Stay of Adjudication
A court decision to accept a guilty plea but delay entering the conviction, so if conditions are met, the case may be dismissed.
A stay of adjudication is one of the best outcomes you can get in a Minnesota criminal case, short of having the charges dismissed outright. When a judge grants a stay of adjudication, you plead guilty, but the judge does not enter the conviction on your record. Instead, the judge sets conditions you must follow for a period of time (usually probation).
If you complete all the conditions successfully, the case is dismissed and no conviction is ever entered. The guilty plea is essentially set aside. This is different from a stay of imposition or a stay of execution, where a conviction is entered on your record. With a stay of adjudication, the conviction never happens if you hold up your end of the deal.
The conditions typically include things like staying law-abiding, completing community service, attending treatment programs, or paying restitution. The length of probation varies, but it is often one to two years. If you violate the conditions, the judge can enter the conviction and impose a sentence.
Why it matters: Because no conviction is entered, a stay of adjudication gives you the strongest position for keeping your record clean. It is also easier to get an expungement later if one is needed, since there is no conviction to seal. If you are negotiating a plea deal, a stay of adjudication is often the goal.
Example: Sarah is charged with theft after a shoplifting incident. She has no prior record. The judge agrees to a stay of adjudication: Sarah pleads guilty, but the conviction is not entered. She must complete 40 hours of community service and stay out of trouble for one year. Sarah completes everything, and the case is dismissed with no conviction on her record.
When you plead guilty to a criminal charge and the judge offers to delay entering a conviction