Caught Urinating in Public

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Rockville Center, New York

This past Saturday was two of my friends birthdays and a big group of them decided to go to Rockville Center. I recently went to the doctor for an illness which one of the symptoms is frequent urination (not relevant - but obviously I passed on drinking). Eventually the night was getting late and we went outside to start to get going. Our group was fairly large and because of the size we were waiting for awhile between getting everyone out and getting a cab. After about 15 minutes I really have to go to the bathroom, I tried to go back in to the bar but they wanted to charge me $20 again because my stamp wore off. Irritated I walked three blocks to the train station only to find their bathroom locked too. At this point I was in pain and didn't see much other choice besides hiding behind a dumpster and doing my business. Without going into a dozen more details, I got caught and I'm an idiot, ect ect. I got a ticket to show up in court with the following code on it: VC-247-8(D) for urinating in public. I've found information on it at these websites:

http://ecode360.com/7726119
http://ecode360.com/7724661

And to me it looks like it's just a fine. My question is if my assumption is correct.

Is this a misdemeanor or a violation/fine? If this is a violation/fine does this show up on any record of me at all? If so how serious is it considered?
Do I need a lawyer for this charge? It seems like that would be a waste of money if it is nothing to serious. If I were to plead no guilty, it would probably just wind up costing me more the long run correct?


I've only gotten in trouble once and gotten it expunged relatively easy (innocent, wrong place wrong time situation) so I'm pretty nervous. I never had to go to court or even had a parking ticket before... Would appreciate any advice, thanks.

That second web page says it's an "offense."

I have no clue what that means but it looks like you can spend 15 days in jail along with the $750 fine.

Certainly worth at least a conversation with an attorney.

Would an attorney help me with a free consultation in a matter like this? If it's something that's actually minor it may not require an attorney at all (so wouldn't they try to convince me I need them regardless?)

A "free" consultation would probably involve the attorney getting all the information from you and then him telling you how much it would cost for him to advise you and represent you.

Although you may get luck and an attorney will give you useful information for free.