You Can’t Bear Arms
Video Transcribed:
What are the consequences of a felony conviction in Oklahoma? I’m Tulsa Felony Defense Attorney James Wirth, and we’re talking about felony convictions and the repercussions of that. So obviously, just in general life, there’s a lot of different potential consequences from having a criminal record, particularly a felony conviction.
Anybody can treat somebody differently on that basis. There’s nothing illegal about that type of discrimination. So, you’ll see that certain employers will have rules about prior convictions. You’ll see that in housing. You’ll see that all over, but today’s video is talking about the specific things under Oklahoma law that changes when you have a felony conviction, and there’s quite a number of them.
Some of the common ones, obviously, the most people know about is you can’t vote during your sentence. Now you would be able to vote upon successful completion of that sentence. You can’t sit on a jury. You can’t run for public office within 15 years of completing your sentence. You can’t be employed by the state. You can’t bear arms. You lose your Second Amendment rights.
You may never Be a corporate director under Oklahoma law, a bank officer, an executive administrator of an estate, a liquor dealer, a funeral director, surveyor, physical therapist, chiropractor, court reporter, realtor, or bondsman.
Additional industries. You may not be able to get employed by, per statute, prohibited from doing so. Architecture, accounting, engineering, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, psychology, veterinary science, real estate appraisal, occupational therapist, marriage, and domestic counseling, nursing, cosmetology, pawnbroker, polygraph examiner, security guard, or working in the security alarm system.
So, by law, in the state of Oklahoma, you can’t get licensing work in those areas if you have a felony conviction. And, as I mentioned before, beyond that, there are all kinds of repercussions just that companies may have on their own or individuals may have on their own, where they are biased against people that have a felony conviction.
Now, does that mean you’re stuck with that for life? Sometimes, but not always the case. Actually, laws in Oklahoma regarding expungement have gotten way more favorable over the last period of time, and the people and the way it’s handled as far as the pardon parole board, that has also gotten more favorable and more of those are being granted now than they’ve been granted in previous years for sure.
So, if you have a felony conviction, that’s holding you back, you have questions about what you can and can’t do, want to look into the possibility of expungement or pardon, you’re going to want to talk to an attorney about those, your specific circumstances, you want to do so confidentially. So, to get that scheduled, you go online to Makelaweasy.com.
