Understanding Drug Tests in Family Court
Let’s talk about drug tests. Hi, my name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa criminal defense attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing family and criminal law for almost eight years now, and I want to help you make law easy by talking a little bit about when drug testing can help your case.
So, what I’m talking about here is mainly in family court, like in custody situations. This comes up a lot in a lot of my cases, where one side or the other is saying, listen, they can’t have the kids. They can’t have custody of the kids.
When Drug Testing is Necessary
They can’t even have visitation with the kids, because they’re just messed up. They’re always on something. They’re always just completely incapacitated. That’s not a good fit, and it’s not a safe place for the children. Okay, so how do we prove that?
So there’s this thing that we can do, it’s not really anything special, it’s just that we file a motion for drug testing. I put it in the motion, and I’ll say, hey, listen, your honor, we have, on information in Believe, we have reasonable suspicion that this person is using illicit substances, especially when the kids are in their care.
Requesting and Conducting a Drug Test
We need help to prove that. Typically, what’ll happen is you can request the type of drug test that you want. I always go for a nail bed, because it goes back the farthest, and it’s the hardest to fake. But say, listen, we want a 10-panel nail bed test, help us out.
The court will typically grant it. They’ll require that the person asking for it pay for the testing, and then they’ll require that the person who’s supposed to be tested has to go within a specific timeframe to get it done. Usually, there’s a little bit of a grace period, somewhere between a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks.
Consequences of Failing or Avoiding a Test
But if you’re the one asking for the test, the court’s going to want you to contact the testing place, pay for it, set it up, and schedule it. Then the other side will have to appear and take the test. Now, if they fail to appear for the test, the court’s going to treat it as if they failed the test.
If they appear for the test, but they’re unable to take the test because their nails are too short, their hair’s too short, maybe if they’re trying to do a urinalysis, maybe they just can’t go, that can still also be treated as a failure, because for whatever reason, they didn’t show up prepared to take it.
Financial Implications of Drug Testing
But if they fail to take it for some reason, or they take it and they just don’t pass the test, the court, usually nine times out of ten, will order that person to pay you back for the expense for reserving the drug test, which is good, because that’s usually a couple hundred dollars that no one really wants to have to spend.
So, if you think this might help your case or if you’re in a situation where someone might be trying to have you take that test, please give me a call. Let’s sit down and talk about your options and see what we can do.
Get Started with a Low-Cost Strategy Session
My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa family law attorney with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy. For personalized assistance, contact me at 918-879-1681 and schedule an initial strategy session to discuss your case in detail.
