registered representatives can make a good living doing good work under their FINRA Series 7 license or similar license. But registered representatives can also have strict fiduciary or fiduciary-like duties toward their customers' securities matters and other financial affairs. And indications that a registered representative may be unreliable in executing those duties could lead to their disqualification from licensure. While a felony DWI charge like intoxication assault is not among the primary regulator concerns, which instead focuses on financial fraud and corruption, a felony DWI conviction could present regulators of registered representatives with substantial reliability concerns. A felony DWI charge or conviction could indicate that a registered representative has a substance abuse problem, might be working while intoxicated, and may be reckless at work as on the public highway. In short, registered representatives facing felony DWI charges run the risk of losing their Series 7 license or another professional license.
Regulatory Authority
The Securities Exchange Act Section 3(a)(39) subjects registered representatives to statutory disqualification from licensure if convicted of any felony within ten years or barred or suspended by a self-regulatory organization or other appropriate regulatory agency. FINRA guidance indicates that a Section 3(a)(39) statutory bar also prevents the registered representative from employment or other association with any FINRA member. The Investment Advisers Act Section 203(e) similarly authorizes the SEC to deny registration as an investment advisor if the advisor suffered a felony conviction within ten years. Registered representatives also have one of the strictest reporting requirements among all professions. Registered representatives must generally promptly file an updated U-4 form for felony convictions and for felony charges involving fraud, extortion, bribery, or other unethical activities. While felony DWI charges may not fall strictly within that requirement, failing to report a reportable offense carries substantial discipline risks. So does falsely representing the nature, status, or outcome of felony charges. Don't ignore those risks. Consult your DWI Specialist attorney on reporting requirements.
What to Do
Just because you face a felony DWI charge does not mean you will lose your FINRA Series 7 license. Successfully defending and defeating the felony DWI charge with the vigorous representation of skilled and experienced DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy would very likely permit you to continue in securities practice. Attorney Murphy represents registered representatives in license matters, coordinating his aggressive and effective defense of your felony DWI charges. FINRA authorizes eligibility proceedings to challenge, overturn, or avoid license disqualification. Under those FINRA provisions, a registered representative facing a felony DWI charge or having suffered a felony conviction may file applications for a hearing that permits the representative to continue with securities practice and employment. Retain and rely on attorney Murphy to represent you in both your criminal court felony DWI proceeding and your Series 7 or other license proceeding. Preserve your valuable securities practice against the serious risk that felony DWI charges present, with all their attendant collateral consequences. Retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your best outcome.
Teachers
Regulatory Concerns
Teachers occupy a different position of trust than the position that medical doctors and nurses, dentists, lawyers, and accountants occupy. Teachers have substantial control and influence over the young. Regulators of teachers focus their concerns on the teacher's ability to maintain the safe conduct and good moral behavior necessary both to protect the young in their charge and to positively educate and influence as a role models for the young. Depending on the charge's circumstances and the teacher's record and response, a teacher's felony DWI charge can implicate regulator concerns as to both the teacher's role in student safety and the teacher's role as a model for student behavior. A teacher with a substance abuse issue or who violates criminal laws that have to do with public safety could be unsafe in controlling and transporting students and a questionable role model for students. Felony DWI charges place the teacher's certificate at risk of revocation and the teacher's employment at risk of termination. The State Board for Educator Certification states that "two or more crimes committed within a 12-month period that involve public intoxication, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, or disorderly conduct" directly relate to a teacher's duties and responsibilities. Retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy to defend your felony DWI charges while assisting you with your teaching certificate disciplinary proceeding.
Regulatory Authority
The Texas Administrative Code Rule 247.2 sets forth the state-enforced Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators. The Texas Education Agency promulgates that Code of Ethics, and the State Board for Educator Certification enforces those rules through disciplinary proceedings. Rule 247.2 expressly requires certified teachers to "comply with state regulations, written local school board policies, and other state and federal laws." Rule 247.2 also requires certified teachers to "be of good moral character and be worthy to instruct or supervise the youth of this state." Rule 247.2 further requires certified teachers to "refrain from the illegal use[ or] abuse… of controlled substances" and to "not be under the influence of alcohol or consume alcoholic beverages on school property or during school activities when students are present." These provisions are clearly broad enough for a felony DWI to implicate the certified teacher in a regulatory violation. Felony DWI violates state law, arguably implicates poor moral character and trustworthiness, could, in certain cases, involve substance abuse, and could leave an inference that the teacher might have consumed alcohol on school property or during school activities. The State Board for Educator Certification has plenty of authority to charge a teacher facing a felony DWI conviction with license discipline.
What to Do
The teacher who faces a felony DWI charge clearly risks State Board for Educator Certification discipline. But as shown above, the State Board generally requires two or more DWI or similar convictions. Your felony DWI charge does not presumptively meet the State Board's published criteria for discipline, especially insofar as a charge is not the same as a conviction. Your best move is to retain a DWI Specialist to vigorously defend your DWI charges. You also, though, have your teacher certification duties to address. You may have to report your felony DWI arrest, depending on the circumstances. When you retain Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy, attorney Murphy can both provide you with premier defense representation of the felony DWI charge in criminal court and help you evaluate and satisfy your teacher certification reporting obligations. Hire one preeminent attorney for both your criminal court defense and teacher certification proceedings. Your teaching certificate and career are worth your best available defense.
Real Estate Agents
Regulatory Concerns
Real estate agents deal in matters of substantial trust, requiring their good character and sound competence for financial, contractual, relational, and legal matters. Real estate matters can be very important not only to the finances of the buyers and sellers of real property but also to their mental, physical, and emotional well-being and general welfare. Sellers and buyers have a lot riding on real estate transactions. And so, real estate agents clearly need to be trustworthy and have high integrity, or their sellers and buyers may suffer substantial loss, damage, inconvenience, and other disruption. A real estate agent's felony DWI charge may not directly place at risk the interests of sellers or buyers of real estate, unless they happen to ride along with their intoxicated agent. But a felony DWI charge could suggest a substance abuse issue and recklessness or indifference issues affecting a real estate agent's competence. Those concerns are why the Texas Real Estate Commission concerns itself with the felony conviction of real estate agents generally, including felony DWI convictions.
Regulatory Authority
Texas's Real Estate License Act requires persons engaged in the promotion of real estate purchases and sales for another for consideration to obtain and maintain a real estate license. Texas Administrative Code Rule 531.4 confirms that license obligation. To get and keep a real estate license, an agent must meet Texas Occupations Code Section 1101.354's requirement for "honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity." License renewals are subject to the same trustworthiness and integrity obligations. A criminal conviction, especially a felony conviction, is an indication of a real estate agent's untrustworthiness or lack of integrity. Texas Occupations Code Section 1101.652 expressly authorizes the revocation or suspension of a real estate agent's license when the agent pleads guilty, or no contest to, or suffers conviction on, a felony. The Texas Real Estate Commission pursues and publishes license disciplinary actions against real estate agents, many involving such convictions. Texas Real Estate Commission revocation, suspension, or other license discipline is a real prospect for real estate agents facing felony DWI charges and convictions.
What to Do
The first wise thing that a real estate agent concerned about the professional license can do is to retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy to help you determine your duty to report and timely comply with that duty. Texas Occupations Code Section 1101.652 and other law requires a real estate agent pleading guilty or no contest to, or convicted of, a felony DWI to report the event. Failure to report in a timely manner is its own basis for license discipline. You may or may not have a similar duty to report the felony DWI charge. Consult attorney Murphy regarding all professional license reporting, response, and other obligations. Attorney Murphy regularly represents real estate agents and other professionals before their licensing bodies. Your other great concern, though, should be in defending and defeating the felony DWI charges, which on its own could forestall a real estate license proceeding. Retain attorney Murphy for a vigorous defense of those felony DWI criminal charges for your best outcome in both your criminal court proceeding and your real estate license matter. Respect both your professional and personal interests while avoiding collateral consequences.
Commercial Vehicle Drivers
Regulatory Concerns
In their commercial driver's license or CDL, commercial vehicle drivers have a great career and financial asset. Commercial vehicle driving can be especially rewarding with recent increases in delivery commerce. But commercial vehicle drivers have a special safety obligation in hauling that commerce over the public highways. Those extra commercial vehicle safety risks are why federal and state laws require CDLs for commercial vehicle operation and lower the commercial vehicle DWI alcohol limits to .04, below non-commercial vehicle DWI's alcohol limit of .08. Intoxicated commercial vehicle drivers present special safety risks, given the greater distances they drive and the generally larger and heavier loads they haul. Those safety risks are also why commercial vehicle drivers face greater presumptive CDL suspensions than non-commercial drivers would face for an ordinary driver's license. Regulators have very substantial and justified concerns over felony DWI charges for commercial vehicle operators. You should expect commercial vehicle license disciplinary action in the event of a felony DWI charge.
Regulatory Authority
The Federal Motor Carriers Act conditions federal highway funds on state compliance with federal commercial vehicle license laws and regulations. Federal regulations at 49 CFR Section 384.101 et seq. carry that federal funding mandate into effect, ensuring that Texas and other states adopt the federal act's requirements relating to impaired driving of commercial vehicles. All states, not just Texas, lower the alcohol limits for conviction of DWI offenses involving the operation of commercial vehicles. The Texas Department of Public Safety summarizes the state's presumptive CDL suspensions authorized under Texas Transportation Code Section 522.081 to comply with the federal act. Under that Texas law, a felony DWI first offense carries at least a one-year CDL disqualification, while a felony DWI second offense carries a lifetime CDL disqualification. A felony DWI is a most serious offense for affecting a CDL license.
What to Do
The first and best thing you can do to save your CDL is to retain a skilled and experienced DWI Specialist to vigorously contest your felony DWI charge. You must generally beat the felony DWI charge to preserve your CDL license without significant disqualification and commercial driving interruption. But at the same time, you have a very important step to take very near your felony DWI arrest, which is to retain a preeminent DWI Specialist to invoke your administrative license hearing rights. Fortunately, despite the presumptive suspension of a CDL for one year, three years, or even up to a lifetime CDL disqualification, commercial vehicle drivers can also resist CDL suspension in an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing. Retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy to timely invoke your ALR hearing and effectively assert your legal defenses at the hearing. You have far too much on the line in preserving your CDL to entrust your representation to anyone less than the best available attorney representative.
Pilots
Regulatory Concerns
Regulators of pilots have substantial and justified concerns over a pilot's felony DWI charges and convictions. As in the case of commercial vehicle operators, pilots operate transportation equipment that requires special attention to safety. Pilots must follow flight protocols rigorously or face a substantially increased risk of flight crashes. An intoxicated pilot may suffer mental and physical impairments that make takeoff, flight, and landing highly unsafe under circumstances where air crashes are very likely to be fatal. Airline transport crashes can devastate the families of passengers dying in the crash while also presenting large land hazards. Commercial, private, and recreational flights also present catastrophic potential loss and damage. Thus, regulators of pilots will have grave concerns over a pilot's felony DWI charge.
Regulatory Authority
To obtain a pilot's license, whether for recreational, private, or commercial purposes, you must first obtain an aviation medical certificate. An aviation medical certificate confirms your health for piloting. But the FAA holds that substance abuse and substance dependence are each disqualifying medical conditions: "A diagnosis or medical history of substance dependence is disqualifying unless there is established clinical evidence, satisfactory to the Federal Air Surgeon, of recovery, including sustained total abstinence from the substance for not less than the preceding 2 years. A history of substance abuse within the preceding 2 years is disqualifying. Substance includes alcohol and other drugs…." First Class Medical Certificates qualify a pilot for airline transport flight, while Second Class Medical Certificates qualify a pilot for commercial flight, and Third Class Medical Certificates qualify a pilot for student, recreational, private, and instructor flight. Depending on the pilot's age and other health circumstances, and the certificate class, an aviation medical certificate lasts from six months to five years. An FAA aviation medical certificate is an effective federal gatekeeper for pilot licenses when the pilot first applies or seeks license renewal.
What to Do
The pilot facing a felony DWI has two concerns, first over the criminal charge itself and second over the pilot's license. As to the criminal charge, the pilot should retain skilled and experienced DWI Specialist attorney representation to vigorously contest the charge. Beating the felony DWI charge may result in no pilot's license disciplinary action, while conviction on the felony DWI charge may well result in pilot license revocation. Fortunately, FAA reporting requirements don't plainly require disclosure of a felony DWI charge. Yet FAA reporting requirements do require disclosure of driver's license suspensions and DWI convictions. While the pilot's goal is to see the DWI charge dismissed, the FAA reporting requirements make any driver's license suspension of nearly equal concern. You should, therefore, promptly retain a DWI Specialist to invoke your Administrative License Restoration (ALR) hearing rights to preserve your driver's license from suspension. Otherwise, you must report the suspension to the FAA within sixty days and will likely face a pilot's license proceeding. Retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for his experience preserving pilot's licenses in the course of aggressively and effectively defending felony DWI charges.
Security Professionals
Regulatory Concerns
Professionals with security clearances have significant professional interests riding on felony DWI charges. Employers generally require security clearances only of those employees having access to highly valuable or sensitive confidential information. Those employees tend to be professionals with equally valuable skills and equally sensitive interests. Losing the security clearance can mean losing the job or an essential part of the job, with related loss of pay, benefits, reputation, and opportunity for advancement. Felony DWI charges affect security clearances for several reasons. Any DWI charge may indicate that the security professional has an addiction issue that may contribute to security inattention and lapses, and even secrecy and trust issues in the case of the abuse of illegal drugs. A felony DWI charge may suggest recklessness or indifference to duty when security professionals must generally pay close attention to duty issues. Those who issue security clearances are thus likely to have significant concerns over felony DWI charges and convictions.
Regulatory Authority
The authority for security clearances tends to depend on the agency or employer requiring the clearance. The Department of Defense's Adjudicative Guidelines for Determining Eligibility for Access to Classified Information, though, provide a reliable federal guide for these discussion purposes. Five of the thirteen federal guidelines implicate felony DWI charges or convictions: (1) Guideline E on personal conduct, requiring trustworthiness and reliability; (2) Guideline G on alcohol consumption; (3) Guideline H on drug involvement; (4) Guideline I on mental, emotional, and personality disorders; and (5) Guideline J on criminal conduct creating doubt about judgment. The related federal regulation 32 CFR 147.2 lists nine factors for determining whether to grant a security clearance in a close call case such as with a felony DWI charge or conviction: (1) the nature, extent, and seriousness of the conduct; (2) the circumstances surrounding the conduct including knowledgeable participation; (3) the frequency and recency of the conduct; (4) the person's age and maturity at the time of the conduct; (5) the voluntariness of participation; (6) the presence or absence of rehabilitation and other pertinent behavioral changes; (7) the motivation for the conduct; (8) the potential for pressure, coercion, exploitation, or duress; and (9) the likelihood of continuation of recurrence. Employers and agencies approving security clearances may use these or similar factors to determine whether a felony DWI should revoke your security clearance.
What to Do
Your aggressive and effective DWI Specialist defense of the felony DWI charges may result in their abandonment or dismissal, or your jury acquittal on the charges. Retain premier Texas DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your best outcome on those charges. Attorney Murphy also has substantial experience representing security professionals in DWI cases, including working to preserve the security credential. The above federal guidelines suggest a substantial opportunity for your retained DWI Specialist to advocate mitigating factors in favor of your retaining your security clearance. Your best move is to retain attorney Murphy for both the criminal and security proceedings.
Electricians and Other Tradesmen
Regulatory Concerns
Electricians and other licensed or regulated trades, businesses, and service professionals can also gain regulator concern when facing felony DWI charges. Tradesmen and service professionals can handle dangerous and critical equipment, have access to secure homes and businesses, and engage in other critical and sensitive work. And failing in that work because of intoxication, substance abuse, reckless disregard for law and safety can cause significant property loss and damage, even exposing individuals to health and safety risks. A felony DWI may signal to regulators that the electrician, other tradesmen, or service professional may be untrustworthy and unreliable in professional matters, just as in personal conduct. In short, felony DWIs like intoxication manslaughter or DWI with a child passenger can gain the attention of trade regulators.
Regulatory Authority
Texas Administrative Code Section 73.100 et seq. sets forth the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation provisions governing electricians. Other nearby parts of the Licensing and Regulation code govern other trades, including HVAC, boiler, elevator, vehicle towing, cosmetologists, barbers, orthotists, speech and language pathologists, audiologists, and salvage yard trades, businesses, or professions. Honesty and trustworthiness are a requirement of Texas Administrative Code Section 73.60 for electricians, just as those attributes would be requirements for other regulated trades and professions. Texas Occupations Code Section 53.025(a) authorizes the Department of Licensing and Regulation to issue guidelines for licensees with criminal convictions. The Department has listed ten factors, including the nature and seriousness of the crime; the relationship of the crime to the purposes for requiring a license to engage in the occupation; the extent to which a license might engage in further criminal activity of the same type; the relationship of the crime to the licensee's ability, capacity, or fitness; the age at criminal conviction; the time elapsed; the person's rehabilitation; and letters of recommendation.
What to Do
The best move for a tradesperson or service professional facing felony DWI charges is to retain a skilled and experienced DWI Specialist both to vigorously contest the felony DWI charge in criminal court and to assist with the licensing proceeding. Recognize and respect the value of your professional license. Retain the best defense attorney representative available for both proceedings.
Premier Texas DWI Specialist for Professional Defense
Professionals have a lot on the line when facing Texas felony DWI charges. Premier Texas DWI Specialist defense attorney Doug Murphy provides skilled and experienced defense representation for professionals not only in criminal court proceedings but also in related professional license proceedings. Your felony DWI charge may require that you report the charge to your licensing body, or licensing officials may discover the charge even if you have no duty to report it. Felony DWI defense requires DWI Specialist skills for the best possible outcome. Related professional license proceedings also benefit from a DWI Specialist's skills. Don't ignore your professional license proceeding when charged with a Texas felony DWI. Instead, retain attorney Murphy to represent you in both proceedings, coordinating your criminal defense with your license defense for your best outcome. Attorney Murphy is one of only two Texas lawyers board certified in both DWI defense and criminal law. Attorney Murphy is so widely respected that he frequently lectures other lawyers and judges nationwide on DWI defense issues. Best Lawyers in America named attorney Murphy 2023 Lawyer of the Year for Houston DWI defense. Call (713) 229-8333 or go online now to retain attorney Murphy. Your professional license, reputation, and practice are worth retaining the best available DWI Specialist defense attorney for your best possible outcome.
