Kansas most recent state to revise occupational licensing law
Occupational and professional licensing
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-120, originally enacted in 1972, provides as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person, board, commission or similar body who determines the qualifications of individuals for licensure, certification or registration may consider any felony conviction of the applicant, but such a conviction shall not operate as a bar to licensure, certification or registration.
In May 2018 this general licensing statute was amended to add several additional provisions. See HB 2386, available here: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/hb2386_enrolled.pdf. The 2018 amendments require licensing boards to “list the specific civil and criminal records that could disqualify an applicant from receiving a license, certification or registration.” Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-120(b)(1). Importantly, boards “may only list any disqualifying criminal records or civil court records that are directly related to protecting the general welfare and the duties and responsibilities for such entities.” Moreover, ”in no case shall non-specific terms, such as moral turpitude or good character, or any arrests that do not result in a conviction be used to disqualify an individual’s application for licensure, certification, or registration.” Id.
Licensing boards are prohibited from considering an otherwise disqualifying criminal record or civil court record if five years have passed since the individual satisfied the sentence imposed and the individual has had no other convictions during that time. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-120(b)(2). However, boards may consider felony convictions, Class A misdemeanor convictions, and any conviction for which licensure could conflict with federal law, regardless of the time passed since the conviction. Id.
The amendments also provide individuals the opportunity to petition a licensing board at any time for a preliminary “informal, written advisory opinion concerning whether the individual’s civil or criminal records will disqualify the individual from obtaining such license, certification or registration.” Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-120(b)(3). The board must respond to the petition within 120 days of receipt, and may not charge more than $50 for the response; however, the advisory opinion is not binding. Id.
There are 13 enumerated exceptions that cast a broad carve-out from the 2018 amendments, including: law enforcement and highway patrol officers, accountants, behavioral scientists, doctors and pharmacists, emergency medical personnel and nurses, realtors, the office of the attorney general, municipalities, and “any profession that has an educational requirement for licensure that requires a degree beyond a bachelor’s degree.” Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-120(c).
Health care licensure and employment
In 2018, the legislature amended several laws relating to licensure, employment and background checks of employees of adult care homes, home health agencies, and other centers, hospitals, and facilities offering behavioral and disability services. See HB 2386, available here: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/hb2386/; see also Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 39-970, 39-2009, 65-5117. In general, people with certain specified convictions may not be employed by the entities in question for a period of five years after completion of sentence, although this period of disqualification may be waived by the secretary for aging or disability services.
- SBA takes one step toward fair chance lending, but needs to take another - September 7, 2023
- CCRC seeking a Deputy Director - June 13, 2023
- Biden Administration announces actions to promote reintegration - April 28, 2023
- SBA modifies criminal history restrictions in its loan programs - April 14, 2023
- DC enacts progressive new record-clearing law - April 6, 2023
- Pending federal reforms promise support for justice-affected entrepreneurs - March 9, 2023
- SBA proposes to ease criminal history restrictions in loan programs - January 19, 2023
- Oklahoma and California win Reintegration Champion awards for 2022 laws - January 17, 2023
- The Frontiers of Dignity: Clean Slate and Other Criminal Record Reforms in 2022 - January 10, 2023
- Marijuana legalization and record clearing in 2022 - December 20, 2022