Students are expected to have a good time at Iowa State, but sometimes too much of a good time can get students in trouble with the law.

Luckily, for students who have a court date coming up, there’s usually not much to fear.

“Even though we take the duty of prosecuting students who have broken the law, we really do all we can to work with them and make the procedure as painless as possible,” said Doug Marek, Ames city attorney.

Few students who come to court are facing serious charges. During the winter, most charges are traffic-related. In the summer, alcohol-related charges are more common.

“Every Tuesday, we hold criminal court, and usually we have around 15 to 20 people each time, and probably one of them faces jail time,” said Judy Parks, assistant city attorney.”That one person, though, is usually a frequent flyer to jail, or the facts of the case are really egregiously against that person.”

Since students are often first-time defendants, many of them don’t understand how the process works.It all starts with an initial appearance on the date shown on a summons.

“It’s just your first showing, not a trial,” Parks said. “At this point, you’re telling the court how you plead: guilty or not guilty. You could also request a continued date, which would give you a little time to gather more information about your case, and then come back and enter your plea.”

What happens next depends on your plea. For students who plead guilty, the process is simple.

“You explain the situation, and the judge then delivers his sentence,” Parks said. “The judge makes sure you know that you have a right to counsel if you face any jail time, and if you cannot pay your fine right away, the courts are good at giving you time to pay.”

When a student pleads not guilty, the attendant will schedule a trial that will work around a student’s schedule.

“Don’t start explaining your case when you enter your plea, because the prosecution isn’t there to hear the facts of the case,” Parks said. “Wait for your trial, and then explain.”

Anastasia Ingham, Ames resident, agreed that the court procedure was not as intimidating as she once thought.

“They asked for my plea, then let me explain my situation,” she said. “After that, the attendant asked me how long I thought I would need to pay my fine, and I told her, then left. It was a pretty short process.”

Of course, pleading guilty isn’t entirely painless. The fines for common student offenses such as public intoxication and public urination are hefty, and almost all of the charges stay on record.

“There’s almost no offense that automatically drops off of your record after a period of time,” said Amanda Laird, prosecuting intern for Ames.

One that can come off, however, is one most students can appreciate: public intoxication.

“How that works is if you plead guilty to that, and go two years without another criminal offense, you can write a letter to the court asking to exonerate the charge,” Laird said.

Pleading guilty can make it easier to get a record cleared later on.

“If you plead guilty, the judge may defer judgment and place you on probation,” Parks said. “At the end of the probationary period, if you kept your nose clean, you could have your record expunged.”

However, not all judges are so lenient.

“The whole process is really at the judge’s discretion,” Parks said. “Also, a person can only have their judgment deferred to probation twice in their lifetime.”

The most important weapon students can have to help plead their case to the law is information.

“Students are always welcome to call the city attorney if they have any questions,” Laird said.