My husband just found out he has a CRIMINAL RECORD...oohhhh.....

[Heddi]

So we get a letter in the mail today from the corporate offices of a company he applied for a job at (gee, that was THE most gramatically incorrect sentence EVER!)

He's been filling out applications for jobs all over the place, and always marks "NO" to the questions "have you ever been found guilty of, or plead guilty to any crime?"

Well today, we get a letter in the mail from the corp of one of the companies. It was a copy of his criminal record.

Upon first glance, it looked like nothing...just name, DOB, SS#...but at the bottom, it had (after name, DOB, state, etc) This:

Case Type: Misdemeanor
Offense: Purchase/Possess of Beer/Wine Underage
Disposition Date: 8/24/91
Disposition: Guilty
Sentence: Fined

---

Okay--he's 32 now, and this happened right after he turned 18. He had NO idea that this was on his record.

He was caught drinking in his friend's car, and he was given a ticket, and he paid the ticket. There was no 'court case'--he just went to the clerk's office and paid the fine (a hundred bucks or something like that).

Now, he's never gotten turned down for a job because of this, and I think most applications state that they're interested in crimes from the past 10 years (This was 14 years ago!).

But he was so amazed--he had no idea that in his getting at ticket and paying for a ticket, that he had been charged with a crime and essentially pled 'guilty' by paying the ticket.

How long will this stay on his record? Since it's here 15 years later, does that mean it's on here FOREVER?

[WindRavenX]

1. shit...

...I got written up last night. That's gonna stay with me? FUCK! x(

[Heddi]

5. Who knows?

He thought it was a traffic ticket b/c they were in a car when the ticket was written--not driving, just sitting in the car---although he did say that the officer, upon writting tickets to him and all his friends, knowing that they had been drinking, made no comment about "how are you kids going to get home"---you know, since they were drinking...in a car....

I said "Maybe he was hoping you'd get a DUI on the way home"...but luckily he didn't.

Also odd is that he was 18 when he got the citation...but his parent's weren't notified...I guess because he WAS 18..therefore a legal citizen or something.

At any rate, he was VERY surprised that 1) this was on his record and 2) That this was considered a criminal offense. Again, he never stood trial, and actually paid the ticket within a few hours of getting it.

[xmas74]

19. In most states, MIP is automatically a criminal offense

he's lucky it was then and not now-a lot more red tape to go through now.

[Radical Activist]

6. No way!

What did you do! Tell me!

[WindRavenX]

11. check your PM

Nothing TOO bad..

[xmas74]

2. Yes, it will

unless he chooses to have it expunged.
I run criminal histories all the time-you would be shocked how far back they go.
Crimes that were committed before 1980 are less likely to show up, though-unless they were very serious offenses.

[Heddi]

9. How would he go about having it expunged?

Creepy...I'm almost interested to see if I have a criminal history as well :)

[xmas74]

18. Find an attorney who deals w/ that.

It might not be very hard to do-it is sometimes just getting the money for the attorney.

[Radical Activist]

10. Getting it expunged should be easy

for a minor offense that long ago.

[xmas74]

16. Just get a decent attorney.

The only set back is the money involved.

[coloradodem2005]

3. I thought the statute of limitations on this was 7 years.

Sounds like a bunch of political bullshit. Who cares if he bought liquor 15 years ago when he was under age. People don't let anything go anymore do they?

[Heddi]

13. He had TOTALLY forgotten about it

and was doubly surprised not only to REMEMBER it in this way, but to find out that it was considered a criminal offense (albeit a misdemeanor). He thought that if you committed a crime, that you were taken to the police station or something--not given a ticket and told to pay it at the cashier's office w/o a trial or even SEEING a judge....

[CanuckAmok]

4. It depends where they get the info.

Some companies use private C.R. search companies. These companies just compile databases of crimes committed and convicted, and retain them for corporate customers indefinately, even after the state wipes the record clean.

That's not legal in Canada, but I understand it is in some states of the US.

Your husband should ask them who they're using, since he's not going to get the job anyway. Maybe he can sue them or something.

on edit: I'm not correcting the spelling mistakes. Don't want to.

[Heddi]

7. The information was harvested by ChoicePoint

The paper says this:

National Criminal File

The records contained in this report are compiled from databases that are only updated infrequently and, therefore, may not have the most current information....

ANd then goes on aobut how this info shouldn't be used to establish an exact identity of someone, and they don't guarantee, warrant, or assume any responsibility for the accuracy of the information botained from oehter sources blah blah blah

And he's not 'not' getting the job...he filled out an application, went in for an interview and turned them down b/c they didn't offer Full-Time positions.

[CanuckAmok]

12. Too bad they didn't run a check on Dubya in '99.

Sorry to hear that, Heddi.

[Heddi]

15. He's kind of proud of it, in a macabre sort of way

He's going to school for Nursing soon, and they do criminal background checks and obviously it's not so important as to get him denied entrance to the school (which is VERY picky re: potential students).

He's all like "whoah! I'm an ex-con, kind of!" and says that TECHNICALLY he could say he spent the night in jail, when in reality he only sat in the lobby of the clerk's office for 30 minutes.

He's weird.

He was just interested to know how long this would stay on his record, and why he got a ticket for committing a crime.

He's perplexed and proud at the same time :)

[xmas74]

21. Many places do not update very often.

The info I receive at work is the most up to date because of where I get mine (NCIC). It is not open to the public, however. Even w/ my info at work, it still states that this does not establish the identity of a person (even for warrants). The only true establishment they will accept is fingerprints or DNA.

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. They call me "Tater Salad".

;)

[xmas74]

22. We laugh about that all the time at work!

Sad to say, it is true. I have read CH's 25 years back, easily.

[ScreamingMeemie]

25. THat's the funniest part of his whole routine.

:hi:

[xmas74]

27. That is the best part.

I crack up when he does the part about the ball cap and the wire exchange in that bit. Drinking in pub-LIK.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. Me too. And "When I say threw me out, I don't mean that they escorted

me to the door and we said our goodbyes...I mean they tossed me like a frisbee." :)

[xmas74]

32. I really need to buy that

only for that entire bit. The first time I heard that I actually fell out of my chair (I was at work at the time).

[murielm99]

14. What kind of company is this that cares about

someone's underage drinking all these years later?

He should probably think twice about working for such a company.

Maybe he could say on future applications that he was fined for underage drinking fifteen years ago. That might take care of it. But a jobs counselor might have a better idea. Maybe someone else here can give you better advice than I.

Anyway, I would think twice about working for Big Brother.

[Heddi]

17. He applied at Lowes

but he turned them down a few weeks ago b/c all they had available was part-part-part time positions and he was looking for full time (or at least more than 10 hours a week at minimum wage).

The good thing is, being a future nursing student, he's had to submit a background check before being accepted to nursing school, and they didn't turn him down, and the state of WA doesn't have a problem with it since they let him get his CNA license after doing a criminal records check (and obviously seeing this if it came up for them).

Yeah, we hate big brother. That's why we're studying to be nurses :)

[phrenzy]

20. Unfortunately, It Looks Like FCRA Limits Were Lifted Recently

FCRA § 1681. - Congressional findings and statement of purpose

§ 605. Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports <15 U.S.C. § 1681c>

(a) Information excluded from consumer reports. Except as authorized under subsection (b) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information:

(1) Cases under title 11 or under the Bankruptcy Act that, from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication, as the case may be, antedate the report by more than 10 years.

(2) Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period.

(3) Paid tax liens which, from date of payment, antedate the report by more than seven years.

(4) Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years.(1)


 (5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years.
That last part was JUST added a few years ago. Before that it used to be limited to 7 years.

In California the state limit is STILL 7 years, and you would be able to sue choicepoint for revealing this to an employer. It depends on your state law. You need to look it up.

[Heddi]

24. Thanks for the info -- question--

how would I look up my state law and whether this is legal or not? I know I can use google, but what would I google to find the info I needed?

Also, and you may not even know this, but does it matter that we live in Washington State now, but the "crime" ha ha ha happened in NC? What I'm asking is--would it be illegal, in WA, to report a crime that happened in WA that occured more than 7 years ago, but 'quasi-legal' in this instance since the 'crime' happened in NC?

Sorry--you probably don't know this. He's not too upset about it. He didn't want to work at Lowes anyways :)

[Nite Owl]

23. What is so ironic about this

is your husband did this little minor thing 15 yrs ago and we got a President and VP with DUI's (and of course a lot more!)

[Heddi]

26. Completely. To him,the most ironic thing

is that he was caught driniking Old English...and he HATES Old English...and only drank it because that's all his over-21 friends would buy him and his drunk ass underage friends :)

He's like "of allll the beers to get caught drinking..." ha

[JimmyJazz]

28. He can probably get the charge expunged from his record if he

hasn't had any other charges since that time.

[Heddi]

29. He's been on the straight-and-narrow since then

but only because we're big boring old adult-types who start complaining about being up too late when the clock strikes midnight.

Oh, aging sucks....

[JimmyJazz]

30. I would look into getting the charge expunged. He can probably

do it pro se.

[kodi]

33. wow, you've been a crime moll all this time? pretty neat.

sorry to hear about the crime record, it really sucks to have such a small thing haunt one's background.