Do I need to report stricken charges (SOL) when filling out employment forms?

[harrisville]

What is the name of your state? CO

I had the misfortune of getting arrested in Illinois last summer and was subsequently charged with four offenses. An agreement was made with the prosecution to dismiss all charges at my final court date. I was only required to appear through counsel (out-of-state resident). Instead of the charges being flat-out dismissed, they were “Stricken Off with Leave to reinstate”. This is something unique to Illinois, that my attorney assures me is basically the same as a dismissal. I pulled a definition from the web: “The judge removes the case from the docket while reserving the right to recall or reinstate it at a later date. Non-conviction”


My question is, when asked on employment forms if I have any pending charges, will I need to list these? My attorney says I shouldn’t, but I could see a company making a case that these charges are still pending.

 

[FlyingRon]

I would not consider them "pending" until they take action to "reinstate."

 

[sharonbattista]

Charges that are Stricken off with Leave to reinstate

I am a staffing coordinator for ADP in NJ. One of my job functions is to enter backgrounds for our candidates. On the application they are asked:

A. Have you ever been convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendre (no contest) to, a crime (including but not limited to, a felony, misdemeanor, disorderly persons, petty disorderly persons or any other offense or conduct that was defined as a crime by any statute or law in the jurisdiction in which you were convicted) that has not been expunged or sealed by a court?

B. Have you been arrested on charges that are currently pending?


Candidates are often told by their lawyers to put down NO if a charge has been dissmissed or stricken off. THIS IS NOT TRUE. The charge will still appear on your background but under the disposition it will state that the charge was dissmissed or stricken.

We have lost a lot of candidates because they did not disclose a charge on their application. When I speak with them they always tell me that their laywer advised them not to disclose it because it will not appear on their background.

Hope this message finds you before you fill out your application!