I was caught shoplifting and was sent home with a trespassin ticket, meaning icant enter the store for a year.. they said they would issue a letter to my mailing address? They said which is probably a fine? What happens next.. do I have to go to court? Keep in mind I am 20 (biggest mistake of my life and for the first time) will I have a record for this I am planning to go into teaching and do not want it to ruin my career

First you did not say where you were at>

In general it can be a letter giving you a date and time to go and be fingerprinted, photo'ed and given a date for court.

Or it could be just a court date, hard to say, you may want to get an attorney, ( which you needed before you confessed or agreed to anything)

It will be a letter advising you of your requirement to pay the civil portion of the case. Shop lifting has two elements. Criminal and civil. The civil portion will be a $250.00 (or more depending on the state) fee to repay the store for man hours and other costs of processing your case. It will be through a collection agency and will end up on your credit report if you do not pay it, and could become a probation violation if unpaid.

You may want to check this story out. I found this story when looking for clarification on how retailers can circumvent due process via civil penalties. If you are going to receive a collection letter, this article may give you insight into what is going on.
Stores seek civil damages against shoplifters www.privateofficer.com « PRIVATE OFFICER BREAKING NEWS(www.privateofficer.com) (http://privateofficerbreakingnews.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/stores-seek-civil-damages-against-shoplifters-wwwprivateofficercom/)

Depending on where you are and the price of your theft, you may be "billed" for 3 times the cost of the item(s) and you may be asked to "pay pre-litigation" legal fees. The article explains some of the possibilities better than I can.

If law enforcement was not involved you might only have a credit problem brewing.

People who make mistakes often make the best teachers.

Have you received the letter just yet

I totally understand where your coming from, only becsaue recently this has happened to me and TOTALLY the biggest mistake of my life as I want to become a teacher too.

Fortunately for me, as this was a minor offence and the first time I didn't have any criminal charges to contend with; but I do have the civil recovery letter and I'm awaiting the one that's suppose to come in the mail stating the amount I have to pay and where I pay.

I've officially been waiting for a month, I've even contacted the civil recovery company in regards to whether they received my file so then I know how long before I have to pay it.

Unfortunately its just a bad situation. However, in canada, according to what I understand the letter technically doesn't mean you have to pay anything; although for me, since I want to get ride of this horride situation I'm paying it as soon as possible.

Most likely if you weren't charged then your not going to have a record; although if you do something to involve the police again they will see this unfortuate event.

You should have received the letter by now though and everything should be cleared up. Do let us know how it goes...