Classes of Misdemeanors: Penalties, Rights, and Record Clearing

The classes of misdemeanors are the tiers that federal and state law use to sort lower-level crimes by how much jail time they carry. Federal law uses three: Class A tops out at one year, Class B at six months, and Class C at thirty days. Most states follow a similar tiered approach, though some use numbers or degrees instead of letters, some add a “gross misdemeanor” category above the standard tiers, and a handful don’t classify misdemeanors at all. Where a charge lands in this hierarchy drives the possible jail time, the fine ceiling, whether you can demand a jury trial, and how hard the conviction will be to clear later.

How the Classification System Works

Federal classification is set out in 18 U.S.C. § 3559. If a statute calls something a misdemeanor but doesn’t assign it a letter grade, the maximum prison term written into that statute automatically determines the class.¹ The three federal classes break down this way:

Class A: more than six months but no more than one year of imprisonment.
Class B: more than thirty days but no more than six months.
Class C: more than five days but no more than thirty days.

Anything carrying five days or less, or no jail time at all, falls below misdemeanor territory and is classified as an infraction.¹

Most states use a similar tiered system under different names. Some mirror the federal A/B/C letters. Others use numbered classes (Class 1, 2, 3) or degrees (first degree, second degree). Roughly a dozen states either lump all misdemeanors into a single undivided category or set penalties offense by offense without any classification scheme.²

Class A Misdemeanors

Class A sits at the top of the misdemeanor ladder, one step below a felony. Federal law caps the jail term at one year, and most states that classify misdemeanors also cap their highest tier at 364 or 365 days, typically served in a county or local jail rather than a state prison.²

The federal fine ceiling is steep. An individual convicted of a Class A misdemeanor that doesn’t result in death faces a maximum fine of $100,000. For an organization, the ceiling doubles to $200,000.³ State fines are usually lower, with maximums commonly ranging from a few thousand dollars up to $10,000. Courts also regularly impose probation, community service, and restitution alongside or instead of jail.

Offenses that often fall into this tier include simple assault without serious bodily injury, first-offense DUI, theft of property below a certain dollar threshold, and some drug possession charges. The same conduct can be a Class A misdemeanor in one state and a Class B or even a felony in another.

One structural point matters here. Because Class A misdemeanors authorize more than six months of imprisonment, they’re generally treated as “serious” offenses for Sixth Amendment purposes, which means a right to a jury trial attaches.⁴ That right usually disappears at lower tiers.

Class B Misdemeanors

Class B occupies the middle tier. Federal law defines these as offenses carrying more than thirty days but no more than six months of incarceration.¹ Jail time is served in local facilities, and sentences are often measured in weeks.

Federal fines for Class B and C misdemeanors share the same cap: $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations.³ State fine maximums for mid-tier misdemeanors commonly fall between $500 and $2,000. Judges frequently combine a fine with supervised probation, which can involve check-ins with a probation officer, travel restrictions, drug testing, and sometimes counseling or substance abuse evaluation.

Common Class B offenses include criminal trespass, possession of small amounts of certain controlled substances, public intoxication, and minor property crimes. Because the ceiling is six months, these offenses are presumed “petty” under constitutional law, and you generally don’t have the right to a jury trial. The Supreme Court has held that an offense carrying six months or less is presumptively not serious enough to trigger that right, unless additional penalties are so severe that the legislature clearly treated the crime as serious.⁵

Class C Misdemeanors

Class C is the lowest classified tier. Federal law sets the range at more than five days but no more than thirty days of incarceration.¹ Many people convicted at this level never see the inside of a jail cell. Courts often impose fines alone or pair a small fine with unsupervised probation.

The federal fine maximum matches Class B at $5,000 for individuals.³ At the state level, fines for the lowest misdemeanor class tend to be modest, often capped at a few hundred dollars. Disorderly conduct is the classic example and is classified at this level in most states. Minor traffic-related criminal offenses that go beyond simple moving violations also commonly fall here.

Charges at this level are frequently eligible for diversion, especially for first-time offenders. Diversion typically requires community service, an educational class, or a short probation period in exchange for having the charge dismissed. Most programs require that the offense be nonviolent and that any victim consents. Successful completion usually means no conviction appears on your record.

Don’t let the “petty” label fool you. A Class C conviction still creates a criminal record that shows up on background checks, and the collateral consequences discussed below can follow you for years.

Gross Misdemeanors

A handful of states use a separate category called “gross misdemeanor” that doesn’t map onto the A/B/C framework. In Minnesota, a gross misdemeanor is its own classification level sitting between standard misdemeanors and felonies, carrying up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $3,000.² Washington and Nevada use the same term with similar ranges. In states without the label, offenses that would qualify as gross misdemeanors are typically absorbed into the Class A tier.

Unclassified Misdemeanors

Some statutes label an offense as a misdemeanor and attach a specific penalty without assigning a class. These are called unclassified or nongraded misdemeanors. If a law says “this is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days,” the court applies that 90-day maximum directly rather than slotting the offense into a general class.

This matters because unclassified penalties don’t always align with standard class definitions. A 90-day maximum falls between the Class B ceiling (six months) and the Class C ceiling (thirty days) under the federal framework. Some states have addressed this by deeming an unclassified misdemeanor to belong to whatever class matches its penalty. Others leave it unclassified, with the specific statute controlling everything. When a code labels something a misdemeanor and specifies no penalty at all, a default typically kicks in, often 90 days of jail, a fine of a few hundred dollars, or both.

Rights That Turn on the Class

Right to a Jury Trial

The Sixth Amendment guarantees a jury trial for “serious” offenses but not for petty ones. The dividing line is six months: if the maximum authorized imprisonment for your charge exceeds six months, you’re entitled to a jury.⁵ Most Class A misdemeanors qualify. Class B and C misdemeanors generally do not. Even when you’re charged with multiple petty offenses that could add up to more than six months in total, the Supreme Court has held that the aggregate potential sentence doesn’t create a jury trial right.⁶

Right to Appointed Counsel

You have a right to a court-appointed lawyer in any misdemeanor case where you actually face jail time. The Supreme Court established in 1972 that no person may be imprisoned for any offense, regardless of classification, unless they were represented by counsel or knowingly waived that right.⁷ A later decision refined the rule: the right to appointed counsel exists when imprisonment is actually imposed as a sentence, not merely when it’s authorized by statute.⁸

If a judge wants to sentence you to even a single day in jail, the court must have offered you a lawyer. If you couldn’t afford one and weren’t appointed one, the judge cannot impose a jail sentence. Judges handling lower-tier misdemeanors sometimes skip appointing counsel because they don’t intend to send anyone to jail, and in those cases jail is off the table as a sentence.

Consequences Beyond the Sentence

The formal sentence is only part of what a misdemeanor conviction costs you. The collateral consequences often matter more over the long run and vary with what you were convicted of.

Firearm Restrictions

Federal law permanently prohibits anyone convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” from possessing firearms or ammunition. This applies regardless of class.⁹ The qualifying offense must have involved the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon against a spouse, former spouse, co-parent, household member, or dating partner. It’s a lifetime federal ban, and it catches people off guard because most assume only felonies carry firearm consequences.

Immigration Consequences

For non-citizens, even a low-level misdemeanor can trigger deportation. A conviction for two or more crimes involving moral turpitude, even if both are misdemeanors, can make a person deportable as long as the offenses didn’t arise from a single incident.¹⁰ A single misdemeanor involving moral turpitude committed within five years of entry, combined with a sentence of one year or longer (even if suspended), can also be grounds for removal. If you’re not a U.S. citizen, the immigration consequences of any misdemeanor plea should be evaluated before you accept a deal.

Employment and Professional Licensing

Misdemeanor convictions appear on standard background checks and can affect your ability to get hired or keep a professional license. Licensing boards in fields like healthcare, education, and finance routinely review applicants’ criminal histories. Drug-related, fraud-related, and violent misdemeanors tend to draw the most scrutiny depending on the profession. A growing number of jurisdictions have adopted “fair chance” hiring laws that restrict when employers can ask about criminal history and require them to weigh how relevant a conviction is to the job, but these laws don’t eliminate the impact.

Time Limits on Charges

The government can’t wait forever to charge you. The general federal statute of limitations for non-capital offenses, including misdemeanors, is five years from the date the offense was committed. If no indictment is found or information filed within that window, prosecution is barred.¹¹ Many states impose shorter deadlines for misdemeanors, often one to three years. The clock generally starts when the crime is committed, not when it’s discovered, though some offenses have exceptions.

Clearing a Misdemeanor From Your Record

Federal misdemeanor convictions generally cannot be expunged. The federal court system does not provide a mechanism for clearing a conviction after the sentence is complete. State rules are different. Most states allow at least some misdemeanor convictions to be expunged or sealed after a waiting period, typically one to seven years depending on the offense. Lower-class misdemeanors are usually eligible sooner and with fewer restrictions than higher-class ones.

Eligibility commonly depends on the type of offense, whether you’ve completed your full sentence including probation and restitution, and whether you’ve picked up any new charges since the conviction. Charges that were dismissed or resulted in an acquittal are generally easier to clear than actual convictions. If expungement is available for your offense, pursuing it removes the background check hit that otherwise follows you into job applications, housing applications, and licensing decisions for years after you’ve paid the fine and served the time.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
2
National Conference of State Legislatures. Misdemeanor Sentencing Trends
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
4
Constitution Annotated. Overview of Right to Trial by Jury
5
Justia Supreme Court. Blanton v. City of North Las Vegas, 489 U.S. 538 (1989)
6
Legal Information Institute. Lewis v. United States, 518 U.S. 322 (1996)
7
Justia Supreme Court. Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972)
8
Justia Supreme Court. Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. 367 (1979)
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
10
U.S. Department of Justice. Criminal Resource Manual 1934 – Appendix D – Grounds for Judicial Deportation
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Time Limitations