Woman overseeing disabled patients in Cobb stole nursing license

Corissa Laws, who was providing health care for disabled patients in Cobb County was arrested and charged with aggravated identity theft and practicing nursing without a license. 

At the time of her arrest, Corissa was employed as a licensed nurse with Walton Community Services to provide around-the-clock care for eight people. 

“The majority of these residents are nonverbal and unable to care or communicate for themselves — needing 24/7 supervision and a licensed nurse to assist them,” according to the arrest warrant.

Laws is accused of using a Florida woman’s nursing license and license number to gain employment at Walton Community Services in Cobb from September to November of 2022. 

Laws oversaw eight patients who were placed at the facility by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. 

Laws was arrested on May 12 and was denied bond due to her posing “a significant risk of fleeing from the jurisdiction of the court” and constituting a threat and danger to others in the community. She remains in the Cobb County jail.

It is unclear how Laws gained access to the victim’s Florida nursing license. Laws was able to use the victim’s nursing license and number to get hired, even though the license can only be used in the state of Florida. 

Officials said Laws was not licensed by the Georgia Board of Nursing and that the license holder did not authorize Laws to use her credentials. Laws has also been accused of working as a nurse in eight different states without a license. 

She has an active warrant for her arrest in Vermont and pending charges in Orlando, Florida. Prosecutors stated that Laws also admitted to practicing as a nurse in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Florida, New Mexico, and Georgia.

Laws’ defense attorney argued for bond, which was denied, and suggested the focus of an investigation should be on his client’s employer, Walton Community Services, for committing fraud and sending nurses out to practice nursing without a license.

Nursing licenses are overseen by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. A spokesperson, Mike Hassinger, said medical facilities must go through a process to verify licenses before hiring new staff and as long as the license was valid and up to date, it would have checked out and would not have been flagged as stolen.“Acquiring someone’s license is only as hard as stealing someone’s ID,” Hassinger added. “This is an identity theft case, only instead of stealing her credit card, this one’s got the lady’s nursing license.”

Cobb police’ special victims unit is investigating the case. 

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