I got arrested, and woke up in the drunk tank. I had fingerprints, and a mug shot taken. I was not convicted of anything, and

If they ask, you must answer honestly. If they do not ask, you do not have to tell. If you fail to answer honestly, you may be forever banned. My money is on your teacher.

I would suggest that you speak to an attorney that specializes in Licensing. There is an Attorney on named Christine McCall (although I may have misspelled her name). She spoke at a DUI seminar that I attended recently and knows her stuff regarding licensing issues. That being said, I am not familiar with what questions are asked on the nursing license application. From what you wrote, it does not appear you were convicted, or even charged with a DUI, or anything else for that matter. If you were not charged with anything, then it's possible that the arrest was actually later deemed "detained" by the arresting agency. When you were released from jail, you weren't given a citation of any sort? Sounds like it may have been a confusing time for you, and it's good to hear that is behind you. But, to be safe, so there are no surprises when the nursing board runs a background check, you may want to check with the court to make sure there is not a charge that was initially filed, that led to a bench warrant being issued for your failure to appear to the arraignment. Usually when one spends the night in jail after being arrested, they are given a citation for some kind of charge, ie. DUI, Drunk in Public, etc. I would recommend consulting with a licensing attorney to get the best answer to this question, and make sure there are no pending charges or bench warrants based on that arrest date. Better to be safe and sorry. A criminal defense attorney can check for you, and shouldn't charge too much to do so. Or, you can check yourself by contacting the criminal clerk in the county that your court date would have been in, in the event that there was an arraignment date set. Good luck with the nursing career!

I'm sure there are different schools of thought, but the bottom line is that you will not hurt yourself by sharing, because a. they will likely find it anyway; and b. you were arrested but not prosecuted. Alternatively, if you do not report it, and they find out about it, your fitness to be licensed will be in question because you failed to be completely honest with them. I am assuming that the application asks not simply whether you've been found guilty of a crime, but whether you've been arrested?

If you were taken to the drunk tank and released without charges, I suspect that your arrest was treated as a detention only. To be safe, you should contact an attorney with experience handling licensing matters.