A Disorderly Conduct Conviction will show up on a background check.
When a Disorderly Conduct background check is performed, be prepared! Whoever is running the background check will learn of your conviction. Employers will either demand an explanation or terminate employment. Universities may suspend or expel.
Will a NJ disorderly Conduct conviction affect employment?
Disorderly Conduct Law N.J.S.A. 2C:33-2
a. Improper behavior.
A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense, if with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof he
Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; or
Creates a hazardous or physically dangerous condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.
b. Offensive language.
A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense if, in a public place, and with purpose to offend the sensibilities of a hearer or in reckless disregard of the probability of so doing, he addresses unreasonably loud and offensively coarse or abusive language, given the circumstances of the person present and the setting of the utterance, to any person present.
“Public” means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, or any neighborhood.
important tip: Invest a little bit of money and get a lawyer
If you ever get charged with any criminal offense, you should always have a criminal lawyer represent you.
You need to understand why you have been charges and the consequences you face before making any decision in your case.
Also, please visit the Areas We Serve & Practice Areas pages for more information.
Disorderly Persons convictions will stay on your record for 5 years
A Disorderly Conduct charge is a type of Disorderly Persons offenses.
These types of cases are heard in New Jersey Municipal courts.
Common Disorderly Persons offenses include: Harassment, Resisting Arrest, Obstruction of Justice, Eluding, Marijuana Possession, and Simple Assault.
If you plead guilty or are found guilty of a Disorderly Persons offense, you face up to six months in jail and up to a one thousand dollar fine.
You must wait for five years from the date you completed your sentence before you can get an expungement. For example, if you were sentenced to pay fines, the five years starts running once you pay all fines.
A real NJ Legal Case Discussing A Disorderly Conduct Charge
In State v. Stampone, 775 A. 2d 193, the defendant was sitting in his car outside of a home. The police charged him with disorderly conduct for yelling at a police officer and slamming the car door shut to prevent the officer from reaching inside. The officer testified that the defendant had been difficult and curt and that the act of slamming the car door caused it to “almost” strike the officer.
The prosecution argued that the defendant’s curt responses to the officer’s questions constituted a public inconvenience and that the raised voices and slamming of the car door were “tumultuous behavior” in accordance with the disorderly conduct statute.
The court disagreed, stating, “this entire incident was an unfortunate example of a police officer overreacting to innocuous conduct and a citizen treating an officer with rudeness approaching insolence that only aggravated the situation.”
Can I get probation for this type of charge?
You may be able to avoid a conviction by entering a diversionary program called Conditional Dismissal.
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