Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Re: meaning - stay of adjudication

A "stay of adjudication" in Minnesota state criminal cases, normally results from a settlement agreement between the prosecutor and defense lawyer, but sometimes can come from a judge without such an agreement. A "stay of adjudication" is a disposition in a criminal case, after a guilty plea, where the court does not "accept" the guilty plea, does not "adjudicate" the person guilty of the charge; but instead "stays adjudication" -- in other words delay adjudication for some period of time with conditions. If the defendant meets the conditions, at the end of the "stay" period, the charge is normally dismissed, without conviction under Minnesota law.

Though it is better to avoid a conviction this way than to have a conviction, the public records of criminal history will still be there. Many negative consequences are triggered by the guilty plea alone. For example, a person who pleads guilty to a criminal charge is normally not eligible for an "expungment" under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 609A (unless a juvenile prosecuted as an adult or a 152.18 drug offense disposition).

A person who has a criminal case resolved with a stay of adjudication will have a public record of that, and the rest of what happened (arrest, charge, court action).