What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia
In 1989 I was arrested and spent a night at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center for Drunk In Public, a Class 4 Misdemeanor.
When I came to the next day I was told by the staff this was like a traffic ticket and that I could simply pay a $35 fine without having to go before a judge, which I did, not understanding that this was a "pre-payable offense" fine equivalent to a guilty plea and would result in a criminal conviction record.
22 years later in a tight job market I got tired of answering the "have you ever been convicted ..." question on job applications.
I have been researching this a lot on this site and others, and my only option appears to be to file a Form CC-1473 – "Petition For Expungement Filed in a Circuit Court – Acquittal/Dismissal" with choices concerning the charge that I,
1) Have been acquitted of the charge.
or
2a) A nolle prosequi of the charge has been taken
or
2b) the charge has been otherwise dismissed, including dismissal by accord and satisfaction pursuant to Virginia Code Section 19.2-151
There have been many links about this issue here and on other sites and as far as I can tell, a guilty conviction CANNOT be expunged or sealed, but searching here today I came across the thread "Drunk in Public in Virginia"
forum.freeadvice.com/arrests-searches-warrants-procedure-26/drunk-public-virginia-278177.html
where the poster says that he got his criminal record from the VA State Police that reports "No Conviction" after 10 years. Now I'm really confused, even though this is consistent with other background checks on me that show no record.
Questions
1) Should I even be concerned about this and consider this the same as a minor traffic violation?
2) The circuit court in Fairfax reports only keeping records for 10 years and I searched the circuit court online (both criminal and civil) for my name and the date of the arrest with no results.
What kind of record check will make this record appear?
3) If I do have to try the Form CC-1473 route, can I consider the pre-payment a kind of settlement in accord and satisfaction with the state of Virginia?
Thanks in advance.
In 1989 I was arrested and spent a night at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center for Drunk In Public, a Class 4 Misdemeanor.
When I came to the next day I was told by the staff this was like a traffic ticket and that I could simply pay a $35 fine without having to go before a judge, which I did, not understanding that this was a "pre-payable offense" fine equivalent to a guilty plea and would result in a criminal conviction record.
22 years later in a tight job market I got tired of answering the "have you ever been convicted ..." question on job applications.
I have been researching this a lot on this site and others, and my only option appears to be to file a Form CC-1473 – "Petition For Expungement Filed in a Circuit Court – Acquittal/Dismissal" with choices concerning the charge that I,
1) Have been acquitted of the charge.
or
2a) A nolle prosequi of the charge has been taken
or
2b) the charge has been otherwise dismissed, including dismissal by accord and satisfaction pursuant to Virginia Code Section 19.2-151
There have been many links about this issue here and on other sites and as far as I can tell, a guilty conviction CANNOT be expunged or sealed, but searching here today I came across the thread "Drunk in Public in Virginia"
forum.freeadvice.com/arrests-searches-warrants-procedure-26/drunk-public-virginia-278177.html
where the poster says that he got his criminal record from the VA State Police that reports "No Conviction" after 10 years. Now I'm really confused, even though this is consistent with other background checks on me that show no record.
Questions
1) Should I even be concerned about this and consider this the same as a minor traffic violation?
2) The circuit court in Fairfax reports only keeping records for 10 years and I searched the circuit court online (both criminal and civil) for my name and the date of the arrest with no results.
What kind of record check will make this record appear?
3) If I do have to try the Form CC-1473 route, can I consider the pre-payment a kind of settlement in accord and satisfaction with the state of Virginia?
Thanks in advance.
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