On a job application, disposition means the court’s final outcome of a criminal charge: whether the case ended in a conviction, a dismissal, an acquittal, or an alternative resolution such as a plea deal or diversion program. When the form asks for a disposition, it is asking how each charge was resolved, not for the story behind it. The question matters because employers verify what you write against official court records, and any gap between your answer and the record can be treated as dishonesty.
What Disposition Actually Means on the Form
A disposition is the court’s official record of how a specific charge was resolved. It is not the arrest and not the filing of charges. Those events open a case; the disposition closes it. A case has a disposition once the court has reached a final decision, whether through a guilty finding, a dismissal, an acquittal, or an alternative arrangement. Until one of those endpoints is reached, the case is pending and has no disposition.
Application forms vary in what they ask for. Some want convictions only. Others ask about any charge, regardless of outcome. A few ask about any contact with the criminal justice system. Read the question before you answer it, because the wording controls what you have to disclose.
The Dispositions You May Need to Report
A handful of standard terms cover almost every outcome you might see on your own record.
Conviction
A conviction means you either pleaded guilty or were found guilty at trial. It creates a permanent criminal record and may have carried penalties such as fines, jail time, probation, or community service. This is the disposition that weighs most heavily in hiring decisions because it is a formal finding of guilt.
Dismissal
A dismissal means the court ended the case without a conviction, for reasons that can include insufficient evidence or procedural problems with how the case was handled.1Legal Information Institute. Dismissal No finding of guilt was entered.
Acquittal
An acquittal is a formal “not guilty” verdict. A judge or jury weighed the evidence and concluded the defendant was not guilty.2Cornell Law School / Legal Information Institute (LII). Acquittal That makes it different from a dismissal, which can turn on procedure rather than the merits.
Nolle Prosequi
Nolle prosequi is a formal notice from the prosecutor that the case is being abandoned. It can be entered at any point after charges are filed and before a verdict or plea.3Legal Information Institute. Nolle Prosequi For employment purposes, it generally means the case ended without a conviction.
No Contest (Nolo Contendere)
A no contest plea accepts the court’s punishment without a formal admission of guilt. It still results in a conviction and appears on a background check the same way a guilty plea does. The only practical difference is that the plea cannot be used as an admission of fault in a later civil lawsuit. On a job application, treat it as a conviction.
Deferred Adjudication
Deferred adjudication is an arrangement where the judge postpones entering a final judgment while the defendant completes supervised probation, which may include community service, counseling, drug testing, or restitution. Complete the conditions and the charges are typically dismissed with no conviction entered. Fail to comply and the court can proceed to conviction. Terminology varies by state; some jurisdictions call it deferred disposition or conditional discharge.
Pre-Trial Diversion
Pre-trial diversion works similarly but happens earlier, before any plea is entered. The prosecutor pauses the case while the defendant completes conditions over a set period, often six months to two years. Successful completion results in dismissal. Diversion is most common for lower-level offenses or first-time offenders. The underlying arrest record may still surface on a background check unless you take separate steps to expunge or seal it.
How to Fill in the Disposition Field
The form wants the final outcome of each charge, not a narrative. Match your answer to your situation:
- If you were convicted by plea or verdict, list the offense, the date, and write “convicted” or “guilty plea.” Where a plea deal reduced the charge, report the final charge you were convicted of, not the original one.
- If a charge was dismissed or you were acquitted, and the application asks only about convictions, you generally do not need to list it. If the application asks about any charge, write “dismissed” or “acquitted” next to the offense and date.
- If you completed deferred adjudication or diversion and the charges were dismissed, read the question carefully. Some states treat a successful deferral as a non-conviction, so a “convictions only” question may not reach it. If the question asks about any involvement with the criminal justice system, disclose it.
- If you entered a no contest plea, report it the same way you would report a conviction.
- If your record was expunged or sealed, most states let you legally decline to acknowledge the arrest or charge. There are exceptions for certain government positions, law enforcement roles, and professional licensing applications. If you are not sure your record qualifies, check with the court that granted the expungement.
Accuracy is the whole point. Employers verify what you report, and even an innocent mistake can be read as dishonesty. Before filling out any application, pull a copy of your own criminal record so you can match dates, charges, and dispositions to what officially exists.
Pending Cases
If you have been charged but the case has not reached a final outcome, the honest answer is “pending.” Do not guess at the outcome, and do not leave the field blank. A pending charge is not a conviction, and EEOC guidance warns employers against treating an unresolved arrest as a finding of guilt.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Leaving a pending charge off creates a bigger problem than disclosing it. If the employer finds it through a background check, the omission is often treated as more serious than the charge itself. If the case later ends in dismissal or acquittal, follow up with the employer or background check company so the final disposition is reflected.
Expunged or Sealed Records
Once a record is expunged, the disposition is destroyed or hidden from standard background checks, and in most states you can legally deny the arrest or charge ever happened — including on job applications. Sealed records work similarly, though the record still exists and may be accessible to certain government agencies, law enforcement hiring, or professional licensing.
A number of states have passed clean slate laws that automatically seal eligible records after a waiting period, typically requiring that you have completed your sentence and stayed crime-free for a set number of years. Even without automatic sealing, you can usually petition the court to expunge or seal qualifying records. A local court clerk or legal aid office can walk you through the process.
Expungement is not always airtight. Older records can linger in private databases that background check companies rely on, especially if those databases were built before the expungement. If an expunged record shows up on a report, you have the right to dispute it.
What the Employer Will See
A disposition record contains the case number, the court where the matter was heard, and the date the final judgment was entered, which is often months after the arrest. It shows both the charges filed at arrest and the final charges at disposition. That comparison reveals whether a charge was reduced through a plea agreement, such as a felony lowered to a misdemeanor.
Before an employer can run a background check, federal law requires a clear written disclosure in a standalone document, and your written authorization.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports A background check run without your consent is a violation of federal law.
Federal law also limits how far back a report can reach for non-conviction records. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, arrests that did not lead to a conviction, dismissed charges, and acquittals generally cannot be reported after seven years from the date of the original event.6Federal Register. Fair Credit Reporting; Background Screening Convictions have no federal time limit, though some states cap conviction reporting at seven or ten years.
If the Background Check Shows the Wrong Disposition
Reports sometimes contain errors: a dismissed charge listed as a conviction, an old record that should have aged off, or someone else’s record mixed into yours. Federal law gives you the right to dispute inaccurate information.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy Screening companies must use reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681e – Compliance Procedures
- Get your report. You are entitled to a free copy of any background check used in an employment decision. Read it for incorrect charges, wrong dispositions, or records that belong to someone else.
- Gather court documents. Request certified copies of the correct disposition from the clerk where your case was heard. Fees vary by jurisdiction but typically range from a few dollars to around $25 per document.
- File a dispute. Write to the background check company, explain what is wrong, attach your court documents, and ask for a correction.
- Wait for the investigation. The company must investigate and resolve the dispute within 30 days, send you a corrected report, and forward the corrected information to anyone who recently received the inaccurate version.
If the company fails to correct the error, the Fair Credit Reporting Act allows you to recover actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees for willful violations. If you are mid-hiring, tell the employer you are disputing the report and ask that your application stay under consideration while the investigation runs.
When the Employer Can Even Ask
A growing number of laws restrict when during hiring an employer can ask about criminal history. The federal Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act bars federal agencies and contractors from asking about criminal records before a conditional job offer, with exceptions for positions requiring security clearances, law enforcement roles, and jobs where a background inquiry is required by another federal statute.9Federal Register. Fair Chance To Compete for Jobs
Roughly 15 states and many cities and counties have passed ban-the-box laws that reach private employers, typically removing criminal history questions from the initial application and pushing any inquiry to after an interview or conditional offer. Some of these laws also require an individualized assessment before an employer can reject an applicant based on a conviction. If a disposition question appears on an application in a jurisdiction with a fair chance law, check whether the employer was permitted to ask at that stage.