I have a similar situation. I was arrested in August of 2010 for pwid. I got a lawyer and at the arraignment the prosecutor charged me with possession. My lawyer and prosecutor put me in drug court where I finished the program and then my case was nolled. I recently got hired to tutor at an elementary school and they ran a federal background check. I just got a letter in the mail that says I must provide them with a disposition about my arrest-pwid. My question is since I got my case nolled and was formally charged with possession of marijuana, will I pass the background check? This is really worrying me because I have an interview in January to become a teacher. Can someone please help me?

I need help. In Aug 2010 I was arrested for pwid-marijuana. I got a lawyer and at the arraignment was formally charged with just possession of marijuana. My lawyer put me in drug court and I finished the program and had my case nolled. I recently got hired as a tutor at an elementary school and had a federal background check on me. I received a letter after waiting a while and the letter says I have to provide them with a disposition. My question is would this case make me fail the clearance? I am really worried because I have a job interview in January to become a teacher and also am applying to grad school. I am 21 yo now and was 20 when it happened. Can someone help me please?

First its not a good idea to piggyback your question on someone else's. This can lead to confusion. You should start a new thread. So I've moved your question to its own thread.

The fact you got a letter is a good sign. They could have just rejected you.

Thank you,

Do you think once I give them my court disposition I will be OK? Will this affect my teaching career?

What state are you in? Where you cconvicted of possession or not? Some, most states will not issue a teaching cert with this type of record but standards for a sub cert are lower. What certification do you current carry, what type?

I got the charge nolled so I was never convicted and the charges were dropped. I want to work as an elementary school teacher. I am a senior in college.

In Illinois

So this means that you currently do not have a cert, right? Can not figure who/how you can interview but that is not your question. You have nothing to lose, interview and apply to the Il State Board pd Ed. Or YourFileHost cert. I think this incidente will not prevent certication.

This will be the issue, when you and 60 other people apply for that 4 teaching jobs and the other teachers have no criminal record at all. you guess at what is most likely going to happen.

The issue here is that your record does not really say you were not guilty, it says you took a plea, and did a diversion program to have charges dropped.

It can really go either way.

The thing is I already got hired and am waiting for this background check to clear. Im going to turn in a disposition tomorrow because my background check is not updated for some reason and only shows the arrest. I have an interview in January for a bilingual education teaching position. I feel that if I can pass this background check now then if I have to take another one it should be OK. And getting hired to me isn't the issue because I have confidence in myself but the only barrier I could see is the background check which comes after they hire you.

What is "nolled"?

But it looks like they found the incident and are giving you the chance to explain. If you can prove what happened it may not be a problem.

Nolle prossed is what nolled means in criminal paw slang. Or no prosecution in Latin.

Nolle prosequi (no-lay pro-say-kwee) n. Latin for "we shall no longer prosecute," which is a declaration made to the judge by a prosecutor in a criminal case (or by a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit) either before or during trial, meaning the case against the defendant is being dropped. The statement is an admission that the charges cannot be proved, that evidence has demonstrated either innocence or a fatal flaw in the prosecution's claim, or the district attorney has become convinced the accused is innocent. Understandably, usage of the phrase it is rare. In the 1947 courtroom movie, "Boomerang!" the climactic moment arrived when the District Attorney himself proved the accused person innocent and declared "nolle prosequi"