public drunkeness?

A friend was recently charged with public drunkeness. She just turned 21, is a college student, and has a clean record. She is pretty upset and embarrassed by the whole thing and has not told many people about it. However, she does not know much about the law, so she doesn't really know where to go. She asked for my help, but honestly I am just as clueless as her.

I guess the big questions she has is will this remain on her record forever? Is it important for her to get a lawyer. She is a college student and doesn't have much extra money sitting around, but if it was really necessary I think she would go for it. Also, if so is there any estimates on how much this would cost?

[olive]

Make sure you or she gets counsel (or at least the public defender) to try to keep this off the record eventually--jail time is not likely. But having that arrest and/or a conviction on the record could make job-hunting etc. more difficult. Often this could be negotiated down to some kind of court supervision or even be completely dismissed etc. If it eventually appears it cannot be negotiated down, please let us know.

What are the qualifications for a public defender? Do you personally have to fall below a certain income, or if she is a dependent, do her parents' incomes have to fall below a certain threshold?

Also, she has to declare guilty or not-guilty before she can make the court date. She is suppose to do this in the next couple days, so I'm not sure there is time to meet with anyone. I believe when the police first found her she was inside a building that would not be considered public. Would this technicality negate the charge in any way, or should she just go with the fact that she was drunk and plead guilty?

The PD will be assigned based on her low income. And the PD should meet with her before the court hearing--briefly.

Private counsel is better if you can afford it but at least take the PD if need be.