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How Criminal Charges Affect College Students

A DC criminal attorney can help you understand the affect a criminal charge can have on a college student. If you have been accused of a crime while in college, call today and schedule a free consultation.

Repercussions of a Criminal Charge for College Students

A criminal charge can have some of the same repercussions for a college student that it would for any other person, including possible jail time, onerous probation conditions, and hefty fines. However, a college student can also face penalties from their college or university depending on whether their alleged crime took place near the university, on university grounds, or involved another university student or university faculty or staff.

In those circumstances, you may be brought before a university judicial board and held to answer for the alleged violation of the university’s code of student conduct. Even if your criminal case had nothing to do with your university or college, many student codes of conduct include violation of criminal laws as a basis to initiate student judicial hearings.

Thus, if a student is convicted, the student may face expulsion, suspension or disciplinary probation even if a charged crime did not involve the university at all.

Criminal Convictions

A criminal conviction can also have penalties for a college student resulting in university disciplinary actions such as suspension, expulsion, possible mandated drug counseling or anger management counseling, or other conditions like community service that the university can impose even if those conditions are not imposed in your criminal case by the criminal court.

Actions Universities will Take

Universities will bring students before student boards for judicial conduct and initiate hearings very quickly, even before the criminal case is resolved. This often happens in cases when students were allegedly found in possession of drugs in their dorm rooms.

Universities move very quickly towards initiating student judicial hearings where allegations of sexual misconduct, such as sexual assault, have been made.

Importance of Having an Attorney Present at University Hearings

University hearings do not necessarily follow the same timeline as a criminal case. Universities have different procedures, different policies, and for the most part students do not have constitutional rights to remain silent, to not answer questions or to constitutional due process when they are going through a university hearing.

As a result, actions that you take at the university hearing level could incriminate you in your criminal case. Having an attorney represent you at the university level and at the criminal level can help you understand how to avoid incriminating yourself to the university and can help you avoid going on a course of action that could negatively impact you on both sides.