Does criminal complaint marked adjudication withheld and dismissed with prejudice count as a conviction?
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
I am applying for a job with the census. So this is a federal job; that might be important. The text of the question on the application is as follows:
During the last 10 years, have you been convicted, been imprisoned, been on probation, or been on parole? (Includes felonies, firearms or explosives violations, misdemeanors, and all other offenses … )
This occurred in Washington state. About 7 years ago I was in an altercation in a bowling alley and an ended up being arrested after refusing to leave. I was charged with Criminal Trespass – 1st degree and taken to jail and was bailed out the next morning. A few weeks later, I went to a hearing and was accepted into a pre-trial diversion program, in which I could avoid prosecution in exchange for attending an an alcohol awareness class. I attended the class, showed the proof, and was told that if I didn’t commit any additional offenses in a certain period of time (I think it was a year) that the charges would be dropped. I have not committed any offenses of any sort since then.
But I searched the WA state records and I found the record there, and I’m curious what it means. The charge has listed:
Plea – Not Guilty
Disposition – Dismissed with Prejudice
Dismissal Reason – Adjudication Withheld
I guess there are two parts to my question. The first is obviously whether this is a conviction or not, and the second is: regardless of whether it is, would it be best to offer an explanation anyway? Since this showed up for me on a search of court records, I imagine a federal hiring agency would be able to find it easily as well, and I don’t want to be less than truthful in my application because I hear the feds don’t like that much.
To follow up on this, what is my best option for dealing with this? Regardless of what the status of this charge is at present, this stuff certainly would look pretty ugly on a background check to a prospective employer. I looked at the WA state website and three options they list for dealing with criminal records are having them vacated, sealed, or expunged. I’m not sure what the differences are and when I write them a letter I’d like to make the proper request. Since I’ve completed the terms of my pre-trial diversion arrangement I think I should be eligible for something.
Thanks in advance for any answers.
