Question

  05/07/13, 6:06 pm
I just turned 18 last week and I have committed to a college. While filling out my housing application, a criminal record question search came up and I was in fact convicted of a disorderly conduct when I was 15. In Pennsylvania, is that a misdemeanor and if so do I still have to answer "yes" to the question since I was a minor at the time?
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United States   |   Pennsylvania  |  Criminal Law
Cost: Free

Answer

Jason Dunkle Says:

May 13,2013 8:00 AM

Generally, disorderly conduct is a summary offense and not a misdemeanor. If it were charged as a summary, you generally are given a citation, similar to a speeding ticket, and you either plead guilty or not guilty. In many cases, with a summary offense, a person may not even go to court. If the charge were filed as a misdemeanor, then you would have been required to appear in front of a judge to have the matter resolved, most likely through what is called a "Consent Decree," which would have avoided an "adjudication" of delinquency. With a Consent Decree, you would have been assigned a probation officer, probably had to complete community service, and paid court costs and fees to the probation department. If you do not recall meeting with the probation department or going in front of a judge, you were most likely only charged with a summary offense and not a misdemeanor.

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Jason Dunkle
JD Law, P.C.
204 East Calder Way, Suite 306,State College, PA 16801
814-954-9622
http://www.mystatecollegelawyer.com

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