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The NICCC catalogs the collateral consequences imposed by the statutes and regulations of all fifty states, the federal system, and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Each consequence is given a brief description and categorized by a number of features that describe the nature and operation of the consequence. This categorization helps with searching and filtering of the consequence in the database and allows users to identify relevant consequences based on their common characteristics.

The NICCC categorizes consequences based on the following features:

Keyword
This feature identifies consequences based on the specific rights, benefits, opportunities, and fields of employment and licensure they affect. Examples include “Child care providers & youth programs,” “Health care,” “Driving & non-commercial motor vehicles,” and “Accounting.”

Using Keywords in conjunction with Consequence Types makes it easy to accurately identify relevant consequences.

For example, to identify consequences that affect cosmetology and related occupational licenses, search using the “Cosmetology, barbering, electrology, tattooing & body art” Keyword along with the “Occupational and professional license and certification” Consequence Type.

Consequence Type
This feature identifies consequences based on the broad rights, benefits, and opportunities they affect. Examples include “Employment & volunteering,” “Business licensure & participation,” “Housing & residency,” and “Government benefits.”

Offense Type
This feature identifies the categories of crimes that may trigger a consequence. Examples include “Controlled substances offenses,” “Crimes involving fraud, theft, and property,” and “Crimes of violence, including persons offenses.”

Offense Types identify the categories within which specific “triggering offenses” fall. For example, “Controlled substances offenses,” does not necessarily mean that a consequence is triggered by all controlled substances offenses, just one or more specific offenses involving controlled substances.

Offense Types that are broadly defined by the law, like “Any felony” and “Any misdemeanor,” are assigned to their own categories. Note that “Any felony” may indicate most felonies, a certain class of felonies, or felonies involving certain conduct (e.g., “any felony in which a motor vehicle was used”). The “Any felony” and “Any misdemeanor” categories are only used where the law broadly defines the class of triggering offenses in this way — offenses that fall within other more narrowly-defined categories are not assigned to the “Any felony” or “Any misdemeanor” category.

Discretion
This feature identifies whether a consequence must be (mandatory) or may be (discretionary) imposed after conviction.

The following definitions apply to Discretion categories:

• Mandatory: The law automatically imposes the consequence or requires a decision-maker (e.g, an employer or licensing board) to impose the consequence without exception.

  Note: Relief from mandatory consequences may be available in some jurisdictions, which could remove a consequence entirely, or convert it into a discretionary consequence. Examples include expungement, pardon, and certificates of relief, among other mechanisms, depending on the jurisdiction.

• Discretionary: The law authorizes, but does not require, a decision-maker to impose the consequence.
• Discretionary (waiver): The consequence is mandatory, but decision-makers are authorized to waive the imposition of a consequence upon request by the subject individual.
• Varies: Discretion varies depending on the specific triggering offense, the characteristics of the offense (e.g., the time that has passed since the conviction), or the nature of the consequence (e.g., where denial, suspension, and revocation of a license are subject to varying levels of discretion).
• Background check: The law requires or authorizes a decision-maker to obtain a person’s criminal history information, but does not specify what action must be taken based on the information.

Duration
This feature indicates the length of time a person is subject to a consequence (indefinitely or for a limited period of time).

The following definitions apply to Duration categories:

• Indefinite: The consequence applies either permanently or for an unspecified length of time.

  Note: Relief may be available in some jurisdictions and allow for removal of indefinite consequences.

• Time-limited: A person is subject to the consequence for a specified length of time.
• Varies: Duration varies depending on the specific triggering offense, the characteristics of the offense (e.g., the time elapsed since conviction), or the nature of the consequence (e.g., where denial, suspension, and revocation of a license are subject to varying Durations).
• Background check: The law requires or authorizes a decision-maker to obtain a person’s criminal history information, but does not specify what action must be taken based on the information.

The consequences inventoried in the NICCC can be searched and filtered using any of the features described in the previous section. Searching and filtering can be done either from the initial search page, or from the list of results returned by the initial search.

Home page

NICCC searches begin in the search box on the site’s homepage.

Consequences are searchable by selecting one or more Keyword, Jurisdiction, and/or Consequence type in each drop-down list. The items in each drop-down list are themselves searchable using the text input box that appear at the top of each list.

By default, only the Keyword, Jurisdiction, and Consequence Type search features are available on the Home page. However, advanced users can use the “More Search Options” link to search for consequences using all available features.

Throughout the site, the following rules apply when searching and filtering using multiple features.

• When multiple items are selected in each feature (e.g., “Business licensure & participation” and “Occupational & professional licensure & certification” in the Consequence Type feature), the search result will show all consequences that include any of the selected items.
• When multiple features are chosen in one search (e.g., if one or more items are selected from the “Keyword” and “Consequence type”), the search will show all consequences that include one or more items from each of the features used.
• Example: Consider a search using the following criteria:
  • Consequence Category
    • “Employment and volunteering”
    • “Occupational & professional licensing & certification”
  • Keyword
    • “Nurses”
    • “Pharmacy & drugs”

In this example, the search result will show each consequence that is related to either the “Employment and volunteering “ or “Occupational & professional licensing & certification” Consequence Type AND either the “Nurses” or “Pharmacy & drugs” Keyword.

Collateral Consequences Inventory page (i.e., the list of results)

Search results appear and can be filtered in the table that appears after pressing the “Search Consequences” button. Each consequence is displayed on a separate row that has a brief description of the consequence, its statutory or regulatory citation, and each of the feature items assigned to the consequence. (Some features may be hidden by default. Any hidden features can be added to the table using the [+] button on the top right corner of the table.)

Additional details about each of the listed consequences can be viewed by clicking on the consequence description.

Users can broaden or narrow the search results by adding or removing items using the dropdowns at the top of the table. The functionality of these dropdowns is the same as those on the Home page.

Users can also narrow the results by using the text search box on the top left corner of the table.

Note: Using the text searches may not be show the most relevant consequences because terms appear differently across jurisdictions. Use the “Keyword” and “Consequence type” features in lieu of the text search field since those features are standardized across all jurisdictions.

Users can click on a consequence description in the results list to see additional information about the consequence.

In addition to the information displayed in the results list, the details page contains the following information, if applicable.

Citation link
The citation links to the full text of the statutory or regulatory section that authorizes or imposes the consequence. If official sources cannot be directly linked, unofficial sources may be substituted. In jurisdictions where specific statutory or regulatory code sections cannot be directly linked, users may be directed to relevant code chapters, parts, or titles instead.

Relevant subsections
This component indicates which subsections of the cited statutory or regulatory code section contain the consequence language. These subsections are provided to help users view the full text of the law; however, users should always take care to read the entirety of the law and consult all Related Laws (see below) to obtain proper context.

Related laws
This section identifies other laws and regulations that may impact the consequence. This list is not comprehensive, so users are encouraged consult other laws, regulations, court decisions, and administrative policies and practices — which may not listed — that impact the consequence.

Notes & other information
Additional general information about the consequence or jurisdiction is noted here along with information about the legislative session or regulatory year that the information is current through.

“Number of consequences” is also noted here, identifying the number of older NICCC entries that have been merged into the current entry. The total number of consequences indicated in the search results list is calculated using this figure.

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