Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Underage Possession of Alcohol

About 17 years ago when I was 18/19, I was cited for possession of one can of beer while visiting a friend in Blacksburg. I went to court, pled guilty, and was fined $10 plus court costs. I believe the applicable status/statute now would be a Class 1 Misdemeanor under S4.1-305, but don't remember what applied then. My questions are as follows: 1) Would such an age-related offense show up on my record today on a routine background check? 2) How would I go about checking what does appear on my record? 3) Would such an offense require that I now answer in the affirmative on employment questionnaire items such as ''Have you ever been convicted of any offense other than minor traffic violations?''


Asked on 9/05/03, 4:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Underage Possession of Alcohol

Even 20 years ago, it was probably the same kind of offense, i.e., Class 1 misdemeanor. However, given the length of time involved since your conviction and the fact that it occurred in a somewhat rural area, it's possible that the information concerning your conviction was never integrated into a saved database and, therefore,

now currently, exists, if at all, somwhere, perhaps, only in the microfilm records of the Blacksburg General District Court.

You could go to this court and ask to search their records, with the aid of one of their clerks, if necessary. Depending upon what you were to find as a result of such a search, might well give you a clue as to how you could answer your last question.

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Answered on 9/05/03, 11:36 pm


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