What Is an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal in NY?

An Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal in NY, usually shortened to ACD, is a pause in a criminal case that ends with the charges being dismissed automatically if the defendant stays out of trouble and meets any conditions the court sets. There is no guilty plea and no admission of guilt. When the adjournment period runs out without the case being restored to the calendar, the charges are deemed dismissed in the furtherance of justice and the records are sealed. The core rules sit in Criminal Procedure Law 170.55 for misdemeanors, with separate provisions for marijuana cases and for matters that reach superior court on an indictment.¹

How It Works

An ACD pauses the case without setting a return date. The defendant is released on their own recognizance, the charges stay on the books but inactive, and no trial or plea takes place during the adjournment. If the defendant finishes the required conditions and picks up no new arrest, the charges are automatically dismissed on the last day of the period. Nobody has to file a motion or come back to court for that to happen.¹

Both sides have to agree. The judge can suggest it, the defense can ask for it, the prosecution can offer it, but it only happens with consent all around. That gives the district attorney meaningful veto power, which is why the facts of the case and the posture of the prosecutor’s office matter so much.

Who Tends to Get One

The statute does not list qualifying offenses or require that you be a first offender. In practice, ACDs overwhelmingly go to people facing low-level charges with little or no record. Petit larceny (shoplifting), criminal mischief, trespassing, and minor drug possession are the typical candidates. The lower the charge and the cleaner the history, the better the odds.

A minor prior record is not an automatic bar. Prosecutors sometimes agree when the circumstances point to rehabilitation. On the other end, serious injury cases, sexual offenses, and weapons crimes are effectively off the table. Family offenses can receive an ACD, but with a longer adjournment and the possibility of a temporary order of protection built into the deal.¹

How Long the Adjournment Lasts

The length depends on the type of case:

Standard misdemeanors under CPL 170.55: the prosecution has six months to move to restore the case. Miss that window and the charges are dismissed.¹
Family offenses: the window extends to one year. “Family offense” covers conduct between spouses or former spouses, parents and children, people who share a child, and people in an intimate relationship.²
Marijuana offenses under CPL 170.56: the court sets a specific period, up to twelve months. The court can also modify conditions or shorten the adjournment before it expires.³

Conditions the Court Can Attach

ACDs are not always unconditional. The statute specifically authorizes community service (with your consent, and only for the length of the adjournment), participation in a mediation or dispute resolution program, a domestic violence education program in family offense cases, and a temporary order of protection.¹

Beyond those statutory categories, judges commonly order substance abuse education in drug cases, anti-theft classes in shoplifting cases, and restitution where there is property damage. The specifics depend on the judge and the facts. You will need proof of completion for whatever is ordered, so hold onto every certificate and receipt.

What Happens If You Don’t Comply

If you miss conditions or get arrested again during the adjournment, the prosecution can ask the court to restore the case to the trial calendar. The ACD is revoked, the case becomes active again, and you face the original charges as if the ACD never happened. The path to automatic dismissal is gone, and you are back to plea negotiations or trial.

Judges have some discretion. A minor slip, like finishing community service a week late, might lead to an extension. A new arrest usually does not. The prosecution still has to file its motion to restore within the statutory window; miss it and the case dismisses anyway.¹ For marijuana ACDs under CPL 170.56, the court itself can revoke the order and restore the case at any point before the dismissal date upon a violation.³

How the Dismissal Happens

If the adjournment period runs out without the case being restored, the charges are dismissed in the furtherance of justice by operation of law on the final day. You do not have to appear in court or file anything. There is no conviction, no finding of guilt, and the dismissal cannot be undone.¹

Even though no court appearance is required, it is worth asking the court clerk for a Certificate of Disposition after the dismissal date. That document proves the case was dismissed, and you may need it for employment, immigration, or licensing matters later.

Sealing of Records

Once the case is dismissed, the records are sealed under CPL 160.50. The court notifies the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the relevant police agencies, court files and arrest and prosecution documents come out of public view, and fingerprints, photographs, and palmprints collected at arrest are destroyed.⁴

Marijuana ACDs under CPL 170.56 have their own sealing rule. If the defendant has no prior criminal conviction, the court must order all records sealed upon dismissal, and those records can only be opened by court order for the narrow purpose of deciding whether the person qualifies for a marijuana ACD in a future case.³

Who Can Still See a Sealed ACD

Sealed does not mean erased. A few categories of access survive the seal:

State and local agencies that issue firearms licenses, when you apply for a permit.⁴
Prospective law enforcement employers if you apply to be a police or peace officer. You must be given a copy of what they obtain and a chance to explain it.
Any law enforcement agency that gets a court order after showing that justice requires access.
You, as to your own records.

For an ordinary background check by a private employer, landlord, or non-law-enforcement licensing board, a sealed ACD should not show up. Reality lags, though. Commercial background-check databases pull from court filings and sometimes keep outdated arrest information after sealing. Federal law caps the reporting of non-conviction records on most background checks at seven years.⁵ If a sealed arrest surfaces on a commercial report, you can dispute it with the screening company.

Employment Protection

New York’s Human Rights Law adds a layer on top of sealing. Under Executive Law Section 296(16), it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, agency, or corporation to ask about or act adversely based on an arrest that ended with an ACD. The ban reaches job applications, interviews, licensing, credit, insurance, and housing. You cannot be required to disclose the arrest, and if asked, you can answer as though it never happened.⁶

The statute names ACDs under CPL 170.55, 170.56, 210.46, and 210.47 as protected dispositions, and the protection applies during the adjournment period, not only after dismissal. One caveat: certain governmental licensing bodies may be exempt in specific contexts, so applicants for state-issued professional licenses should ask an attorney about disclosure obligations for the particular board.

Immigration Risk for Non-Citizens

An ACD is not a conviction under federal immigration law. The federal definition requires either a formal judgment of guilt or, where judgment is withheld, a finding of guilt plus a punishment or restraint on liberty. An ACD has none of that: no plea, no admission, no finding.⁷

The months between getting the ACD and the actual dismissal are the dangerous stretch. Immigration courts and federal agencies treat the case as open during that time. A lawful permanent resident who travels internationally during the adjournment can expect questioning by Customs and Border Protection on re-entry and may have their green card temporarily confiscated until they can produce a Certificate of Disposition showing final dismissal. Statements made in that questioning can be used in later immigration proceedings.

Even after dismissal, non-citizens must disclose the arrest and its outcome on immigration applications, including naturalization. Sealing under state law does not override federal disclosure obligations, and immigration authorities can still weigh the arrest in evaluating “good moral character” during the statutory period for citizenship. Anyone with pending immigration matters should talk to an immigration lawyer before accepting an ACD, because the timing of the dismissal relative to a filing date can change the outcome.

Firearm Permits

A dismissed ACD can still complicate a firearms permit application. CPL 160.50 explicitly allows firearms licensing agencies to see sealed records when evaluating applicants.⁴ New York licensing officers evaluate “good moral character,” which is a broad standard, and the nature of the original charge matters: a dismissed shoplifting case lands differently than a dismissed weapons charge. A prior ACD does not legally disqualify you, but it can factor into the decision.

1
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 170.55 – Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal
2
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 530.11
3
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 170.56 – Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal in Marijuana Cases
4
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.50 – Order Upon Termination of Criminal Action in Favor of the Accused
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
6
New York State Senate. New York Executive Law 296 – Unlawful Discriminatory Practices
7
Cornell Law Institute. 8 USC 1101(a)(48) – Definition of Conviction