If you have had legal troubles, you'll have a harder time passing MEPS and a harder time getting sent to the board. Don't lie on this one, this stuff can be looked up. You know who had legal trouble? Me.
Freshman year of college I got a drinking ticket. I paid a large fine and had it expunged. I disclosed it and got a waiver. MEPS was still able to look up the ticket.
I had a sketchy landlord who drained and overdrafted my bank account. It showed up on my credit report. I was in the process of taking legal action against him, but I wanted to ship out so I just paid it all. It was removed from my credit report.
Landlord: 1 Me: 0
A couple years after college I got a speeding ticket in New York. (I lived in PA). I tried to pay it but it wasn't in the system yet. Guess who forgot about this ticket for five years? Me. When I was in the process of joining the military, I tied up all legal loose ends. I called about six different counties in New York until I found the county that issued the ticket. The fine had now doubled, and...there was a bench warrant out for my arrest in the state of New York. I paid the fine, and everything was wiped off. I disclosed this to MEPS.
It was interesting though. I had to provide tons of documentation about the drinking ticket and write a one-page statement saying how wrong I was. For that speeding ticket, they didn't want anything. WILD.
There was another ticket that I did not have to disclse because the form SPECIFICALLY stated I didn't need to disclose tickets over $300. This one, from Ohio, was only for $180. And no, I didn't have a bench warrant for this one.
Legal troubles extend the whole process to join, but they are not necessarily disqualifying. I'm no longer a wild child. I don't speed.
Common legal problems people have:
DUI (usually disqualifying)
Drugs (you can get a waiver)
SPEEDING TICKETS
Juvie records
One of my friends got a speeding ticket, and then a couple months later was detained at the Canadian border for having brass knuckles in his car. He has "international weapons trafficking" on his record. He needed a waiver at MEPS for the speeding ticket, but not for the international arms dealing. Wild.
A word to the wise: lay off the pot.