Sex-Offense Convictions, Professional Licenses and Employment in Michigan

A sex-offense conviction in Michigan has licensing and employment consequences set by statutes outside the criminal code. For health professionals it is a ground for license discipline and, in some cases, mandatory permanent revocation.^[1][2] For teachers it triggers summary suspension of the teaching certificate, and schools may not employ a person convicted of a listed offense.^[3][5] Other fields have their own rules.

This page covers the professions for which a statute or court rule was verified for this guide: health professionals licensed under the Public Health Code, certified teachers and school employees, child care, adult foster care, and attorneys, plus the general statute on licensed occupations. It does not cover every licensed occupation. For a profession not listed here, the governing licensing statute has to be checked directly.

Which fields are covered, at a glance?

Field	What a conviction triggers
Health professions (Public Health Code)	Summary suspension on conviction of a felony or a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 2 years; discipline up to permanent revocation[7][1][2]
Certified teachers	Summary suspension of the teaching certificate for CSC in any degree or any other listed offense; no reinstatement after a listed-offense conviction[3][4]
School employment (any role)	No employment in any capacity once a listed-offense conviction is verified[5]
Child care	No license for an applicant convicted of a listed offense; people registered or required to register are ineligible to be licensees, adult household members or staff[8][9]
Adult foster care (direct services)	Barred for 15 years after completing sentence, parole and probation for a felony involving CSC; 10 years after conviction for a misdemeanor involving CSC[10]
Attorneys	Automatic suspension on conviction of a felony[11]

Health professionals

Conviction as a ground for discipline

The Public Health Code lists conviction of first-, second- or third-degree CSC (and of an offense under MCL 750.520f) as a ground for discipline, and says a certified copy of the court record is conclusive evidence of the conviction.^[1] Conviction of fourth-degree CSC or of assault with intent to commit CSC is a separate ground, with sanctions that range from probation to permanent revocation.^[12]

Mandatory permanent revocation

A disciplinary subcommittee "shall impose the sanction of permanent revocation" for a first-, second- or third-degree CSC conviction "if the violation occurred while the licensee or registrant was acting within the health profession for which the licensee or registrant was licensed or registered."^[2] An individual whose license is permanently revoked is ineligible for reinstatement.^[13]

Permanent revocation is also the only listed sanction for a conviction of sexual contact or penetration under pretext of medical treatment.^[14] That crime was rewritten effective October 10, 2023 and is a felony punishable by up to 20 years, or up to 25 years where the misrepresentation concerns sexual penetration.^[15] It is explained in sexual conduct by health and mental health professionals.

Summary suspension

If a licensee is convicted of a felony, or of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for a maximum term of 2 years, the department "shall find that the public health, safety, or welfare requires emergency action" and shall summarily suspend the license.^[7] Fourth-degree CSC is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years.^[16]

The department may also summarily suspend a license without any conviction, after consultation with the chair of the appropriate board, if the public health, safety or welfare requires emergency action.^[7]

Other sanctions and reinstatement

• A disciplinary subcommittee may impose a fine of up to $250,000 for a violation of the conviction-based grounds.^[17]
• After a revocation that is not permanent, an applicant ordinarily may not apply for reinstatement for 3 years; where the license was revoked for a CSC-related conviction, the wait is 5 years.^[18]
• Sexual conduct with a patient, and offering practice-related services in exchange for sexual favors, are grounds for discipline that do not depend on a conviction; the available sanctions are probation, suspension, revocation, limitation, denial, restitution or fine.^[19]

Reporting duties

A licensee "shall notify the department of any criminal conviction within 30 days after the date of the conviction," and failure to do so results in administrative action.^[20] A licensee who has knowledge that another licensee has committed a violation must report it to the department.^[21]

How a licensing complaint is investigated, including confidentiality before a formal complaint is issued, is covered in licensing board investigations of sexual misconduct.^[22]

Teachers and school employees

Duties that begin with the charge

The school code imposes duties before any conviction. A school employee, an applicant with a completed background check, or a regular contractor who is charged with a crime listed in the school code must report the charge to the Department of Education and to the school within 3 business days after being arraigned.^[23]

Failing to report is a felony punishable by up to 2 years or a fine of up to $2,000, or both, if the underlying charge is a felony or a misdemeanor that is a listed offense; otherwise it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or a fine of up to $1,000, or both.^[24]

At a plea or verdict, a person who was initially charged with a listed crime and who pleads guilty or no contest to, or is found guilty of, any crime must immediately disclose his or her school employment to the court.^[25] A person who reported a charge and is not convicted of any crime may request that the department and the school delete the report.^[26]

The teaching certificate

If a certified teacher is convicted of "criminal sexual conduct in any degree, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, or an attempt to commit criminal sexual conduct in any degree," or any other crime that is a listed offense, the superintendent of public instruction shall order summary suspension of the certificate and then provide an opportunity for a hearing.^[3]

For any felony, the superintendent must notify the teacher in writing within 10 working days after receiving notice of the conviction that the certificate may be suspended. If the teacher does not use the right to a hearing within 15 working days after receiving that notice, the certificate is suspended.^[27]

While certificate proceedings are pending after a plea or verdict on a summary-suspension crime, a school that has suspended the person from duty must discontinue compensation until the superintendent's final determination; if the certificate is not suspended or revoked, the school must make the person whole for lost compensation, without interest.^[28]

Reinstatement

If the conviction was for a listed offense, "the person is not entitled to request a hearing on reinstatement," and the superintendent shall not reinstate the certificate.^[4] A "listed offense" is any Tier I, Tier II or Tier III offense under the Sex Offenders Registration Act.^[29]

If the conviction is reversed on final appeal, the teaching certificate is reinstated when the person notifies the superintendent of the reversal.^[30]

Working in a school in any role

The employment bar is broader than the certificate rules. A school district, intermediate school district, public school academy or nonpublic school that verifies from public records that an individual has been convicted of a listed offense "shall not employ that individual in any capacity or allow that person to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools."^[5]

The bar is written in terms of a listed-offense conviction.^[5] It is separate from the rule that schools must ask an applicant's current or most recent employer about unprofessional conduct, which the employer must answer within 20 business days.^[31] The crimes specific to school staff and students are explained in teacher-student sexual conduct laws.

Child care and adult foster care

If a criminal history check reveals that an applicant for a child care organization license has been convicted of a listed offense, the department shall not issue the license.^[8] A person who is registered, or required to be registered, on a state sex offender registry or the national registry is ineligible to receive a child care license, to be an adult member of a licensed child care household, or to be a child care staff member.^[9]

An adult foster care facility may not employ or contract with a person for direct resident services who was convicted of a felony involving criminal sexual conduct unless 15 years have lapsed since the person completed all the terms of sentencing, parole and probation. A misdemeanor involving criminal sexual conduct bars the person for 10 years from the conviction.^[10]

Attorneys

On conviction of a felony, a Michigan attorney is automatically suspended until the effective date of a hearing panel's order. A conviction occurs on the return of a guilty verdict or the acceptance of a plea of guilty or no contest, and written notice of a conviction must be given within 14 days.^[11] It is also professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving a violation of the criminal law where the conduct reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer.^[32]

Other licensed occupations

For occupations that require "good moral character," the Occupational License for Former Offenders act sets a general limit. A licensing board or agency "shall not consider an individual's criminal conviction, in and of itself, as conclusive proof of his or her lack of good moral character," and generally may consider a conviction only if it is a felony that meets one of four listed criteria.^[6]

That limit has exceptions. The agencies that license child care organizations, homes for the aged or nursing homes, and adult foster care facilities, along with the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and the Board of Law Examiners, may use a conviction as evidence of moral character without meeting the four-criteria test.^[33]

A board may not use records of an arrest that is not followed by a conviction, or of a conviction that has been reversed or vacated, in deciding good moral character.^[34]

Does removal from the registry or a set-aside change any of this?

The rules above are keyed to different things. The school employment bar and the teaching-certificate reinstatement bar turn on a conviction for a listed offense.^[5][4] One of the child care rules turns on being registered or required to be registered.^[9] Health-license discipline turns on the conviction itself.^[1]

That difference matters after the Michigan Supreme Court's order of September 9, 2026 in People v Smith, which held that the 2021 registration law may not be applied to people whose offenses predate the 2011 amendments.^[35] A rule that depends on current registration and a rule that depends on the fact of conviction will not necessarily respond the same way to removal from the registry. This guide found no decision applying the licensing statutes to people removed under Smith, so it does not state a result.

First-, second- and third-degree CSC convictions, among others, cannot be set aside.^[36] See setting aside a sex-offense conviction.

What people get wrong

• "Nothing happens to a license until the criminal case is over." School employees must report a listed charge within 3 business days after arraignment, and a health license can be summarily suspended without a conviction.^[23][7]
• "A misdemeanor plea protects a health license." Fourth-degree CSC is a ground for discipline, and a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 2 years triggers summary suspension.^[12][7]
• "Only teachers are affected in schools." The employment bar applies to work "in any capacity."^[5]
• "A board can deny a license over an arrest." For good-moral-character decisions, records of an arrest not followed by a conviction may not be used.^[34]

Jobs and housing for people on the registry are covered in registry, jobs, housing and daily life. Workplace complaints that are not criminal are covered in accused of sexual harassment at work.