I was arrested at a local grocery chain in Texas in 2010 for theft. I was there to pay for items selected by my son's girlfriend. I arrived after she began shopping & I met her at checkout area where she used self service check out register. As she scanned items and placed in bag area the register would beep if something was wrong or scanned incorrectly. This kept happening so the employee who helps self service customers had to come over & enter password to clear issue. I left the area to retrieve a basket to place bagged items in as she handed them to me. When all items were in the basket I paid over 160.00 with my debit card. As we were exiting the store security team stopped us and ask for receipt which I gave them. They found several items in bags that were not on receipt so they escorted us the security office and went through all bags and found over 50.00 in items not paid for. I wasn't aware son's girlfriend was stealing but was arrested & charged anyway. I hired an attorney who viewed store security video & said since I placed bags in basket I was an accomplice and the only way to avoid court was have her sign statement of no involvement for me which she did at my attorney's office. My charges were dropped/dismissed but now 3 years later at age 50+ I am applying for a job that includes handling payroll & access to paying company bills and receiving payments from suppliers. Will arrest appear on my background check and could it affect hiring?

Whether it will affect your hiring depends on the prospective employer's hiring policy.

Yes, it will appear on your background report.

If she signed a statement saying you were not involved, and you were not convicted of any crimes I would assume that it would not show up on a background check. I was arrested when I was 18 for stealing beer from the gas station I worked at. I spent the weekend in jail, but after a friend posted bail for me, the D.A. ended up cutting a deal with me. I had to pay a fine and not get in any legal trouble for 6 months and it would be dropped from my record. I'm 26 now, and have never seen it on my background check, nor has an employer inquired about it.

I do background checks. That's where I get my info.