The difference between SIS and SES probation in Missouri comes down to whether a conviction gets entered on your record. With a Suspended Imposition of Sentence (SIS), the judge withholds both the finding of guilt and any sentence, and if you finish probation cleanly, no conviction is ever entered and your record closes to the public. With a Suspended Execution of Sentence (SES), the judge enters the conviction and imposes a specific sentence up front, then suspends only the punishment, so the conviction stays on your record for life even if you complete probation without a hitch.
That single distinction drives almost everything else people care about: background checks, firearm purchases, immigration exposure, how a future DWI gets charged, and what a judge can do to you if something goes wrong on probation.
How an SIS Works
Under an SIS, you plead guilty or are found guilty, but the court pauses before entering a judgment of conviction. No sentence is imposed. Instead, the court places you on probation.1CITY OF KANSAS CITY. Probation Types and Supervision
Finish probation without a violation and the case closes with no conviction entered. For most purposes under Missouri law, you can truthfully say you were not convicted of that offense, and your record closes to the public so the charge does not appear on most standard background checks.1CITY OF KANSAS CITY. Probation Types and Supervision
Probation length depends on the charge: one to five years for a felony, six months to two years for a misdemeanor, and six months to one year for an infraction.2Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 559.016
How an SES Works
An SES runs in a different order. The court enters a judgment of guilt, pronounces a specific sentence, and then suspends execution of that sentence while you serve probation.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 559.036 You have a conviction from day one. Only the punishment is on hold.
Complete every requirement perfectly and the conviction still does not disappear. It stays in your criminal history and shows up on background checks. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumer reporting agencies can report convictions indefinitely, so an SES conviction can follow you on employment screens for the rest of your life.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions under Title VII
The probation ranges are the same as SIS, and multiple Missouri probation terms run concurrently, including with any federal or other-state supervision.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 559.036
What Each Leaves on Your Record
A completed SIS leaves no formal conviction in Missouri’s system, and your record closes to the public. A completed SES leaves the conviction intact. For job applications, professional licenses, and housing, that gap is the whole ballgame. When a form asks whether you have been “convicted” of a crime, a completed SIS generally lets you answer no under Missouri law; an SES always requires a yes.
SIS protection is not absolute. The exact wording of the question matters. Forms that ask about “arrests,” “findings of guilt,” or “criminal history” can still require disclosure of an SIS, and the charge remains in certain law enforcement databases even after public access closes.
What a Violation Triggers Under Each
If you violate SIS probation, the judge can impose any sentence within the full statutory range for the original offense, up to the maximum the law allows.1CITY OF KANSAS CITY. Probation Types and Supervision Nothing has been set, so the court has complete discretion. That open-ended exposure is the trade-off for the clean-record benefit.
If you violate SES probation, the judge can execute the specific sentence that was already imposed and suspended.1CITY OF KANSAS CITY. Probation Types and Supervision The ceiling is already built in. If the court originally pronounced two years and suspended execution, a violation puts that two-year sentence in play, not something longer.
Either way, the court can extend probation by up to one additional year beyond the original term, but total time on probation cannot exceed the statutory maximum plus one year.2Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 559.016
Why an SIS Still Counts for a Later DWI
This is the trap people walk into. Missouri’s DWI enhancement statute explicitly treats an SIS as a prior intoxication-related offense. Any plea of guilty or finding of guilt followed by a suspended imposition of sentence counts as a prior for enhancement purposes.5Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 577.023
So if you took an SIS on a first DWI and get arrested again, prosecutors will count that SIS as a prior. A second DWI with one prior is charged as a Class A misdemeanor. Two or more priors can push the charge to a felony. The DWI statute writes its own definition of what counts, and SIS is inside it.
Federal Consequences Missouri Cannot Erase
Missouri’s treatment of a completed SIS as a non-conviction does not bind federal authorities, and the mismatch shows up in three places that matter.
Firearm Purchases
Missouri’s felon-in-possession statute only restricts people who have been “convicted of a felony.”6Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 571.070 A completed SIS avoids a formal conviction, so state law does not bar you from possessing a firearm. The guilty plea still appears in the FBI’s background check system, however, and someone who took an SIS on a felony will likely fail the federal NICS check at a licensed dealer. State law may allow possession while the federal purchase process shuts the door.
Federal Sentencing
If you later face federal charges, both SIS and SES dispositions add points to your criminal history score. The federal sentencing guidelines treat any sentence where imposition or execution was totally suspended as a prior sentence for criminal history scoring.7United States Sentencing Commission. Chapter Four – Criminal History and Criminal Livelihood A pure diversion with no finding of guilt is excluded; an SIS involves a finding of guilt, so it counts.
Immigration
Federal immigration law uses its own, broader definition of “conviction.” An SIS involves a guilty plea or admission of facts, which qualifies as a conviction for immigration purposes regardless of how Missouri labels it. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should treat an SIS as carrying the same immigration risk as an SES and talk to an immigration attorney before entering any plea.
Expungement After the Fact
Missouri’s expungement statute lets you petition to seal records of an arrest, plea, trial, or conviction for eligible offenses.8Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 610.140 For an SES, this is often the best remaining way to clear a conviction. For an SIS, expungement provides a more thorough removal because the underlying arrest and charge still live in certain databases even after your record closes to the public.
Waiting periods start after you complete the authorized disposition: three years for a felony, one year for a misdemeanor, infraction, or municipal violation. You cannot pick up any new misdemeanor or felony during the wait, routine traffic violations aside.8Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 610.140 Class A felonies and certain other serious offenses listed in the statute are not eligible. Offenses that were part of the same course of conduct can go in one petition and count as a single offense for future eligibility.