QUESTION
Littering fine as a minor is showing up on my reocrd as an adult; preventing hiring?
Asked on May 18th, 2012 on Expungements - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
I received a littering fine when I was 16. I paid the fine and thought that was the end of it. I recently was subjected to a background check by an employer and they couldn''t hire me because the check showed I had a conviction and plead guilty to the county magistrate for a crime. Why is a petty offense as a minor showing up on my record as an adult and what can I do about this? The fine occurred in the state of Pennsylvania.
1 ANSWER
4 Awards
Most people don't realize this, but petty offenses generally are not handled in juvenile court even if the person is a juvenile, so the record is maintained and publicly available along with other records. The good news is that most if not all summaries are expungable. PennDOT has taken the position that traffic offenses aren't, but I think many Judges will disagree with them on that. You need to consult a lawyer to check whether you were convicted of a statutory crime or a local ordinance and then try to expunge the record. See this link for more information on Pennsylvania Expungement FAQ: http://fairlielaw.net/practice-areas/expungements/
Steven F. Fairlie, Esq.Fairlie & Lippy, P.C.1501 Lower State
Road, Suite 304North Wales, PA 19454voice: (215) 997-1000fax: (215)
997-1777steve@fairlielaw.netwww.fairlielaw.net
Answered on May 20th, 2012 at 9:01 AM