Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Re: Do I have to list a Stay of Adjudication on a job application?

In Minnesota courts:

1. A "petty misdemeanor" is not a crime. It is a civil infraction, like a parking ticket.

2. A "stay of adjudication" is not a "conviction." It is not a "pending charge," certainly after the stay has expired without violation and the charge dismissed.

Beyond that, the answer could depend upon what "pending" means. Once the case is resolved in court as a stay of adjudication, it is no longer pending in the sense that the charge will either be dismissed or result in conviction, depending upon whether you violate a condition.

If the potential employer does a public records background check at the county court level, they will find the record of the charge and guilty plea. In that case, presumably a person would normally be better off disclosing what is there, while making clear the case has been resolved, and there is no conviction -- at least as a petty misdemeanor (never a crime), and perhaps as a stay of adjudication, which hopefully will result in dismissal if there are no violations.