Conditional Discharge is a diversionary program in the Municipal Courts that allows the disposition of Disorderly Persons (DP) offenses, often without a conviction being entered into your record. If you were to be convicted of a DP offense, it would expose you to the direct sentencing consequences of to up to 6 months in jail, up to a $1,000.00 fine, or both. These penalties apply to all DP offenses, even if this is the first offense or conviction.
In addition to the direct sentencing consequences, you are also facing the collateral consequences of a DP offense, which can have a longer-lasting impact then the direct consequences. For example; on a first conviction, the typical direct sentencing consequence would be the imposition of fines and other monetary assessments – and not typically a jail sentence. Once the fines are paid, the sentence is completed and the entire incident fades from recent memory. The collateral consequences of this type of DP conviction include the fact that the conviction cannot be expunged from your record until after the completion of a five–year waiting period, which does not begin to run until you have completed the sentence. This means that an employer checking your record would see this conviction for at least the next five years – when you could petition the court to expunge your record.
In the municipal court, entry into a Conditional Discharge program is limited to cases in which you have been charged with certain drug-related offenses. On conviction, these types of offenses can result in the imposition of a sentence that includes a fine, a jail sentence, financial penalties and the loss of your driver’s license for a period of six to twenty-four months. However, entry into the Conditional Discharge program is an alternative disposition that can often be accomplished without you pleading guilty. This type of resolution without a guilty plea, will still involve the payment of the mandatory financial assessments, but avoids a conviction on your record that cannot be expunged for five years. Instead, you will be eligible to expunge the record six months after the successful completion of; and, the discharge from the Conditional Discharge program.
Before deciding whether to accept this type of disposition, a number of issues should be considered, and advice on those issues obtained from an experienced criminal defense lawyer like those at Bailey & Orozco. One of those considerations is that a diversionary program can only be used once to avoid criminal prosecution. Other considerations include the possibility that you could be barred from participation because of prior criminal arrests or convictions; whether you have a drug-dependency that will result in positive drug tests, causing you to be terminated from the program and the charge re-instated; and, whether you have any other charges pending in any court at the same time.
