OAR 804-001-0025: Criminal Conviction Determination Process

(1) Prior to beginning an education program required for registration in landscape architecture, an individual who was convicted of a crime may petition the Board for a determination as to whether the criminal conviction will prevent the individual from receiving a registration to practice landscape architecture in Oregon issued by the Board. The individual is referred to as a petitioner in this rule. (2) To be complete, a petition must include, at a minimum, the following: (a) a complete and signed determination request form; (b) the required fee specified in OAR 804-040-0000; (c) the following records and information related to the final judgment of each criminal conviction: (A) a certified copy of the judgment of criminal conviction; (B) all charging documents; (C) all arrest reports; (D) all probation and parole records; (E) a written statement from petitioner regarding the facts underlying the criminal conviction and any intervening circumstances since the conviction; and (d) a written statement or other document listing all criminal convictions, including dates of conviction and a summary of the facts underlying each criminal conviction, if the petitioner has more than one criminal conviction. (3) A separate completed petition and fee must be filed for each criminal conviction for which the petitioner is requesting a determination. (4) If any of the records in (2)(c) no longer exist, have been sealed, or are otherwise unavailable to the petitioner, then the petitioner must provide evidence from the agency, court, or other public body that held the record that the record no longer exists. (5) If any of the documents and information required under subsections (2) and (4) are not provided, petitioner will have 60 days to provide the required documents and information. Upon failure to comply, the petition will be deemed incomplete and closed without a determination. (6) The petition, the records and information submitted with the petition, and the Board’s determination, are public records and subject to disclosure under Oregon’s Public Records Laws the same as for any completed application for registration. (7) The Board will reconsider a determination that a criminal conviction prevents the person from obtaining a registration when the person submits a completed application for registration. (8) Upon reconsideration, the Board may rescind a previous determination that a criminal conviction does not prevent the person from obtaining a registration if the applicant: (a) Has allegations or charges pending in criminal court; (b) Has failed to disclose a previous criminal conviction; (c) Has been convicted of another crime during the period between the determination and the person’s submission of a completed application for registration; or (d) Has been convicted of a crime that, during the period between the determination and the person’s submission of a completed application for registration, became subject to a change in state or federal law that prohibits registration because of a conviction of that crime. (9) Failure to disclose a previous criminal conviction includes any misrepresentation of a prior criminal conviction, any concealment or failure to disclose a material fact about a prior criminal conviction, and any other misinformation regarding a prior criminal conviction. (10) Nothing in this rule prohibits the Board from denying registration when the person submits a completed application for a reason other than conviction of a crime. (11) A determination under this rule is not a final determination of the Board.