If you are convicted of a felony, your life will probably never be the same. A felony conviction in North Dakota causes major impacts on your life, even when you receive a relatively light sentence. Before pleading guilty to a felony, you should discuss these impacts with your criminal defense attorney and determine how you will handle them.
Criminal Sentence
According to North Dakota sentencing guidelines, in the best-case scenario, you will be placed on probation. This means that your life will be under government supervision for years or even decades. While under supervision, you must regularly check in with a probation officer and will have limits on your movement and acquaintances.
Typically, though, you will be sentenced to at least some prison time. This could last from approximately a year to several decades. Beyond the unpleasantness of being in prison, any time spent in prison is lost time. You can’t earn a living and will typically lose contact with friends and family, possibly permanently.
Financial Losses
If you spend any time in prison, you will almost certainly lose your job. Unless you are extremely wealthy, this almost means you will probably lose your home. Your criminal sentence may also include fines and restitution you need to pay.
All of these add up to many people ending up in financial distress after being convicted of a felony. There is a good chance that you will have to start from scratch and may be homeless for some time.
Employment, Banking, and Housing
Financial difficulties often don’t get any better after you have served your felony sentence. Employers, financial institutions, and landlords will consider your criminal record when deciding whether to start a relationship with you. This means that you will have few options for employment, getting a bank account, or finding a place to live.
If that wasn’t bad enough, if you are on parole, failing to find employment or housing could be counted as a breach of your parole restrictions. This means that you could end up back in prison after being released just because people don’t want to allow an ex-felon to return to society.
Firearm Privileges
If you have a felony conviction in North Dakota, you are prohibited from owning firearms. This means that if you already owned firearms before being convicted, you need to transfer them to another person or turn them over to the government. Possession of a firearm by a felon is an offense that could be prosecuted by the state or federal government.
The good news is that North Dakota offers a path to having firearm rights restored. Unfortunately, this path isn’t easy, and if you make a mistake, you may never get your rights restored. It is best to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to help you through that process. But unfortunately, that costs money that you may not have.
Voting Rights
Additionally, you will lose your voting rights while you are incarcerated. Thankfully, they are returned as soon as you are released from prison.
This doesn’t, unfortunately, mean that you will necessarily be able to immediately walk into a voting booth. Voting requires specific types of ID, and that ID will probably have expired if you are sentenced to more than a few years in prison. You will have to get any IDs renewed, which may not be an immediate priority after getting out of prison.
Sex Offender Registry
The final major impact only applies if you were convicted of a sex crime. After completing your sentence for a sex crime, you will be added to the sex offender registry. This registry places significant restrictions on your life.
Once you are on the registry, there are specific types of jobs that you can’t hold anymore and places that you can’t live. The latter can be particularly problematic. You can’t live too close to schools, daycares, playgrounds, and other locations where children gather. Frustratingly, this often means that nearly all residential locations are in restricted areas.
If you were convicted of a sex crime, you should consult with a sex crime lawyer as soon as possible to determine how to avoid violating the rules of the registry after your prison sentence. It is very easy to accidentally violate a rule and end up back in prison.
Contact Heartland Law Office Today
If you are facing criminal charges in North Dakota, the consequences could be life-altering. Contact our law firm right away to discuss what your future may hold and how you can best avoid the worst of any felony conviction consequences.