Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Provides an Overview of Licensing Boards

Many people come to my office holding a notice from a state licensing board, and their first questions usually involve the powers and protocols of that board. As a result, I receive many questions regarding licensing boards, such as why they exist and what are the scope of their powers. I have written the following blog post to answer those questions.

If you are a licensed professional in Kansas or Missouri facing an allegation of misconduct or an investigation, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation. Your career, reputation, and livelihood are at risk, and the challenge facing you is one you cannot work your way through alone.

The Constitution Protects Your Property Interest in Your License

The U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment prevents the state from taking your “life, liberty, or property” without due process of law. You have a property interest in your license; while it is not a piece of land or a house that you pay for, it is an object that you invested time and money into attaining.  Accordingly, the state cannot take or diminish that property—your license—without due process of law.

There are a tremendous number of settings where the state has to provide due process. If the state is going to take your life using the death penalty, there are extensive court requirements, including the right to a jury trial and appeals. Similarly, if the state is going to take your liberty by putting you in jail, you will have hearings and a trial first.  But if the state is going to suspend your professional license, a less onerous deprivation, it usually delegates the due process hearing to an administrative body.  That administrative body develops expertise in the areas it is charged with regulating and bears responsibility for disciplining members of a professional group.  The administrative body is the state licensing board.

Due process is often associated with courts and legal proceedings.  But the licensing board does not have to take you to court to suspend your license or to impose other discipline. For the licensing board to impose discipline, the due process requirements are relatively straightforward—the state must provide you with notice of the allegations against you and any penalties that may be imposed as a result; the state must provide you with an opportunity to review the information being used to support those allegations; and the state must provide you with a chance to state your argument in opposition to the allegations against you.

Accordingly, in both Kansas and Missouri we have licensing boards that govern all of each states’ licensed professionals.  They set standards for attaining licenses, establish criteria for maintaining a license and investigate and discipline license-holders who may have fallen short of licensing requirements.  If a license holder disagrees with the licensing board’s decision, those decisions may be appealed to the courts, all the way to the state supreme court, for further review.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now for the Advice You Need

You have worked too hard to attain your professional license to lose it because you failed to attain professional legal advice when you needed it. You need to speak to a licensing attorney as soon as you become aware that there are allegations concerning your professional conduct or ethics.  Contacting an experienced licensing attorney now can mean the difference between getting back to helping your patients or clients and losing your career forever.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend your license. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with professional licensing issues.

 

 

 

 

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