If the person receiving the adjudication withheld ruling adheres to the stipulations of their probation and has no subsequent offenses, no further action will be taken on the case. In essence, the adjudication withheld ruling is offered to those individuals as a plea bargain; typically a withheld adjudication is granted to individuals who are first –time offenders.

Instead of putting these individuals in jail and straining already crowded correctional facilities, an adjudication withheld opportunity, will require these individuals to serve community service or enroll in educational courses that are primarily linked to their underlying case. For example, an individual charged with drunk driving who receives an adjudication withheld ruling, may be required to attend alcohol education courses to fulfill the terms of their probation.

If the accused individual does not satisfy the terms of their probation in an adjudication withheld ruling, a finding of guilty will be entered and the individual will be sentence according the punishments defined for the offense. Additionally, if the stipulations of the probation are not fulfilled, the guilty ruling will be placed on the individual’s personal record—the whole premise of an adjudication withheld judgment is that it enables, upon completion of the probation requirements, for an individual to clear his or her name for the charges brought against them.

Stipulations of the Adjudication Withheld Process:

The adjudication withheld process simply defers a guilty ruling; in these situations the accused individual is required to enter a guilty plea. Once the plea is submitted to the adjudication court, the judge presiding over the case will grant the adjudication withheld process and outline the stipulations of the guilty party’s probation. By agreeing to the adjudication process, the guilty party pledges to complete the terms, in full, of his or adjudication withheld process of his or her probation.

If the adjudication withheld process is not satisfied, the individual’s guilty plea will carry “normal” punishments, which could take the form of a fine or a prison sentence. In essence, the adjudication withheld process simply defers punishment, a guilty ruling and a permanent status on the individual’s record until the guilty party completes the requirements outlined in their probation. Upon completion, the individual will be cleared of all charges and will be free from punishment.

An adjudicator will make an initial ruling to resolve these sorts of matters to keep the case from further entering the court system. The adjudication process is therefore recommended for a number of civil disputes, because the legal process is less costly and far more streamlined than other judicial forms, such as a trial by jury.

Although an adjudicator’s judgment does not hold the same legal weight as a judge or jury presiding in a traditional legal venue, the decision is still rendered like a judge and does hold a legally binding resolution. Furthermore, all cases heard and decided by an adjudicator may be appealed to a judge in a higher court setting. That being said, an adjudicator’s decision is typically accepted as the same as what a traditional judge would offer—this characteristic prevents many time-consuming legal matters from creating a log-jam in the court system.

An adjudicator is also a term used to describe a panel of judges who are grouped together during the process of negotiating or receiving a Top Secret/SCI clearance for the United States government. In this format, an adjudicator will serve on a panel to review all of the information from a background investigation and polygraph tests to render a decision regarding the approval or rejection of government clearance.

What does the Adjudication Process Entail?

Adjudication refers to the formal legal process by which an adjudicator reviews evidence and testimonies (including legal reasoning offered by litigants or opposing parties) to come to a decision. This decision ultimately determines the distribution of rights and obligations for the parties involved in the legal dispute. Adjudication is distinct from other justice-seeking or evidence-based resolution formats; in particular, the process is only used to solve the following types of disputes:

Disputes between private parties, such as individual citizens or corporations (who possess a legal personality)

Disputes that arise between public officials and private parties

Disputes between public bodies and public officials

Adjudication occurs when a natural person, typically someone empowered by an agency to formalize a binding decision, is given the task of examining evidence or facts to render a legally-acceptable and affirmed judgment. As a result of this process and the broad definition attached, adjudication may refer to a casual form of judging, such as in athletic competitions, where a body of judges adjudicate and awards scores to the competitors; or adjudication may  occur in business, where a qualified judge is called to examine the facts to resolve a dispute between two parties.

Adjudication, in the majority of cases, is binding and does not require the inclusion of a jury to render a decision in a civil trial. In the adjudication process, a judge will render a decision regarding the case only after all the evidence has been presented to the presiding body. This legal process is preferred by a number of institutions and individuals in the midst of a legal battle because is typically less expensive than a trial case and is far more expedient.

In the legal sense, an adjudicator is not regarded as a mediatory, even though the two parties are required to come to terms or agree on a settlement to resolve a case. In the majority of situations, a mediator will help find a compromise between feuding parties, but they cannot force the parties to do so. In contrast, the legal adjudication process and the settlement it reaches, does require the parties involved to comply to the punishments or settlements outlined; the resolution the legal adjudication process reaches is legal binding.

What is Deferred Adjudication?

Using the above explanation in mind, deferred adjudication simply means that a final judgment in an adjudication hearing has been “put off” or deferred until a later time. Between the announcement of a deferred adjudication and the time when the final judgment is delivered, the accused individual or the party in question is awarded the opportunity to partake in efforts that will result in an expunging, from his or her personal records, of a guilty plea for the underlying infractions.

Deferred Adjudication is offered a number of individuals who have no prior arrests and have been accused of committing a small or minor crime. As oppose to serving a sentence or paying a fine, the deferred adjudication process will allow the individual to complete community service hours or educational classes, such as an anger management class for instance, to terminate the charges and the attached punishments.