Consent Order

If you receive a Consent Order for consideration, it means that the board has reviewed your case and has identified one or more breaches of the Practice Act and/or regulations governing your profession that it believes it can prove if the case proceeds to an evidentiary hearing. In other words, it means that the board has taken the position that your case should result in the discipline and/or monetary penalty specified in the Consent Order.

If you accept a Consent Order, it means that you agree that its contents are true. In other words, you agree that the factual findings and conclusions of law stated in the Consent Order are true and appropriate for your case, and that you accept the discipline and/or monetary penalty it imposes on you and your license.

You cannot accept a Consent Order, and then later reject it. You cannot accept it, and then later claim that its contents are false, or that it is unjust. If you disagree with, or do not want to accept, the Consent Order, you can reject it and take your case to an evidentiary hearing.

To accept a Consent Order, you must take it to a notary public, and sign it in the presence of the notary. You then submit the notarized and signed document to the board.

A Consent Order becomes effective once it is signed by both you and the board's designee.  The Consent Order is then posted to the board's website and will show up on your license page on the board's website. It also gets reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank and any other national entity to which the board reports it.  To learn more about the implications of signing a Consent Order, you should click on this link to read about disciplinary action and its implications on your license, career, and employment.

A Consent Order cannot be expunged and stays with your license forever.

Once you reject the Consent Order, you cannot later accept it or re-negotiate a settlement to your case. In other words, the board's settlement offer to you contained in the Consent Order is "taken off the table" and will never be available to you again.

If you reject the Consent Order and take your case to an evidentiary hearing, all applicable disciplinary action(s) and monetary penalties that apply to you case are put back on the table. This means that the evidentiary hearing can result in a reprimand, probation, suspension, or revocation of your license, and/or a monetary penalty. You should refer to the charging document in your case to read about the possible disciplinary action and/or monetary penalty that the board can unilaterally impose on you if you take your case to an evidentiary hearing.

Following the evidentiary hearing, the board will decide your case and determine unilaterally what discipline and/or monetary penalty, if any, it will impose on you.

The Consent Order is your only opportunity for you to agree to a settlement and resolution of your case without your case proceeding to an evidentiary hearing, or the board unilaterally imposing disciplinary action and/or a monetary penalty.

When deciding whether to accept or reject a Consent Order, it is important to consider the possible and likely outcomes if you take your case to an evidentiary hearing.

It is also important to understand the implications of discipline and/or a monetary penalty generally, whether such discipline and/or penalty results from a Consent Order or the board's unilateral decision following an evidentiary hearing.