Arrested; Charges dropped; Is arrest still on file?

[Top_Fuel]

Scenario:

A person is arrested for attempting to cash a counterfeit check from an on-line transaction. The DA drops the charges the next day.


Will the person still have this arrest on their record, or would they have to go through an expungement process to remove it?

By the way, this is in California.

 

[Top_Fuel]

I think I found the "unofficial" answer...

The guy in this case was charged with 3 felonies. All charges were dropped, but the record of this arrest DID stay on his record. He had to hire an attorney and spend several thousand dollars getting the arrest removed from his record. :uh oh:

 

[Lawfficer]

If you are arrested, you are arrested.

It WILL NEVER come off the loggs, the paper trail is just to extensive and there is no way around it, short of calling up the Governator and asking him to "Erase" you.

 

[FordSVTFan]

As pointed out about an arrest is an arrest and it will be in the system forever unless expunged. Getting the record expunged is very costly.

 

[pest36]

i think even exponged, it still can be found.

do the stations actually get rid of your mug shot and finger prints?

say i was arrested 4 years ago for class C misdemeanor, like posession of marijuana, you use a program like AR or community service labor program. then stay out of trouble. it's supposed to be thrown out, no further prosecution and you're cleared and can say you've never been convicted of a crime.
but say now you wanna apply to be a police officer and you get the polygraph. can you say "no" that you were never arrested or say "yes i was arrested but not convicted"? if they're going to do a background check, i'm sure they can find that information out. any ideas?

 

[cornholio]

Understand that there is also a difference between the police doing a records search and say a possible employeer doing the same.

If you were arrested for a crime, pick any, and the charges were either dropped/nolle pross, not guilty by trial, or probation satisfied, etc....., a clearance check by that possible employeer would show that you have no criminal past in regards to this particular incident. However, if a LEO runs a check on you, the arrest itself will show in your criminal history.

In other words.........If a LEO asks you if you have ever been arrested before, your answer would be "yes" if you have ever been charged for anything, juvenile or adult, regardless of the outcome.

 

[FlTireGuy]

..which, in my eyes, IS a problem, as if charges are dismissed due to a lack of evidence, and you ACTUALLY didn't do ANYTHING wrong in the first place, it is unfair to have that arrest on your record - I know that is how it works, but I don't necessarily think that it is fair all of the time!

 

[FlTireGuy]

..which, in my eyes, IS a problem, as if charges are dismissed due to a lack of evidence, and you ACTUALLY didn't do ANYTHING wrong in the first place, it is unfair to have that arrest on your record - I know that is how it works, but I don't necessarily think that it is fair all of the time!

 

[pest36]

so either way it doenst look good even if you werent wrong but were arrested? so if you're honest about it and say yes i was arrested but not convicted will they leave it at or question it more?

 

[Top_Fuel]

Getting the record expunged is very costly.

The guy in this story said he spent $14,000 on attorney fees to expunge his record.

I appreciate all the feedback. I had no idea this is how the system worked. This is an odd story that I'll be posting later for LEO input.

Sounds like the moral of the story is... don't get arrested because it can cost a TON even if you're not guilty of anything! :uh oh:

 

[RDJ]

The guy in this story said he spent $14,000 on attorney fees to expunge his record.

I appreciate all the feedback. I had no idea this is how the system worked. This is an odd story that I'll be posting later for LEO input.

Sounds like the moral of the story is... don't get arrested because it can cost a TON even if you're not guilty of anything! :uh oh:

Well this makes me all the gladder that when I got arrested for DUI the one and only time I ever did that (.06 on the breath test) that the judge put me on defferred adjudication and said that after the 12 months unsupervised probabtion was up that it would be expunged.... so it didn't cost me anything other than the 500.00 attorney's fee but the 300.00 fine/court costs ...

 

[jshen]

No

I think I found the "unofficial" answer...

The guy in this case was charged with 3 felonies. All charges were dropped, but the record of this arrest DID stay on his record. He had to hire an attorney and spend several thousand dollars getting the arrest removed from his record. :uh oh:

NO, once arrested you have a record and it's in the computer networks forever...along with booking information and fingerprints...There is no such thing as expungement from local {Georgia} and national law enforcement databases...

 

[jshen]

Understand that there is also a difference between the police doing a records search and say a possible employeer doing the same.
.

Not exactly, as it depends on employer. Govt will always have complete access...

 

[jshen]

i think even exponged, it still can be found.

do the stations actually get rid of your mug shot and finger prints?

No, nor does NCIC ever delete a file..it is there forever....

 

[NyteByte]

As pointed out about an arrest is an arrest and it will be in the system forever unless expunged. Getting the record expunged is very costly.

FordSVTFan is correct. It doesn't matter if you're innocent or not.

A long time ago when I was a kid, the cops came to my house and arrested me for supposedly breaking into my neighbors house.

They found a footprint in the neighbors yard that matched my shoe (I used to cut the guys lawn), so I was arrested. They did the whole fingerprinting and photographing thing and I sat in a jail cell all day.

Later on that day, they finally found the real criminal and let me go. I worked with my local police and they said they'd remove the arrest from my record. Unfortunately, I was too young and unwise to realize I should've taken legal action.

Fast forward 15 years into the future:
I applied for a job and they found out about this arrest. It was still on record somewhere even though it was supposedly "removed". For all I know, it's probably still on there.

 

[cornholio]

Not exactly, as it depends on employer. Govt will always have complete access...

That is the point I was trying to get across. And police is a part of local government. When I stated employeer, and was leaning more towards a typical professional, not LEO or govt.