Simple Possession Will Typically Get You a Misdemeanor Charge
Video Transcribed: The days of felony charges for possession in Oklahoma are over and they’ve been over for a while. My name is Brian L. Jackson. I am an attorney in Tulsa, Okla. And we’re going to talk today about simple possession charges and how they’re getting filed in municipal court in many areas.
Now I’m going to start by saying that there was a time where you get busted with a lot of different kinds of substances, and it would end up with a felony charge on a first offense. Now marijuana was an exception to that, but things like methamphetamine, heroin, opioids, get you a felony charge the first time out of the gate back in the old days.
Now that’s not the case. Simple possession will typically get you a misdemeanor charge. And in many jurisdictions they’re filing in a municipal court, which means you’re essentially looking probably at some kind of a fine, maybe probation, but mostly just a fine.
Now that being said, you should still take these charges seriously. It is a criminal drug charge and if you’re talking about a court of record, it’s going to look bad on your criminal record.
You will have a criminal conviction for possession, and that can disqualify you from certain lines of work with certain employers and may affect your ability to get certain kinds of licenses, including professional licenses, CDL, and the like. So just because it’s a misdemeanor and it’s filed in municipal court, doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.
Also, don’t labor under the illusion that just because it’s a fine and it’s muni court, you can get away with not paying your fines, because I can tell you, muni courts routinely issue warrants for people that don’t pay and don’t show up to court. So understand that just because it’s a muni case, doesn’t mean it’s not serious. It should be taken seriously. And if you have a case where you’re dealing with a simple possession charge in municipal court, you should go to makelaweasy.com and we’ll help you out.
