State Criminal Records

Criminal records at the state level can be very confusing. Lots of offenses are considered perfectly legal in some states and very illegal in other states. Additionally, the severity and process of each crime is treated differently per state. Alaska has the highest overall crime rate per 100,000 people at 885. 28 states have the death penalty. Criminal records can also last for different amounts of time in different states. In Washington, a misdemeanor can last for 3 years. Other states have a seven-year rule, which prevents background checking companies from finding records older than 7 years. One of the biggest topics of the differences in criminalization per state is the legalization of marijuana. Nearly half of all states have now legalized recreational marijuana. There are also differences between federal crimes and state crimes. When a state law is broken, the offense is a state crime; when a federal law is broken, it is a federal offense, even if it happens entirely within one state. However, if criminal activity extends beyond a border of a state or occurs on federal property, then it could be considered a federal crime. This is important because federal crimes often have much more severe penalties than county or state penalties. There are also smaller courts than state courts, such as counties and cities. However, most cases involve the state court, as they can deal with a large range of crimes. Sometimes, the federal jurisdiction and state jurisdiction overlap, and they can both try and deal with a case. The Fifth Amendment protects against being tried twice for the same offense by the same government, but because the states and the federal government are separate sovereigns, both can sometimes prosecute the same conduct under their own laws.