Probation Not On Record

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Iowa

This morning i was in south dakota and me and some friend were walking back from a house party just minding our own business and the cops were waitng and they all gave us breathalizers. i am 19 now and a little worried. when i was 17 i took something from my high school and i was tried as an adult. i am on probation for the felony for stealing. The probation was suppose to last two years but my officer is really nice and is dropping i down to one. well i got just a minor its a misdimeanor. My first question is did they have a right to just stop us it was like to 2 in the morning. Also when the cop looked up my record my probation did not come up. it did not show up when he looked in the database for iowa i am wondering why it did not show up? also i told him that i was on probation and he said that he could call my officer but he was not going to. He said that she will almost positively not find out about it because it was in a different state and he said they they do not communicate misdimeanors over state lines. Just kind of looking for a response on this..should i be worried i have no priors before probation either.

so can someone please explain to me why it was not on the computer when they cop looked it up..Also should i tell PO about this. The cop did tell me it is not a big deal and really dont need to tell her and she would not find out.

I am not surprised that an officer in South Dakota did not find your probation record in Iowa. Local systems rarely communicate across state lines - especially if they are juvenile probation issues. had the SD agency wanted to find out they could have made a phone call to the IA probation agency. Apparently they did not care so much.

As for whether they can stop you at 2 AM that depends on WHY they stopped you. You may have to hire an attorney who can access the police report and evaluate the circumstances.

- Carl

so do u think that i have to worry about my PO finding out because in south dakota it is not a big deal i guess. it is actually not juvenile probation i think because i am 19 almost 20 i went on it when i was 18. and if they do not communicate misdimeanors across state lines and almost anyhting else should i have to worru about it.

he did find everyhting else that i have done in iowa. He found all the traffic violations and things. so i dont understand why that did not pop up.

If it is similar to California and our surrounding states, probation records are not generally kept on any state or national database - they tend to be local. Criminal history records are state maintained records as are driving records. Thus, the officer in another state can find those records when he might not have access to locally maintained probation records.

- Carl

so my PO will not know then..i can actually take like 3 classes and it will be off my record in south dakota

No one can say that your P.O. will NOT know, only that it is not likely he will find out. Who knows, he may hear from someone else that you were popped there and then look into it.

- Carl

Well what is likely that will happen since this is my first minor and my first violation of probation and it was in a different state? I am not on probation for anyhting alcohol related at all. My probation is suppose to last 2 years but she was going to let me off in only one year. I have been really good for this year and it is done in july 30. Will she probably just make it the full 2 years or what. Or will she just give me a stern warning and give me another chance? I guess it is up to her right.

please ??????

I am not from your state so I cannot say how violations might work there. But, you might not get off after only one year if this comes to light.

Ya gotta keep your nose clean when you are on probation ... remember, you can go back and serve out all your time if they want you to.

- Carl

should i go and tell her..i think that she would like it that i am honest with her. i mean i need some advice or is there so slim a possibility that she is not going to find out that it would not hurt not to say anything. i am a good kid and i do not like to be dishonest. when they let you off of probation do they do just a state wide search on you or dont they do anything. so i guess do po's check records periodically or at the end and will she be able to see this little minor if she looks. it is in a different state you know.