A felony is a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment. A misdemeanor is a crime punishable by one year or less. That one-year line is the core difference between felonies and misdemeanors under federal law, and it drives almost everything that follows: where you serve any sentence, how the case moves through court, and which rights and opportunities you keep once the case is over.
The One-Year Dividing Line
Federal law sorts offenses into a ladder based on the maximum prison time a statute authorizes. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3559, felonies run from Class E up to Class A, and misdemeanors run from Class C up to Class A, with infractions at the bottom.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
- Class A felony: life imprisonment or the death penalty.
- Class B felony: 25 years or more.
- Class C felony: at least 10 years but less than 25.
- Class D felony: at least 5 years but less than 10.
- Class E felony: more than 1 year but less than 5.
- Class A misdemeanor: more than 6 months up to 1 year.
- Class B misdemeanor: more than 30 days up to 6 months.
- Class C misdemeanor: more than 5 days up to 30 days.
- Infraction: 5 days or less, or no jail time at all.
Each class describes the ceiling the law allows, not what a judge must impose. A Class D felony permits up to just under ten years; the actual sentence may be far less, and some felony convictions resolve with probation and no incarceration at all. Federal sentencing guidelines, the facts of the case, and prior criminal history all pull the number up or down.
Most states run their own classification systems with similar letter or number grades, but the ranges inside those grades vary. A Class C felony in one state can carry a very different maximum than the federal Class C. What stays consistent nearly everywhere is the one-year threshold itself.
Where You Serve Time and How the Case Moves
If a felony conviction leads to incarceration, the sentence is ordinarily served in a state or federal prison.2Bureau of Justice Statistics. Felony Sentencing and Jail Characteristics Misdemeanor time is served in a local or county jail, capped at one year. That difference is more than a label. Prisons house inmates for longer terms and classify them by security level; jails are built for shorter stays and pretrial detention.
The process in court diverges too. Federal felony prosecutions must go through a grand jury, because the Fifth Amendment requires an indictment for any “capital, or otherwise infamous crime” charged by the federal government.3Legal Information Institute. Fifth Amendment States are not bound by that rule. Roughly half use grand juries for serious felonies; the rest let prosecutors file through an information after a judge finds probable cause at a preliminary hearing.
Misdemeanor cases move faster. Many resolve through plea agreements or bench trials in front of a judge, without a jury. One warning that applies at every level: if you receive a citation or summons, do not skip the court date. Failing to appear typically triggers a bench warrant and can add new charges on top of the original one.
Typical Felony and Misdemeanor Offenses
Murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and large-scale drug trafficking sit squarely in felony territory. So do aggravated assault involving a weapon or serious injury, major financial fraud, and arson. The shared thread is conduct that causes or threatens significant harm to people, property, or public safety.
Misdemeanors cover conduct the law treats as harmful but not severe enough for felony prosecution. Simple assault without a weapon, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, petty theft, reckless driving, and some first-time drug possession charges fall on this side of the line. The dollar amount separating petty theft from felony theft varies by state, from a few hundred dollars up to $2,000 or more.
Judges often reach for alternatives to jail at the misdemeanor level: probation, community service, mandatory counseling, and fines. Maximum fines for the highest misdemeanor class in most states run between $500 and $2,500 depending on the jurisdiction and the charge.4National Conference of State Legislatures. Misdemeanor Sentencing Trends
When the Same Conduct Could Go Either Way
Not every offense sits cleanly on one side of the line. “Wobblers” are crimes a prosecutor can file as either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the circumstances. Domestic violence, assault with a weapon, vandalism, drug possession, and certain theft charges are common wobblers. Identical conduct can produce very different outcomes depending on the severity of any injury, the value of property involved, and the defendant’s record.
The prosecutor makes the initial charging decision. A first offense with no aggravating factors is more likely to be filed as a misdemeanor. Add a prior record, serious injury, or a vulnerable victim, and the same offense gets charged as a felony. Some states also let a judge reduce a felony wobbler to a misdemeanor at sentencing or after the defendant completes probation. That reduction can erase many of the long-term consequences that follow a felony, which is often the most valuable work a defense attorney does.
Infractions Sit Below the Misdemeanor Line
Below misdemeanors is a category most people encounter without feeling like they are inside the criminal justice system at all. Infractions are minor violations such as speeding tickets, jaywalking, and local ordinance breaches. The federal classification caps them at five days of jail time, or no jail time at all.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
Infractions do not create a criminal record and generally don’t appear on background checks. The usual consequence is a fine. Ignoring one is where trouble starts: failing to pay or appear on a traffic ticket can escalate into a misdemeanor charge, which does go on your record.
What a Felony Costs You After the Sentence
The sentence a judge imposes is only the beginning of a felony’s effect. A conviction triggers a set of legal restrictions that can last decades or, in some cases, for life. These collateral consequences often outweigh the sentence itself.
Firearms
Federal law makes it illegal for anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment to possess a firearm or ammunition.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The ban turns on what the statute authorized, not what the judge imposed. If the law allowed more than a year, the prohibition applies even if the actual sentence was shorter.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons Violating the ban is its own federal felony.
Voting
There is no single federal rule on voting rights after a felony conviction. Each state sets its own policy. Some restore voting rights automatically after release from prison; others require completion of parole and probation; a few impose waiting periods or require a governor’s pardon. The result is that millions of Americans with felony convictions cannot vote in a given election cycle, though recent years have trended toward expanding access.
Jury Service
Federal law disqualifies anyone with a pending felony charge or an unreversed felony conviction from serving on a grand or petit jury unless their civil rights have been restored.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service Most states apply similar restrictions.
Public Benefits
A 1996 federal law imposes a lifetime ban on SNAP (food stamps) and TANF cash assistance for anyone convicted of a drug-related felony.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 862a – Denial of Assistance and Benefits for Certain Drug-Related Convictions The ban is the federal default, but states can opt out entirely or limit how long it lasts. Most states have modified or eliminated it; in the ones that haven’t, a single drug felony cuts off food assistance for life.
Immigration
For non-citizens, a felony conviction can be devastating. Federal immigration law defines a category called “aggravated felonies” that triggers mandatory deportation and bars most forms of relief. The label is misleading because it reaches more than 30 offense types, and some need not be “aggravated” or even classified as felonies under state law. Theft with a sentence of at least one year, fraud involving more than $10,000, and drug trafficking all qualify.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 4 – Permanent Bars to Good Moral Character A conviction in this category makes a non-citizen ineligible for asylum, cancellation of removal, and voluntary departure, and subjects them to mandatory detention when their criminal custody ends.
Misdemeanors are not safe either. A “crime involving moral turpitude” such as theft, fraud, or certain assaults can block naturalization and, in some situations, lead to removal. A narrow petty-offense exception applies when the conviction is the person’s only such offense and the maximum possible sentence did not exceed one year.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 5 – Conditional Bars for Acts in Statutory Period A non-citizen facing any criminal charge should talk to an immigration lawyer before entering a plea.
How Long It Follows You on Background Checks
Background checks are where most people feel the weight of a conviction long after the sentence ends. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, criminal convictions have no federal time limit on reporting and can show up on consumer background checks indefinitely. Arrests that didn’t lead to conviction are capped at seven years.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports Some states add stricter limits, including seven-year caps on reporting convictions, but federal law sets no such floor.
Employers who use criminal background checks have to work within EEOC guidance under Title VII. A blanket policy rejecting every applicant with a criminal record is not considered job-related and consistent with business necessity, and it violates Title VII unless another federal law requires it.12U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions and Answers About the EEOCs Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records Employers are expected to consider the nature of the offense, the time that has passed, and the nature of the job before disqualifying someone. More than half the states and many local governments have also passed “ban the box” laws delaying when an employer can ask about criminal history.13National Conference of State Legislatures. Ban the Box
Professional licensing boards for law, medicine, nursing, education, and similar fields often deny or revoke credentials based on felony convictions. Those decisions usually turn on whether the offense relates to the duties of the profession and how much time has passed. A misdemeanor is less likely to produce an automatic denial but may still require disclosure.
Clearing a Record
Expungement destroys or removes a record; sealing hides it from public view while leaving it available to law enforcement and some government agencies. What’s available depends heavily on the state and the offense.
Most states let people expunge or seal at least some misdemeanor convictions after a waiting period, provided no new offenses have occurred. Felony expungement is harder and is often unavailable for serious violent or sexual offenses. Filing fees and procedural steps vary.
About 13 states have passed “clean slate” laws that automate sealing for qualifying offenses, so eligible records are sealed after a set period without a petition. Those laws generally exclude serious violent crimes, sexual offenses, and public corruption. Eligibility usually requires completing the full sentence, including probation and parole, and staying conviction-free during a waiting period of several years.
Federal convictions are much harder to clear. There is no general federal expungement statute, and the main options are presidential pardons or narrow provisions for specific offense types. An expunged state record can still surface in FBI databases, which matters in immigration proceedings and federal background checks.
Travel After a Conviction
A conviction can also limit entry into other countries. Canada is the clearest example for U.S. residents: Canadian border officials have access to U.S. criminal databases, and a conviction for an offense that is also a crime in Canada can make you “criminally inadmissible.” Travelers can apply for criminal rehabilitation once at least five years have passed since completing the sentence, and may be deemed rehabilitated automatically after ten years for offenses that would be punishable by less than ten years in Canada. Other countries set their own rules, with some requiring disclosure on visa applications and others checking databases at entry. Drug-related convictions at any level tend to draw the heaviest scrutiny.