[cozzia]

I was arrested 5 years ago for shoplift. Finally, the case (misderminor) was dismissed, an infraction instead.

I am applying a job, and they are going to run a background check. Could you let me know what will show up in the background check?

Thanks,

Cozzia

[JudyKayTee]

Depends on who runs the check. Government checks are different from others.

It's misdemeanor, by the way. It doesn't sound like it was dismissed. It does sound like it was reduced.

Yes, it might show.

[cozzia]

Thank you for your quick response.

It was a diversion program, plea a misdemeanor, but it was dismissed in a year. Then it became an infraction.

Could you let me know what would be in the employee background check?

Thanks,

Cozzia

[JudyKayTee]

Canada?

[cozzia]

canada?

Ca, usa

[rlrl2010]

Sounds similar to the 160.55 sealing in NY when you plead guilty to a violation after being charged with a misdemeanor. After a year when your fine is paid and your sentence completed, your arrest fingerprints are sealed so you don't have a criminal record but the guilty plea can still show up on a background check of the court records

[cozzia]

Thank you so much for your help.

So the court record is much better than criminal record, right?

Cozzia

[JudyKayTee]

sounds similar to the 160.55 sealing in NY when you plead guilty to a violation after being charged with a misdemeanor. after a year when your fine is paid and your sentence completed, your arrest fingerprints are sealed so you don't have a criminal record but the guilty plea can still show up on a background check of the court records

I'm also in NY - what does "on a background check of the court records" mean?

In NY - which is not where the OP lives - this is more complicated that it would appear - http://newyorkcitydefense.com/New_Yo...Court_Rec.html

[cozzia]

It is DEJ (deferred entry of judgment) in California. If there are any similarity with some code in NY?

Thanks,

Cozzia

[rlrl2010]

Background check of the court records(thru the Ny State Office of Court Administration) can be conducted by anyone with $65 and a name and DOB of the subject. Results will give the conviction info and sentencing info

Background checks through Ny DCJS are generally fingerprint checks and can only be done by those who have legal permission to do so

[rlrl2010]

violation convictions have showed on the OCA background checks; however, a court case in 2007 has resulted in violations no longer being reported at the OCA on background checks

[rlrl2010]

Criminal History Record Search - FAQs - Unified Court System

Court records background check in ny

[cozzia]

So, for the backgroud check of the court records, if the case was dismissed, there is no conviction, no sentencing either. Right?

[JudyKayTee]

I don't know why you keep insisting it was dismissed. It wasn't. Dismissal is right from the beginning. You were sentenced, you followed the instructions, it was reduced.

Will it show? No way to know - depends on the thoroughness of the background check.

[rlrl2010]

cozzia it looks like your case is in California. You have to consult your court of record for the best answer to the question. Generally though, if the charge was an outright dismissal, you would not have a conviction record, or at least that is how NY does it. But it sounds like you had the charged reduced from a misdemeanor to an infraction; in that case you weren't convicted of the misdemeanor, you were convicted of the infraction, so chances are it's on record in the court

Just contact the court with your name, DOB and docket # and ask the clerk if it's sealed or public info

This is how it works in NY; however in recent years NY stopped reporting violations on their background checks due to a recent court case

[JudyKayTee]

this is how it works in NY; however in recent years NY stopped reporting violations on their background checks due to a recent court case

Could you please give me a citation for this - or the name of the case, where it was?

[rlrl2010]

It had to do with someone who applied for a job at Sears. They had a violation and they were denied the job when the NY credit reporting laws prohibit violations from appearing in background checks because they're not crimes. The violation was reported anyway. Since then the OCA has stopped reporting violations on their background reports. However the paper file is still available in the court

Try googling something like "NY OCA no longer reports violations on background checks". I don't remember the plaintiff's name though. I have seen the case several times

[smoothy]

Shoplifting IS a crime.

[JudyKayTee]

Are you referring to this: "May a background check contain records of non-criminal convictions (violations) in New York State?

NO. A background check MAY NOT report non-criminal convictions regardless of how long ago they occurred." The secret word is NON-CRIMINAL. Violations (which ARE criminal, such as shoplifting) can and are reported.

I do background checks. I see this all the time. I also see the CHARGES listed and then the disposition.

This is a good discussion and I always like a good discussion BUT you are misunderstanding the intent of the law.

[rlrl2010]

The above has to do with when an employer uses a Consumer Reporting Agency to do a background check. Though the OCA will report the violation to the Consumer Reporting agency or anyone since it is public record (because a conviction took place), the consumer reporting agency is not supposed to report the violation to the employer because it wasn't a "criminal conviction". In NY only misdemeanors and felonies are considered to be considered crimes

I am not professing to understand the intent of the law any more than anyone else. This is a tricky and gray area

The Consumer Reporting law (NY General Business Law article 25 section 380 j) says an arrest can only be reported by a Consumer Reporting Company if there was a "CRIMINAL CONVICTION" from the arrest

Disorderly conduct, violations, trespass, etc are offenses of the NY penal code just like misdemeanors and felonies are. However in the laws they are classified as VIOLATIONS not crimes. What confuses many people is that they think disorderly conduct, harassment is like a local ordinance violation but it is not; it IS more serious than that but it is still classified as a violation, not a criminal misdemeanor or felony

Now, when an employer does not use a Consumer Reporting Company to do a background check and does the check on it's own through the NY OCA, the employer receives the violation info without restriction because there isn't any FCRA law in place.

The NY consumer reporting law is ambiguously worded. It says "CRIMINAL CONVICTION" and many of these companies didn't realize that violations were not classified as crimes. This has always been a gray area

When the job applicant was denied employment from Sears because the Consumer Reporting Company reported the violation (when it wasn't supposed to), there was a court case. I believe the applicant sued either Sears or the Consumer Reporting Company and the NY Office OF Court Administration agreed to no longer report violations on their background reports they sell to the public.

This is a tough thing to know because violations are criminal code offenses but they are not classified as crimes.

violations are also considered non fingerprintable offenses. Although some violations are not sealable (like DWAI and loitering), if you are convicted of disorderly conduct, after they destroy your fingerprints so you don't have a record)