Charged With Shoplifting, First Time Theft Offense

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Kentucky.

I got caught by loss preventions for shoplifting from a Sephora inside JC Penny's (79$ worth of makeup (3 items)). It was so stupid of me and I'm never going to be doing this again. A cop showed up, read me my rights, asked what happened and I was honest about it (they have video footage as well). Anyways, I have NO idea what to expect at all. I've never even been in a court room. The cop told me I would be appointed a free lawyer when I go to court, but I'm not sure if he knew I'm as clueless about what happens next as I am. I'm seeing all these things about Public defenders, and lawyers, and pleading guilty vs. not guilty vs. no contest. what exactly am I supposed to do? Does anyone know if the free lawyer at court is true? I want to keep my poor parents out of this because they have enough on their plate so I didn't want to get a lawyer involved. The cop said I can probably hope to get the charges dropped to a violation instead of a misdemeanor.

About me: I am 23 years old, female, graduated from college and am applying to medical schools ( I know even more stupid of me to get caught in this mess :( ). I am scared to death about what could happen to me because prior to today, I had a pretty bright future. Any advice on what to expect? Lawyer/public defender details? I hate having this on my mind as I'm studying for my entrance exam for medical school :(
Thank you.
Court date: august 7,2015

Read the roughly 100,000 threads in this forum asking essentially the same question -- the answer is the same.

You would be far far wiser to use counsel.......

Many states have alternative dispositions for first time offenders ...but that is unlikely to happen if you go WO counsel.

Does anyone know the average cost for an attorney may be? Again, I'm hoping not to involve my parents, so I have to do all of this on my own; the problem with that is i live with my parents. Do most courts/ attorneys mail things to your house, or can I pay upfront?
Also, do alternative diversion programs or such completely expunge the charge? Again, I am applying to medical schools and this would be ideal. Also, do I seem like a good candidate for those programs? I mean I am 23... but idk, i feel like they wouldn't want to ruin/damper a bright future for a promising young girl?

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Also, does anyone know exactly what goes on in court? I am completely clueless! Do I ask about the pretrial diversion program before my court date/ during court date? Or do I leave that up to my attorney? this is all so new to me :(

ONE MORE THING, i did not get fingerprinted.... is that normal? or will they be sending me something in the mail to do that?

Rates vary, but you're looking in the thousands of dollar range for the all but trivial actions. A pretrial diversion is usually available in Kentucky and will be in your best interest. A conviction will cause you problems with your future.

Nobody really understands what to expect in court on their own. This is why you have an attorney. The attorney will try to work out a pretrial diversion or perhaps in some cases a dismissal of the charges prior to trial. Understand there will not just be one court date. Note that everything doesn't work like you saw on TV. They don't always hall you off in hand cuffs, read you your rights, mugshot and fingerprint you, and throw you in jail awaiting bailing out or trial. If they know where you were, they'll process the charges at their leisure and then send you notice of your court date. Sometime in the early process you'll be asked to make yourself available for the fingerprints and photos.

As soon as you get the charging papers take them to an attorney. Unless he can work something out, your next appearance is the arraignment. Not much will happen here other than the charges will be read and you'll be asked to plead. Your lawyer will indicate to the judge how he is going to proceed (jury trial, bench trial, plead guilty, etc....) and the trial will be scheduled based on that.