Michigan Expungement and Professional Licenses: Nursing, CDL, and Teaching Certificates

A Michigan set-aside shields your conviction from public view. MCL 780.623 permits access to nonpublic records for listed entities and purposes, including judicial-branch licensing functions; it does not grant general access to all state licensing boards. Check the specific board's separate authority and disclosure rules.

LARA's Access to Sealed Records

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) regulates health professions, builders, and skilled trades, among other professions. CDL and teaching credentials are handled under separate licensing systems. The general access list in MCL 780.623 does not by itself give LARA boards access to nonpublic set-aside records; check the statute governing the specific license.

Nursing Licenses

MCL 333.16222(3) requires covered health-profession licensees and registrants to report specified criminal convictions within 30 days. That provision concerns licensees and registrants, not every applicant or every LARA license; check the applicable board's current instructions about a set-aside conviction.

Nursing applicants should check the applicable board's current disclosure rules and be prepared to discuss the offense and provide evidence of rehabilitation. The product research does not establish offense-specific licensing outcomes.

A set-aside alone does not determine whether an applicant qualifies for a license; the board's rules and review still apply.

CDL and Commercial Driving

Under MCL 780.621c, a traffic conviction is ineligible for a set-aside if it was committed by a person with a commercial-motor-vehicle endorsement while operating that vehicle or was otherwise a commercial-motor-vehicle violation. The exclusion applies to both petition and automatic set-asides.

Non-commercial offenses may have a different eligibility analysis. A first-offense OWI may be set aside by petition if statutory requirements are met, but OWI is not eligible for automatic set-aside. An order cannot require removal of a traffic conviction from the Secretary of State driving record under MCL 780.621c(5); the driving record is separate from the MSP criminal history system.

Teaching Certificates

Teaching certificates involve a separate licensing authority. The product research does not establish that agency's access to nonpublic records, disclosure requirements, or offense-specific licensing rules. Check the current instructions from the agency that handles your certificate.

Preparing for Board Review

If you are applying for a professional license with a set-aside conviction:

1. Read the specific licensing agency's disclosure questions and instructions; do not assume the set-aside removes a disclosure duty
2. Provide a copy of the set-aside court order
3. Prepare a rehabilitation portfolio: employment history, education, professional references, treatment records if applicable
4. Write a personal statement explaining the circumstances and what has changed

The Michigan Expungement & Record Sealing Guide includes a licensing board preparation checklist, a LARA disclosure framework, and templates for the personal statement and rehabilitation documentation.

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