Tickets, charges and how cases end
The label on a charge decides the penalty, the record and what happens next. These guides explain the labels, show how they're graded and point you to the statute that applies.
Photo: Scott Rodgerson, Unsplash
Traffic tickets
- Is a traffic ticket a misdemeanor
Infractions, misdemeanors and felonies, offense by offense.
- Citation vs ticket
Same paper, different records: driving vs criminal.
- How long a traffic infraction stays on record
Driving record vs criminal record, points and CDL rules.
- Is reckless driving a felony
Usually a misdemeanor; what makes it a felony, with Virginia's law.
DUI
- DWI vs DUI
Two names, one crime in most states, with the exceptions.
- How long a DUI stays on your record
Criminal record, driving record, look-backs and background checks.
- Refusing a field sobriety test
Roadside tests vs breath and blood tests after arrest.
- Are DUI checkpoints legal
The Supreme Court rule, state bans and your rights at a stop.
- DUI on a bicycle
Why the answer turns on the word "vehicle" in your state's law.
Criminal cases
- Does indictment mean jail time
A charge, not a conviction: the stages and the release rules.
- Degrees of assault
How assault is graded, with New York's three degrees.
- Adjudication withheld
Not a conviction under state law, but not the same as a dismissal.
- Case dismissed
With or without prejudice, what's left on your record, and no contest.
- Signs your case will be dismissed
The legal grounds behind dismissals, with the federal deadlines.
- Probation violation
Types of violations, the hearing, your rights and the outcomes.
- Temporary restraining order
How long it lasts, what a court needs and what comes next.
Rights and records
- Car searches without a warrant
Probable cause, consent, arrests and dog sniffs, in one table.
- Can felons get a passport
Most can; the drug, warrant, probation and support exceptions.
The rules behind these guides
- State penal and vehicle codes
- what each offense is called, its class and its maximum penalty
- 18 U.S.C. § 3559
- how federal law sorts offenses into felonies, misdemeanors and infractions by the maximum prison term
- Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure
- temporary restraining orders (Civil Rule 65), dismissals (Civil Rule 41) and pleas (Criminal Rule 11)
Other topics
Found a number that doesn't match your state's current rule, or need a guide we don't have? Write to us. These guides are general information, not legal advice; see our legal disclaimer.