I recently had to do a psych eval and was given a form to fill out in which one of the questions asked if I had ever committed a crime. I marked yes, and then listed a larceny, disorderly conduct and threat charge all from early 2004. I also listed a misdemeanor charge that I received as a juvenile in 1993/1994.
I recently spoke to the criminal records division of the state I grew up in and was told that juvenile records are deleted/removed from NCIC after reaching the age of 18. They further said that no one would be able to find the record.
Will this omission of the juvenile record hurt me any as they cannot locate it?
The FBI obtains and updates ALL of its criminal records based on state police reporting. If the state police expunged your record the FBI also has no record of it. If I were you I’d FOIA your criminal records from the arresting agency, state police and FBI to be sure they are reporting “no record”. If they are reporting “no record” to you that is also what they will report to a BI. Furthermore, non-disclosure of an expunged record in your case likely won’t amount to a material falsification charge under guideline E given that you believe the record expunged implying your original rights were restored.
Browse expunged records in this doc: http://www.dhra.mil/Portals/52/Documents/perserec/ADR_Version_4.pdf
The record was deleted, not expunged. I admitted to it on the form. But since there is no record of it, does this effect anything?
The BI will ask you a bunch of questions about the incident now that they won’t be able to obtain the report. And an adjudicator will then determine if the incident itself actually occurred despite the case being dismissed or you being otherwise found not guilty. Odds are they will treat the incident as if it actually occurred based on your disclosure alone. Mitigation and whole person concept will then be applied to make a determination
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This is not unusual for law enforcement records. The attempt will be made - the record is found or not found - and you case moves on.
Admitting the incident is the most important factor - you don’t want an old family friend to mention “that bit of trouble” from your youth when it was a reportable incident.
Otherwise - read the reporting periods on the questionnaire and answer the questions literally.
Your Poly is a whole 'nother beast.
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I won’t have to do a poly. This was part of an interrogative. I truly believe that if the three charges from 2004 were a huge issue, they would have denied me and not even done the psych eval. However now that I have admitted to a charge that is 24/25 years old when I was 13, would this have any bearing?
Again, it depends on the charges… are they “ever” events on your SF 86? Did you lie about them on a previous SF86? Otherwise - older charges are normally not a clearance breaker.
The point is - it is not the original issue that gets so many in hot water, it’s not reporting when required to report.
I knew a really good guy in the military, fast burner, worked military security until he applied for his TS. Then one day he was escorted out and booted for fraudulent enlistment. The Secret clearance background check missed his armed robbery as a juvenile 12 years earlier - the TS investigation did not… If I had not known him personally - I would not have known what happened - that is how quick they booted him
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Keep in mind that the falsification has to be both intentional and material for something as extreme as being walked out to happen. Omitting an armed robbery is no doubt material; whereas omitting something like disorderly conduct likely will not amount to material.
I didn’t lie because this issue did not fit under the “ever” category and I had almost completely forgotten about it until I was asked about being suspended from school. And then I remembered somewhat, but not completely what happened.
I wouldn’t worry about it then. Provide the information that’s asked of you and press on.
Exactly.
School issues when you are 18 are not the same when you are 36, unless the pattern continues.
The important part of my story was not hiding something that you are required to report.
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Concur. At times it is helpful to run your own background check, print it, speak to any issue and show the printed background check. The SF86 is clear that sealed or expunged records require reporting. Obviously under the whole person concept, taking johnny’s milk in the lunchroom is a minor issue of no consequence. But if it was a beginning to a pattern of disruptive behaviors leading to more and more inappropriate actions…it can be of consequence. In theory a lower level felony 10 plus years ago is potentially mitigated. Ish. I have a few people in the pipeline with a felony charge from 10 plus years prior. They have lived stellar lives since. So I am using their case as a test of the system. Each of them have been taking an inordinate amount of time in an already very slow system. So I believe due care is being used to see if there is any other behavior.