Arrest charges are filed by law enforcement officers and may or may not lead to convictions. The prosecutor decides whether to proceed with the charges or add more. Convictions result in the original charges becoming convictions, while acquittals or dismissals do not. Arrest charges may not appear on a criminal background check, and in some jurisdictions, they can be waived through expungement.
When a person is originally arrested, the law enforcement officer files the official arrest charge against the individual. The original charges are generally considered pretrial arrest charges and may, or may not, remain outstanding. In some cases, the additional charges are added later, while in other cases, the original charges are rejected. Similarly, arrest charges can lead to convictions, but they are not synonymous with convictions.
In most jurisdictions, a person can be arrested because the law enforcement officer actually catches the person in the act of committing a crime or based on an investigation that leads the police to arrest the individual. In either case, the police will typically arrest the individual for at least one felony by the time the person is taken into custody. The police officer must then prepare a report which is submitted to the prosecutor for review. The prosecutor will then decide whether to proceed with the original arrest charges, dismiss the original charges, or add more charges. Further investigation by law enforcement may also lead to further crimes being charged against the individual at a later date.
A criminal proceeding can end in a conviction, acquittal or dismissal of the charge. If the defendant is eventually convicted, either by pleading guilty or sentenced to trial, the original arrest charges will become convictions. If, however, the defendant is acquitted at trial, or the prosecutor decides to dismiss the charges, the original charges will not result in a conviction against the defendant.
The distinction between arrest charges and convictions can be extremely important when a criminal background check is required. Although convictions almost always appear on a criminal background check, arrest charges may or may not appear, depending on the jurisdiction. Anyone who reads a criminal background report needs to understand that just because someone has been arrested for a crime doesn’t mean that he or she has been convicted of the crime.
In many jurisdictions, arrest charges can be waived. Deletion means that the arrest record will be completely destroyed or removed from public access. Anyone who has been arrested, but not convicted, should research the elimination statutes in the jurisdiction where the arrest was made to see if the arrest record can be expunged. Once cleared, the record will not appear on a criminal background check.
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