Therapist away and heard about upsetting info

In California there is a 7 year rule that prevents people from getting info older than 7 years or if they do, prevents them from using it adversely. So you are right that it is on my record, but whether it shows up in a background check is a different story.

Don't get me wrong. I am an honest person in most cases and usually do prefer to be upfront and open and clear things up, but I'm hesitating because it may be better to wait and see what they ask me if anything.

If I raise it on my own but it doesn't show in a background check, then I've shot myself in the foot. And what for? It was 17 years ago. And I have no other record besides that. Even if it does come up, they may not treat it as an issue because it is so old and not a felony. They might ask anyway, but maybe not consider it a big deal. But if I raise first, it sorta becomes a big deal.

The flip side is that if they see it and you don't mention it, you appear dishonest and like you're hiding something.

I did report the DUI on their internal paperwork, gave the date, and details. I honestly didn't know until today about the battery. So I didn't lie. Waiting to talk about it now might be a kind of lie, but it is more like a delay. I'm still pretty shocked that it came up in my record. I just did a record check on myself and nothing at all came up. Do you personally think that if nothing comes up, I should still tell them about an old crime I didn't even know about anyway? In principle, it's better to be honest. On the other hand, information like this can so easily be misconstrued and used against you. I didn't hit a cop. I got a drink of water, she started manhandling me, and I struggled as a reflex reaction. That is not an indiction of me being violent or even doing anything intentional. I shouldn't have to report all the details of such an old crime I don't think. I also have rights to privacy and protection as well.

It is definitely up to you.

Archipelago,
I am sorry you found out about more bad news. Hang in there, hopefully everything will come out ok in the background check... but I know it has got to be such a worry to wait and not know.
Hopefully your T will be back before too long, but in the meantime we are here for you as much as we can be. Hang in there!

In my opinion, I would not offer up any information that isn't being specifically asked of you.
If You answered all the questions on the application honestly then that's all you need to do. I have friends who've had this type of concern before and like you they were very confused about t information to offer and what to keep to themselves. Where I live if you are an adult
then nothing drops off your record unless the charges were actually dropped. In my friends case she was able to have someone in the field she was in pull a background check on her so she knew exactly what was on it ahead of time. It had happened about 20 years ago but she
didn't know if the charge would show up even though the charges were dropped. The background check was clean. I would tend to think even if you have these charges on you record, if they are minor and from long enough ago they won't be a strike afainst you so long as you can explain them. I'm sorry you have to go through all this stress.

Thanks. It is stressful. In my state many if not most are limited to checking only 7 years back. This is to protect people. But I do understand that people can go back farther and that the record is still there. Even if I tried to remove this from my record, it still would appear in some form. That may be important further down the road, but for now I am just trying to handle the immediate situation and do so without becoming overwhelmed. I also don't have my therapist around, and he is the one who understands my history with police and how potentially triggering this is. So that is making it hard.

As far as how to handle it practically with the people in charge of the position that starts in a month, I've decided to wait to see if they ask me any more questions. I may pass my background check since this is so old. If so, this is completely a non-issue. It would be a mistake to make it one. But if they ask me I will be honest and explain.

It's hard not to worry about what this might do though. What if I don't pass the background check and am not given a chance to explain? That means I'm dead-ended.