New York Misdemeanors, Violations, and Infractions: Classes and Records

In New York, misdemeanors, violations, and infractions are three different tiers of offense with very different consequences. A misdemeanor is a crime that creates a criminal record and can send you to jail for up to 364 days. A violation is not a crime, caps out at 15 days in jail, and does not create a criminal record. An infraction is almost always a traffic matter handled outside criminal court, with fines and license points instead of jail. Which tier your charge falls into controls almost everything that follows: whether it shows up on a background check, whether you can be fingerprinted, whether you get a jury trial, and whether federal consequences like firearm restrictions or immigration exposure kick in.

The Three-Tier Structure

New York Penal Law Section 10.00 draws the lines. A “crime” means a misdemeanor or a felony. A felony can carry more than one year of imprisonment. A misdemeanor can carry more than 15 days but no more than 364 days. A “violation” carries no more than 15 days. Traffic infractions sit outside the Penal Law entirely and are not considered crimes or violations.¹

The single most important line in that hierarchy is the one between “crime” and everything else. Only crimes generate a criminal record. Plead guilty to a violation or pay a traffic infraction, and you can truthfully answer “no” when a job or licensing application asks about criminal convictions.²

Misdemeanors

Misdemeanors are the less severe category of crime, but they still produce a criminal record on conviction. They come in three groups: Class A, Class B, and unclassified.³

Class A Misdemeanors

Class A is the top misdemeanor tier. Maximum jail: 364 days in a local jail. New York originally set the ceiling at one year, then amended the law so any reference to “one year” or “365 days” for a misdemeanor sentence now means 364. The change was retroactive.⁴ The maximum fine is $1,000.⁵ A judge can impose probation of two or three years instead of, or in addition to, jail.⁶ Third-degree assault, petit larceny, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon are common Class A charges.

Class B Misdemeanors

Class B tops out at 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.⁴⁵ Probation runs one year.⁶ Second-degree harassment and certain low-level drug possession charges are common examples. It’s still a criminal conviction.

Unclassified Misdemeanors

Unclassified misdemeanors are defined in statutes outside the Penal Law, most often the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Penalties come from the individual statute rather than the general table. A first-time DWI is the best-known example: unclassified misdemeanor, maximum one year in jail. Probation for most unclassified misdemeanors is three years.²

Every misdemeanor conviction, regardless of class, also carries a mandatory $140 surcharge on top of any fine or jail sentence.⁷

Violations

A violation is not a crime. That fact does the most important work in this whole hierarchy, even though violations are handled in criminal court. A guilty finding does not create a criminal record.¹

The maximum punishment is 15 days in jail and a $250 fine. Where a violation is defined outside the Penal Law and that statute sets a different fine, the outside statute controls.⁵² A $75 mandatory surcharge is added on top of any fine.⁷ In practice, judges usually impose fines rather than jail time.

Disorderly conduct and simple trespass are the most common violations. Courts often resolve these through an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal. The court adjourns the case with no date; if the prosecution doesn’t ask to restore it to the calendar within six months (one year in family offense cases), the charge is automatically dismissed and sealed.⁸ ACDs aren’t available for motor-vehicle offenses committed by someone holding a CDL or operating a commercial vehicle.

Traffic Infractions

Traffic infractions are not crimes and don’t produce a criminal record. They go to traffic court or an administrative tribunal, not a criminal courtroom. The consequences are money and license points.

Every traffic infraction under Article 9 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law carries a mandatory $25 surcharge plus a $5 crime victim assistance fee. Other vehicle-related offenses that aren’t Article 9 infractions carry a $55 surcharge plus the same $5 fee. Town and village courts add another $5.⁹

Points come with their own price. Six or more points within an 18-month window triggers a Driver Responsibility Assessment of $100 per year for three years, a total of $300. Every point above six adds another $25 per year on top of that base.¹⁰

A boundary worth noting: commercial driver’s license holders face federal disqualification rules on top of state penalties, with escalating suspensions for repeat serious violations and a possible lifetime ban for a second major offense like DWI or leaving the scene.¹¹ If you drive commercially, a “just a traffic ticket” reflex is dangerous.

Fingerprints and the Criminal Record

Fingerprinting is what puts an offense on your searchable state record. When you’re arrested for a Penal Law misdemeanor, police must fingerprint and photograph you. Those prints go to the Division of Criminal Justice Services and form the basis of your official state record, which authorized agencies and many employers can search.¹²

Non-Penal Law misdemeanors that can escalate to a felony on a later conviction are also fingerprintable. Violations generally are not, which is why they rarely turn up on standard background checks. There is one narrow carve-out: the violation defined in Penal Law Section 240.37(2) (loitering for prostitution) is fingerprintable. Police can also print someone charged with a violation if they can’t verify the person’s identity.

Once a fingerprint-backed conviction exists, it stays searchable unless a court seals it. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, background-check companies face a seven-year cap on reporting most adverse items like arrests, but criminal convictions have no such time limit and can be reported indefinitely.¹³

Sealing a Record Later

New York offers three pathways to seal a conviction.

Under CPL 160.59, you can petition a court to seal up to two eligible convictions, with no more than one being a felony. The waiting period is ten years from sentencing or, if you were incarcerated, ten years from release. Time in custody doesn’t count toward the wait. Sex offenses, violent felonies, Class A felonies, and offenses requiring sex-offender registration are excluded.¹⁴

Under CPL 160.58, if you completed a judicial diversion or court-approved drug treatment program for a drug offense, the sentencing court can conditionally seal that conviction along with up to three prior eligible drug-related misdemeanors. The district attorney in each affected jurisdiction gets at least 30 days’ notice.¹⁵

The Clean Slate Act took effect November 16, 2024, and the court system has until November 16, 2027, to build the automatic-sealing process. Once operational, eligible misdemeanor convictions will be sealed automatically three years after sentencing or release, whichever is later. Eligible felonies face an eight-year wait. You cannot be on probation, parole, or post-release supervision, and you cannot have pending charges. A new conviction resets the clock. Most Class A felonies (except drug offenses), sex offenses, and murder convictions are not eligible.¹⁶

Federal Consequences That Outlast the Sentence

A New York misdemeanor can trigger federal consequences that have nothing to do with the state penalty.

Firearms: a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence triggers a federal ban on possessing any firearm or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). The offense doesn’t have to be labeled “domestic violence.” Any misdemeanor involving physical force or a deadly weapon against a spouse, partner, cohabitant, co-parent, or dating partner qualifies.¹⁷ For most qualifying relationships, the ban is permanent. Where the conviction involved only a dating relationship, rights may be restored after five years under certain conditions.¹⁸

Immigration: for non-citizens, a misdemeanor can be far more dangerous than the jail number suggests. Convictions involving fraud, theft, or intent to harm (crimes involving moral turpitude) can render someone inadmissible. Controlled substance convictions are an independent ground. Two or more convictions with combined sentences of five years or more also trigger a bar, even without moral turpitude.¹⁹ The 364-day misdemeanor ceiling was specifically enacted to reduce immigration exposure, because a sentence of exactly one year triggers harsher removal provisions under federal law.

Travel: any criminal conviction, including a misdemeanor, can disqualify you from Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, and other trusted traveler programs. CBP lists pending charges, outstanding warrants, and any prior conviction as reasons for ineligibility.²⁰

Employment: EEOC guidance treats blanket policies that reject every applicant with a criminal record as suspect under Title VII, because such policies can disproportionately exclude applicants by race or national origin. Employers are expected to weigh the nature of the offense, how much time has passed, and the relevance to the job, and to give candidates a chance to explain before disqualifying them.²¹

Trial Rights and Deadlines

A misdemeanor charge with a not-guilty plea carries the right to a jury trial in any local criminal court. You can waive it and choose a bench trial.²² Violations do not carry a jury trial right and are tried before a single judge. If you face a misdemeanor and a violation together, the misdemeanor’s jury right covers the whole case; you don’t get two separate trials.

The federal constitution guarantees the right to an appointed attorney for any misdemeanor defendant who actually faces jail time, including a suspended sentence, if you can’t afford one.²³

The prosecution’s window to bring charges is limited. Misdemeanors: two years from the date of the offense. Violations and other petty offenses: one year.²⁴ Some circumstances extend those windows, but once the standard period runs out without charges, the case is barred.

1
New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 10.00 – Definitions of Terms of General Use in This Chapter
2
New York State Unified Court System. Types of Criminal Cases
3
New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 55.05 – Classification of Offenses
4
New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.15 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Misdemeanors and Violation
5
New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 80.05 – Fines for Offenses Committed by Other Than Natural Persons
6
New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 65.00 – Sentence of Probation
7
New York State Unified Court System. Fees and Surcharges – Consequences of a Conviction
8
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 170.55 – Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal
9
New York State Senate. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law 1809 – Mandatory Surcharge and Crime Victim Assistance Fee
10
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA)
11
eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers
12
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. New York State Standard Practices Manual for Processing Fingerprintable Criminal Cases
13
Federal Register. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening
14
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.59 – Sealing of Certain Convictions
15
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.58 – Conditional Sealing of Certain Controlled Substance, Marihuana or Specified Offense Convictions
16
New York State Unified Court System. New York State’s Clean Slate Act
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
18
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence Prohibitions
19
U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 302.3 – Ineligibility Based on Criminal Activity
20
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Eligibility for Global Entry
21
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions
22
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 340.40 – Trial Jury
23
Constitution Annotated. Right to Counsel – Misdemeanors
24
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 30.10 – Timeliness of Prosecutions