I was arrested, but never actually charged with anything several years ago, will this affect me?

Answer the question honestly. You were arrested. It also asks if you were convicted. If I remember correctly, there's a block where you can write a narrative about what happened & why. Don't stress about it. Water under the bridge. Now deal with it with maturity and honesty.

Remember, these are regular people who review these things. They aren't ogres that try to find every little nit to pick or any little "gotcha". I can't read minds, but the officers that I've worked with would look at this and see a stupid 15 year old who ran into a music festival. Yup, bad judgement, but not all that surprising for a 15 year old. Now, if you did this at 17 or 18, I can see where there may be more concern.

In any case, you won't know if it will affect you until you fill out the paperwork and it gets reviewed.
 
When the juvenile turns 17 (becomes an adult in the eyes of the state for criminal matters) the court wll seal/expunge the arrest record if the offender meets certan criteria such as: not being charged with a felony and if at least two years have passed from the date of the original discharge. There are some other requirements. The sealing or expungement of records means just that - there is no record of the OP ever being in the system. When an adult investigator requests an offender's criminal history for a case nothing committed as a juvenile is ever revealed. One reason for this is that the State does not want to label a juvenile as a child in need of supervision or guilty of delinquent conduct and have that label follow them into the adult system. If the OP was offered community service he probably never saw a courtroom and the case was disposed of with no conviction.

In the big scheme of things and in any other circumstances the OP might have just had his parents called and he would have gotten a good spanking.

And in Texas we usually say that a juvenile was detained. We normally don't say arrested. They are required by law to be sight and sound separated from adults.
 
LineInTheSand said:
And during the clearance process for secret, top secret, TS-SCI, aren't sealed documents available?

I've never seen anything cited to answer this question.... the usual answer is "yes, they can be accessed.." but I have no idea what that info comes from.
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The answer is no. The federal government cannot access them because fingerprints are destroyed and all records are wiped for database. Now it does depend if it's really sealed and expunged which is why it's very important that the OP find out the status.

I've seen clients having more trouble disclosing an arrest they didn't have to disclose and then spending months trying to explain to the federal government why he couldn't obtain any record.
 
Spacer said:
Taught ROTC 78-81. Had a cadet who was caught by university police trying to shoplift a pack of gum. He was taken in to the university station, went on what he thought was just a university record. Did not disclose on 398 paperwork. It showed up during investigation. He was gone. Not for the gum but for failure to disclose. Also per O-6 JAG sealed records are available for that type of investigation.
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But in that case he was not a minor and his prints would be on record so he is charged with the lying more than the offense. In this case if it's truly expunged, he wouldn't be able to prove what the arrest was for. It could have been anything and he has no way of proving it.
 
Annamaria said:
But in that case he was not a minor and his prints would be on record so he is charged with the lying more than the offense. In this case if it's truly expunged, he wouldn't be able to prove what the arrest was for. It could have been anything and he has no way of proving it.
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No prints involved. Just a file started at the University. Regardless, if a file is only sealed, Federal Investigators for the military have access.
 
AJC said:
The question they ask is not;

Is there a record of you ever being arrested?

They ask;

Have you ever been arrested?

Sound like the answer is yes.
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This, exactly. And, even if the record is sealed, erased, deleted, whatever.... your friends and family know about it. So in 5 years when you get that Intel job or pilot slot and they are asking people questions for your background checks, some of them will be asked if you've ever been arrested. And, probably at least one will reply with the truth. Now they'll come back to you to explain. See how that happens?

Stealth_81
 
Call me old fashioned, but the truth is the truth. Integrity First, right? Yes, you were arrested.

To me that's the answer, whether you think your records are sealed, your friends might squeal, it might show up in a background check, etc etc etc etc etc. None of that has anything to do with your integrity.

Personally, I'm guessing such a minor thing clearly explained will not have a big impact on your chances. But even if it did... If you are the sort of person and leader you want to be by going to USAFA, your answer shouldn't change.
 
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