Municipal Court: Disorderly Conduct on record?

Question

I received a citation for disorderly conduct after a night of drinking.

Here is an excerpt from my city municipal court website where my court appearence is not mandatory and I can just pay a fee if I don't wish to contest the citation..

"The Municipal Court provides a neutral forum for hearing City Ordinance cases, where the penalty includes a forfeiture.... These are not criminal charges and defendants are not entitled to a free lawyer."

From the sounds of this I'm not a "criminal" in the legal sense of the word?

Does a forteitude show up on a "criminal record".

I'm concerned because I'm in the process of applying for a government job.

Answer 1

It was still a violation of the crimes code. Generally there are two levels of disorderly conduct. One is a misdemeanor which is a fairly serious crime. The second is sometimes referred two as a summary offense or something along those lines depending on the state. These types of violation are essentially the same as a speeding ticket.

It sounds as if you were charged with the latter. Depending on the type of government job it may have no impact or it could be a problem.

Just because you are not entitled to a lawyer does not mean you can not be represented by one. If you are concerned you should speak to one.

Answer 2

This entirely depends on the State you live in. In my state, a disorderly persons (or DP) charge is not considered a criminal offense but it does go on your record. If you were to apply for a job and they asked if you have ever been convicted of a crime you could legally answer "no" with only a DP conviction.

If you wish to pursue it further, after a certain amount of years you may be able to petition the court to have your record expunged. What that means is the record is sealed so that any inquires about it will show no violations. However, there are some specific crimes that if they are committed subsequently to an expungement will cause the expungement to be reversed. Such as a felony or any drug related crime.

Answer 3

Get a No Cost Background Check Scan at https://bitly.im/aNGnr

Its a sensible way to start. The site allows you to do a no cost scan simply to find out if any sort of data is in existence. A smaller analysis is done without cost. To get a detailed report its a modest payment.

You may not realize how many good reasons there are to try and find out more about the people around you. After all, whether you're talking about new friends, employees, doctors, caretakers for elderly family members, or even significant others, you, as a citizen, have a right to know whether the people you surround yourself with are who they say they are. This goes double in any situation that involves your children, which not only includes teachers and babysitters, but also scout masters, little league coaches and others. Bottom line, if you want to find out more about someone, you should perform a background check.

Answer 4

Hello, I am a retired Police Officer here in the US and I can confirm to you that these types of records, for the most part, are not available to the general public. You won't be able to obtain them for free. That's the reality of it. Even if you came into the station for a particular police report to which you have a right to possess, you are often required to pay a small fee at the clerk's counter for the paperwork. There are however, to my knowledge, just a couple LEGITIMATE services that have full access to these types of records, and OFFICIAL approval/certification to provide them. The one which comes to mind is http://www.echeck.pcti-system.com - and if I recall correctly, They do provide these records at a relatively small cost.. especially considering the highly personal, confidential, or otherwise sensitive nature of the information within. Here you will find things such as:

Reverse Phone Search
Criminal Records
Inmate Records
Sex Offenders
DUI/DWI Records
Court Records
Arrest Records
Warrant Records
Police Records
Address History
Death Index
Marital Status
Relatives and Associates
Property Records
Felonies and Convictions
Alias and Date of Birth
Business Search

http://www.echeck.pcti-system.com

The only other way to obtain this type of information is to be working in certain areas of the public sector, such as Police work. Please do not use this any information you may discover for malicious purpose, as many States do provide criminal penalties under statutory law for certain acts regarding invasion of privacy. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I got one about 12 years ago. 18 years old, underrage drinking, they made it "disorderly conduct" instead of an alcohol violation so it wouldnt effect my car insurance or driver's record - even though i wasnt driving, there's some tie in with kids drinking.

Long story short, it impacted nothing. No jobs I applied for, no college admission, no subsequent driving offenses.

It's not a criminal offense, I wouldnt sweat it out - but laws are always changing, I'd do yourself a favor and hire a lawyer anyway, for peace of mind. Thats what I did.

Answer 6

Municipal Courts are not "Courts of Record." Convictions in Municipal Court do not appear on the state court website. It is of no concern to your job application unless you lie about it. I work for a local government. A misdemeanor conviction has no effect unless it's a DUI and you must drive a gov't car.

Answer 7

You only violated a city ordinance. Ordinances are applied to the municipalities when state laws are too strict or do not cover certain safety issues. Like a traffic ticket, its gone from your record after a certain time. It should not affect your employment application.

Answer 8

the in undemanding words distinction is the authorities entity operating the courtroom. cities run municipal courts, and states run circuit courts. Convictions in municipal courtroom nevertheless bypass on your list like a number of misdemeanor does. The fines and sentences are often a lot less, yet might want to nevertheless be a similar.