It can, even before any conviction. If you are charged with a sex offense, murder, or supplying drugs to minors, your district must place you on compulsory leave and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing automatically suspends your credential until shortly after judgment. Other charges trigger no automatic suspension, but the Commission can open a review, and every credential application asks whether charges are pending.

Which charges mean immediate leave and suspension

Education Code section 44940 sorts criminal charges into two groups. It applies once a complaint, information, or indictment is filed in court, so an arrest alone does not trigger it.

  • Mandatory leave offenses. These are any sex offense as defined in section 44010, murder or attempted murder under Penal Code section 187, and aiding or abetting the unlawful sale, use, or exchange to minors of controlled substances in Schedules I, II, or III. When a certificated employee is charged with one of them, the district "shall immediately place the employee on compulsory leave of absence," lasting until no more than 10 days after judgment. The district must send a copy of the charging document to the Commission within 10 days, and the Commission then "shall automatically suspend" the credential for the same period.
  • Optional leave offenses. These are controlled substance offenses defined in section 44011, plus certain other drug sections, including Health and Safety Code sections 11357 to 11361, 11363, 11364, and 11370.1, except where they involve marijuana, mescaline, peyote, or tetrahydrocannabinols. For these, the district may place the employee on compulsory leave, but it is not required to.

Any other charge, such as a DUI or a non-sexual assault, carries no automatic leave or suspension under section 44940, although it can still lead to a Commission review and to employment action under the district's own rules.

Pay and your job during compulsory leave

Section 44940.5 sets the money rules. An employee on compulsory leave keeps receiving salary only if they furnish a suitable bond or other security guaranteeing repayment if they are convicted or fail to return after an acquittal or dismissal. Without a bond, an employee who is acquitted, or whose charges are dismissed without guilt being established, receives full pay for the leave period on returning to work. If the charges are dismissed after completing a drug diversion program, the employee can elect to receive accrued leave and differential pay for up to the length of the leave.

After judgment, the district can extend the leave by giving notice within 10 days that the employee will be dismissed 30 days after service unless the employee demands a hearing. Any action the district takes under section 44940.5 must be reported immediately to the Commission, which is directed to give these cases priority.

Do you have to report the charge to the Commission yourself?

The Commission does not depend on teachers to tell it. Under Education Code section 44242.5(b), the Committee of Credentials can open an initial review when it receives official records from the Department of Justice, a law enforcement agency, or a court. Districts have their own duties: besides forwarding mandatory-leave charges under section 44940, a superintendent must report under section 44030.5 within 30 days when a credential holder is dismissed, nonreelected, resigns, retires, or is suspended or placed on unpaid leave for more than 10 days as a final adverse action, as a result of an allegation of misconduct or while one is pending.

In the Commission's published guidance, your own disclosure duty arises on applications. The Commission's professional fitness questions, which appear on every credential application, include "Are any criminal charges currently pending against you?" and whether you are currently the subject of any criminal inquiry or investigation by a law enforcement or licensing agency. The same page warns that "Failure to disclose any required information is considered falsification of your application," and that the Commission may reject or deny the application or take disciplinary action against your credential. Its licensure enforcement FAQ adds that you must disclose relevant information on every application you submit, even if you disclosed it before. The Commission's renewal page lists the professional fitness questions as a step in renewing online, so any application filed while charges are pending, whether a renewal or a request for an added credential, calls for a yes answer to that question. Check your district's policies and any collective bargaining agreement for separate notice rules.

What happens if the case ends in a conviction

  • Sex and drug convictions. Under section 44425(a), a conviction for a sex offense under section 44010 or a controlled substance offense under section 44011 requires the Commission to suspend the credential immediately and to revoke it when the conviction becomes final or imposition of sentence is suspended. Section 44011 includes simple possession under Health and Safety Code sections 11350 and 11377 and being under the influence under section 11550, and section 44010 includes some misdemeanors, such as indecent exposure and lewd conduct in public, along with any offense requiring sex offender registration. If the conviction is reversed and the case ends in acquittal or dismissal, the suspension ends.
  • No reinstatement for some felonies. Subdivision (c) makes revocation final, with no possibility of reinstatement, for a felony sex offense or a felony drug offense in which distribution to, or use by, a minor is an element.
  • Other listed crimes. Section 44424(a) requires revocation once a conviction becomes final for violent or serious felonies and a long list of other offenses, including assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment and abuse offenses, and felony theft. Under subdivision (b), a no contest plea to one of those crimes as a misdemeanor suspends all credentials until the Commission reaches a final decision.
  • Later dismissal orders. Both sections allow the Commission to act regardless of a later dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4, and the FAQ says convictions dismissed that way must still be disclosed on applications.

How the Commission reviews everything else

For conduct outside the mandatory lists, the Commission's FAQ explains that the Committee of Credentials decides whether probable cause exists and, if so, recommends an action: a private admonition, a public reproval, a suspension, or a revocation. It weighs the nature and severity of the offense, its relationship to teaching, how recent it was, compliance with court sanctions, and evidence of rehabilitation. The credential holder can respond in writing, can appear before the Committee during a formal review, and can request reconsideration or an administrative hearing after a recommendation. The FAQ notes that a lawyer is not required for those proceedings, and that the Commission may ask for the arrest report and a certified copy of the complete court docket.

Choices in the criminal case that matter for the credential

Because the mandatory rules turn on the exact offense of conviction, the outcome of the criminal case can matter as much for the credential as the sentence does. A no contest plea is a conviction for these purposes under Education Code section 44009(a), while a pretrial diversion that ends in dismissal, such as PC 1000 drug diversion, does not produce one. A plea to a different code section can fall inside or outside sections 44010, 44011, and 44424, and section 44425(d) separately requires the Commission to suspend the credential of anyone required to register as a sex offender, a question covered in checking registration before a sex-case plea. Those consequences are worth mapping out before any plea is entered. If you are applying for a first credential with a past record, the different rules for applicants are explained in whether you can be a teacher with a felony.

For how the firm handles cases with licensing consequences, see its professional license defense page.