Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Hello. Please see this recent post and response:

Question: I was a suspect for a felony not to long ago but I was never arrested or have been charged with the felony.

Is it still on my record that I was a suspect?

Your Reply: Hello. I will first give an overview regarding public records pertaining to criminal offenses. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (�BCA�) public records contain public data that consists of criminal convictions through fifteen years following the completion of the sentence. This public information includes offense, court of conviction, date of conviction and sentencing information. Information not on the public website includes arrest data, juvenile data, criminal history data from other states, federal data, convictions where fifteen years or more have elapsed since completion of the sentence and other data that is deemed private or confidential. The Minnesota Judicial Branch provides an online inquiry tool (known by its acronym 'MNCIS') which provides certain limited public court case data. The information on this online site is not to be considered official court records. Of course, depending on the circumstances and pertaining to your question, other sorts of 'records' (meaning written documentation) may exist. There are provisions in law by which citizens have the right to request information that exists about themselves, and the governmental entity must respond promptly to a request by a person who is a �data subject�. Depending on the facts, there are limitations to what information you may view. Regarding information you do view, there are procedures that may be taken with the aim of correcting data that is inaccurate or incomplete. Due to you obviously have concerns, perhaps worries, I do recommend you contact a private attorney to assist you. Some attorneys (not all) will consider your finances in legal fee and some attorneys (not all) will confer with you and advise you or otherwise assist you on a �limited scope� legal help basis. I would be happy to be of assistance to you, if possible. Tricia Dwyer, Esq. at 612-296-9666.

If you were not charged, you will not have any public record.