Charged by Police and by Your School at Once

Last reviewed November 5, 2026

When one incident brings both a criminal charge and a campus conduct charge, you have two separate cases running in parallel, and the campus case usually does not wait for the criminal one. Talk to your criminal defense lawyer before you give any statement to the conduct office, a Title IX investigator, campus police or a detective. Then meet every campus deadline, decide with your lawyers whether to ask the school in writing to postpone, and treat anything you put in the campus file as if the prosecutor will read it.

Two cases, two sets of rules

UT Austin’s Chapter 11 says conduct proceedings “may be carried out prior to, simultaneously with, following, or in the absence of criminal proceedings,” and that its decisions “will not be subject to change based upon the outcome of criminal charges or decisions.” Ohio University’s code says its determinations and sanctions will not change “because criminal charges arising out of the same facts were dismissed, reduced, or resolved in favor of or against the criminal law defendant.”

The standards differ, too. A criminal conviction requires “proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime” charged, a due-process rule the Supreme Court made explicit in In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970). Campus codes usually ask only whether a violation is more likely than not; UT Austin asks whether it is “more likely to have occurred than not.” At schools with rules like these, a dropped charge does not end the campus case.

What to say, and not say, while the criminal case is open

Before any statement, written or spoken, to anyone at the school or to an officer who calls to “hear your side,” talk to your criminal defense lawyer.

Saying nothing substantive is different from ignoring the school. Most codes let a case go forward without you. Answer every notice on time, ask in writing for the charge, the policy and your file, and keep each message short and about procedure. Do not contact the complainant or witnesses, and do not post.

Holding back can cost you, though. In sexual misconduct cases handled under UAlbany’s conduct code, evidence a student chooses not to present “due to participation in, or anticipated participation in, a criminal or civil proceeding is not considered unavailable,” so a student who holds it back during the investigation will not be permitted to submit it later. UAlbany’s appeal rules likewise exclude, as new evidence, information a student kept back “by choice.” What to say, and when, is a decision made with both cases in view.

Asking the school to postpone

If you and your lawyers decide to ask for a pause, send one short email to the office handling the case. Say that a criminal case from the same incident is pending, ask to postpone the interview, meeting or hearing, and ask which policy provision governs. Ask for the answer in writing, and leave the facts out. Even a refusal gives you a dated record.

Before you send it, remember what it discloses: if the school does not already know about the criminal case, the request tells it. Some schools require you to report an arrest anyway — UAlbany requires a report within seven business days — so check your code and make this call with both lawyers.

Expect the school to control the calendar. Morehouse’s handbook lets its proceedings run “prior to, simultaneously with, or following civil or criminal proceedings off-campus” at the discretion of senior student affairs officials. In sexual misconduct cases under UAlbany’s code, both students have the right to a conduct process running alongside the criminal one, “except for temporary delays as requested by external municipal, state or federal entities while law enforcement gathers evidence,” and those delays “should not last more than ten (10) business days” unless law enforcement specifically requests and justifies a longer one.

Title IX has a federal rule: a school’s grievance process for formal complaints of sexual harassment must allow for “the temporary delay of the grievance process or the limited extension of time frames for good cause,” with written notice to both parties, and good cause may include “concurrent law enforcement activity.” That is a recognized reason to ask, not an automatic delay.

While you wait, the school can still act. Morehouse, for one, may suspend a student “pending disciplinary or criminal proceedings, or medical evaluation” when there is information that the student’s continued presence “poses a substantial and immediate threat.” Challenging an interim suspension runs on a separate deadline that can be much shorter, and while one is in place, a postponement can keep you out longer. For drug and weapons cases, see campus drug allegations and weapons and campus safety allegations.

Who handles what

The criminal case belongs to a criminal defense lawyer where the charges are filed: the charge, the court dates, and what you say to police and prosecutors.

The campus case is a separate job on separate deadlines: the charge read against the code, the file, any interim suspension, the written response, the hearing and the appeal. That is the work I do, coordinated with your criminal defense lawyer. Nothing should go to the school until both lawyers have seen it.

One federal appeals court drew the same line. In Gabrilowitz v. Newman, 582 F.2d 100 (1st Cir. 1978), it held that, “because of the pending criminal case,” denying a student at the University of Rhode Island, a public university, the right to have a lawyer of his own choice “advise him during the disciplinary hearing without participating further” would deprive him of due process of law. Even so, it said that lawyer would be present only to safeguard the student’s rights in the criminal case, “not to affect the outcome of the disciplinary hearing.” The ruling involved a public university; at a private college, the school’s own policies decide whether your lawyer may attend. What any lawyer may do in the room depends on your code; see can a lawyer speak at a campus conduct hearing?

What records can travel

Records move in both directions. Under FERPA, the federal student-records privacy law, reports that campus police create for a law enforcement purpose, and keep themselves, are not “education records,” and FERPA “neither requires nor prohibits” a school’s disclosure of them. Nor does FERPA stop a school from asking its own police “to investigate a possible violation of” the law. Ohio University’s code defines the referral behind a conduct charge to include “police reports or incident reports.”

In the other direction, FERPA lets a school disclose a student’s education records without consent “to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena.” The school generally must first make “a reasonable effort to notify” you “in advance of compliance,” so that you may “seek protective action,” but not for some subpoenas, including a federal grand jury or other law enforcement subpoena that a court or the issuing agency has ordered kept confidential. If that notice arrives, send it to both lawyers the same day. More on these rules: disclosure without your consent.

Your own words matter most: write nothing to the school you would not want read in the criminal case. Why: anything you say can be used against you, even on campus.

Common questions

If the criminal charges are dropped, will the school drop its case?

Not necessarily. UT Austin’s proceedings can go forward “in the absence of criminal proceedings,” and its decisions “will not be subject to change based upon the outcome of criminal charges or decisions.” Ohio University’s code says the same of charges “dismissed, reduced, or resolved” either way.

Do I have to tell my school I was arrested?

Sometimes. At UAlbany, students must report any felony or misdemeanor arrest to Community Standards within seven business days, wherever it happened, and failing to can bring conduct charges or holds on the student’s account. Check your own code, and have your criminal defense lawyer review the report before you file it.

Can I refuse to talk to the school until the criminal case is over?

You can ask, in writing, but do not count on a yes. The campus case can go forward without you, and evidence held back now may be harder to use later. Decide what to say, and when, with your criminal defense lawyer.

If one incident has you facing your school and the police at the same time, tell me what happened — your school and program, what happened and where it stands, any deadline, and whether you are still enrolled. Time matters here, so send it before the window closes. More on how these cases work: student conduct charges and hearings, and what to do first: the first 48 hours after a conduct letter.