Congratulations on choosing nursing as a career, and welcome to the Vocational Nursing Program. Before you begin nursing school, you must be aware of the following circumstances that could prevent you from being licensed as a nurse in Texas. Criminal offenses include those pending appeal:

1. Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor, not including Class C traffic violations?
2. Have you been convicted of a felony?
3. Have you pled nolo contendere, no contest, or guilty?
4. Have you received deferred adjudication?
5. Have you been placed on community supervision or court-ordered probation, whether or not adjudicated guilty?
6. Have you been sentenced to serve jail time, prison time, or court-ordered confinement?
7. Have you been granted pre-trial diversion?
8. Have you been arrested or any pending criminal charges?
9. Have you been cited or charged with any violation of the law?
10. Were you subject of a court-martial, Article 15 violation, or any form of military judgment/punishment/action?
11. Are you currently the target or subject of a grand jury or governmental agency investigation?
12. Has any licensing authority refused to issue you a license or ever revoked, annulled, cancelled, accepted surrender of, suspended, placed on probation, refused to renew a license, certificate or multi-state privilege held by you now or previously, or ever fined, censured, reprimanded or otherwise disciplined you?
13. Within the past five (5) years, have you been addicted to and/or treated for the use of alcohol or any other drug?*
14. Within the past five (5) years, have you been diagnosed with, treated, or hospitalized for schizophrenia and/or psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, paranoid personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, or borderline personality disorder?*

If your response is “yes” to any of the questions listed above, there is a possibility you may be denied the opportunity to take the licensure examination. You are strongly encouraged to submit a petition for “Declaratory Order” to the Board of Nursing prior to enrollment or within the first semester of the program. For information or guidance in this process to determine eligibility for licensure by examination, please contact the Board of Nursing. The Declaratory Order form can be accessed at this link.

Expunged and Sealed Offenses:  While expunged or sealed offenses, arrests, tickets, or citations need not be disclosed, it is your responsibility to ensure the offense, arrest, ticket or citation has, in fact, been expunged or sealed. It is recommended that you submit a copy of the Court Order expunging or sealing the record in question to our office with your application. Failure to reveal an offense, arrest, ticket, or citation that is not in fact expunged or sealed, will at a minimum, subject your license to a disciplinary fine. Non-disclosure of relevant offenses raises questions related to truthfulness and character.

Orders of Non-Disclosure:  Pursuant to Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.142(b), if you have criminal matters that are the subject of an order of non-disclosure, you are not required to reveal those criminal matters on this form. However, a criminal matter that is the subject of an order of non-disclosure may become a character and fitness issue. Pursuant to other sections of the Gov’t Code chapter 411, the Texas Nursing Board is entitled to access criminal history record information that is the subject of an order of non-disclosure. If the Board discovers a criminal matter that is the subject of an order of non-disclosure, even if you properly did not reveal that matter, the Board may require you to provide information about any conduct that raises issues of character.

Should you have questions regarding this notice, please do not hesitate to contact the Vocational Nursing Program.