If I was arrested,but not indicted and the case is closed because the
Grand Jury gave me a letter that states that the charges against me
were dismissed,do I actually have a criminal record

Hi Ranier, 

According to the US Bureau of Justice:

"A criminal history record describes any arrests and subsequent
dispositions attributable to an individual."

" Criminal records are maintained by each State in a central
repository. To facilitate the interstate exchange of criminal history
records, the FBI maintains the Interstate Identification Index (III)
which is an “index-pointer” system to records of persons arrested for
felonies or serious misdemeanors under State or Federal law."

For more information on how this information is used, see their
website-
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crs.htm

So YES, once you are arrested this information is recorded in your
State repository and is indexed through the Bureau of Justice. 
However, the disposition (or what happened subsequent to your arrest)
is also recorded.

Hope this clarifies things for you.

-K~

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Request for Answer Clarification by rainer-ga on 24 Jun 2002 07:43 PDT

I visited othe sites and they tell me different stories.most tell me i
have no criminal record.
Would you be able to give me a more detailed answer?

---

Clarification of Answer by knowledge_seeker-ga on 24 Jun 2002 10:08 PDT

Hi again Ranier, 

Again I refer you to the US Dept of Justice who has the final word in
legal matters in the US.  The below file is an Adobe Acrobat file
entitled: Use and Management of Criminal History Record Information: A
Comprehensive Report, 2001 Update.

The report is 193 pages long. I've clipped a few cogent statements and
added page numbers for your convenience.  Everything I've quoted below
is from Chapter I: "How the criminal justice system works and how it
uses criminal history records."

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/umchri01.pdf

"In most instances, the arrest is the event that triggers the
creation of a criminal history record for a particular case.
Virtually all States have laws or regulations requiring arresting
agencies to report certain arrests to the central repository." (p12)

In the event of release during or after booking, ".. A notice of the
release must also be sent to avoid the creation of an open arrest
record without a notation that the case was officially terminated."
(p.13)

"A number of things can happen at the initial [trial] appearance...
[including] .. Charges against the defendant may be dismissed... All
this information ... is typically reportable to the State repository
and has consequences for the completeness and accuracy of the criminal
history record." (p. 14)


Section 2: Information maintained in the Nation’s criminal history
record systems

[The record includes] Information about the record subject’s current
and past involvement with the criminal justice system (including
arrests or other formal criminal charges, and any dispositions
resulting from these arrests or formal charges). (p.27)



Based on everything I have read, beginning with your arrest, all
information about your case was probably added to the State repository
and is now on file with the FBI in the central database. This is your
official CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD in the US. Although other
jurisdictions may keep other records, this is the "official" file.

Whether or not that data has been (or can) be removed would be a
matter to take up with your attorney. According to the document I
cited above, even when charges get dropped during the booking
procedure, " ..audits have shown that failure to send [notices of
release] even where required by law, is a pervasive problem."


At this point, to determine the status of your particular record you
need to contact your attorney. He or she is the only one who can give
you precise information as it pertains to you. Everything beyond this
would be generalization and speculation and not particularly useful to
you.

If you don't have an attorney there are many legal clinics in most
cities where attorneys will answer your questions at little or no
cost.

I hope this has helped further clarify things for you.

Good Luck – K~

You do not have a criminal record; you have an arrest record. It is
improper for anybody, ie employer, organization, insurance company to
ask about your arrest and generally you only have to reveal your
convictions. You have NO convictions. Depending on where you live you
can probably get your arrest record expunged by filing a form w/ the
proper authorities, usually a court and sometimes there is a fee
involved. Sometimes you can do this yourself, sometimes you will need
an attorney. You will need to research the statutes in the state where
the arrest occured to determine the proper procedure.