If you are a minor and have had a minor in possession conviction not while driving, is this a felony or misdemeanor?

Full question:

If you are a minor and have had a minor in possession conviction not while driving, what is that classified as a felony or misdemeanor? And is that record open to employers?

• Category: Criminal
• Subcategory: Minors
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Missouri

Answer:

In Missouri, a minor in possession charge is a misdemenaor. The following are MO statutes:

Purchase or possession by minor, a misdemeanor--container need not be opened and contents verified, when--burden of proof on violator to prove not intoxicating liquor--section not applicable to certain students, requirements.

311.325. 1. Any person under the age of twenty-one years, who purchases or attempts to purchase, or has in his or her possession, any intoxicating liquor as defined in section 311.020 or who is visibly intoxicated as defined in section 577.001, RSMo, or has a detectable blood alcohol content of more than two-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in such person's blood is guilty of a misdemeanor. For purposes of prosecution under this section or any other provision of this chapter involving an alleged illegal sale or transfer of intoxicating liquor to a person under twenty-one years of age, a manufacturer-sealed container describing that there is intoxicating liquor therein need not be opened or the contents therein tested to verify that there is intoxicating liquor in such container. The alleged violator may allege that there was not intoxicating liquor in such container, but the burden of proof of such allegation is on such person, as it shall be presumed that such a sealed container describing that there is intoxicating liquor therein contains intoxicating liquor.

2. For purposes of determining violations of any provision of this chapter, or of any rule or regulation of the supervisor of alcohol and tobacco control, a manufacturer-sealed container describing that there is intoxicating liquor therein need not be opened or the contents therein tested to verify that there is intoxicating liquor in such container. The alleged violator may allege that there was not intoxicating liquor in such container, but the burden of proof of such allegation is on such person, as it shall be presumed that such a sealed container describing that there is intoxicating liquor therein contains intoxicating liquor.

3. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a student who:

(1) Is eighteen years of age or older;

 

 

(2) Is enrolled in an accredited college or university and is a student in a culinary course;

 

 

(3) Is required to taste, but not consume or imbibe, any beer, ale, porter, wine, or other similar malt or fermented beverage as part of the required curriculum; and

 

 

(4) Tastes a beverage under subdivision (3) of this subsection only for instructional purposes during classes that are part of the curriculum of the accredited college or university.

 

 

The beverage must at all times remain in the possession and control of an authorized instructor of the college or university, who must be twenty-one years of age or older. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to allow a student under the age of twenty-one to receive any beer, ale, porter, wine, or other similar malt or fermented beverage unless the beverage is delivered as part of the student's required curriculum and the beverage is used only for instructional purposes during classes conducted as part of the curriculum.

 

 

Expungement of record permitted, when.

311.326. After a period of not less than one year, or upon reaching the age of twenty-one, whichever occurs first, a person who has pleaded guilty to or has been found guilty of violating section 311.325 for the first time, and who since such conviction has not been convicted of any other alcohol-related offense, may apply to the court in which he or she was sentenced for an order to expunge all official records of his or her arrest, plea, trial and conviction. If the court determines, upon review, that such person has not been convicted of any other alcohol-related offense at the time of the application for expungement, and the person has had no other alcohol-related enforcement contacts, as defined in section 302.525, RSMo, the court shall enter an order of expungement. The effect of such an order shall be to restore such person to the status he or she occupied prior to such arrest, plea or conviction, as if such event had never happened. No person as to whom such order has been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of any law to be guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of his or her failure to recite or acknowledge such arrest, plea, trial, conviction or expungement in response to any inquiry made of him or her for any purpose whatsoever. A person shall be entitled to only one expungement pursuant to this section. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent courts or other state officials from maintaining such records as are necessary to ensure that an individual receives only one expungement pursuant to this section.