Offense files and fines
One person and their offenses in a single file: amounts set by the penal code, procedure times and cell time, review by the justice department, legal statuses, criminal record and fines.
In SuperMDT, an offense never goes on the record on its own: it goes through an offense file. A file is one person and their offenses for the same events, picked from your department’s penal code. Depending on the most serious offense, the file takes the shape of a type (citation, arrest report, arrest file…) that decides what to fill in and what happens next: straight to the record, or review by the justice department first.
Everything lives in the Records & fines module (Records group).
offense-filesHow a file goes
Section titled “How a file goes”- An officer opens a New file, picks the person and adds their offenses.
- SuperMDT picks the type that covers the most serious offense. The window adapts: the type’s fields appear, amounts are computed on their own.
- On sending, two cases:
- a Straight to the record type: the file is closed right away, the offenses go on the record and the fines are created Unpaid;
- a Needs review type: the file waits for a reviewing rank (prosecutor, judge…) to close or reject it. Nothing is on the record meanwhile.
- Once on the record, fines are tracked in the Fines tab, and can be collected in game if your server has the integration.
Types, their levels and their statuses are set up in the Penal code module, usually by the justice department.
Opening a file
Section titled “Opening a file”The same window opens in three places:
| From | Button | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| The Records & fines module | New file | you pick the Person first |
| A citizen’s file, Record tab | New file | the person is already picked |
| An operation, suspects card | Record their offenses | the person is the suspect, and the type’s Linked report field is prefilled with the operation |
The file is recorded on behalf of a department where your rank has Records & fines › Create an offense file: the department you’re in if it allows it, otherwise the first of your departments that does. That department’s penal code applies.
offense-file-window- Pick the Person (search by last name, first name or phone; you can create the citizen on the spot if you’re allowed to).
- Check the Date of the offense: it is set to now, in your organization’s time zone. Fill in the Rights read at and Placed in cell at times if you have them (Now in one click): the cell time counts from them (see below). They stay optional and can be filled in later from the file’s page.
- In Add an offense, search the penal code by label or code. Each choice joins the list and the picker clears right away, ready for the next one: you chain offenses without reopening a menu. An offense already in the list isn’t added twice (“Already in the file”).
- For each line, set what applies: the Quantity (penal code rows “with quantity”, for example 42 bags) and the sentencing Degree. Per-line Notes are available.
- Look at the File type and fill in the File details (the type’s fields).
- Click Add to the record (straight type) or Send for review (reviewed type).
A file holds at most 30 offenses. A line’s cross removes it.
Amounts come from the code
Section titled “Amounts come from the code”Officers type no amounts. Each line’s fine and sentence are computed from the penal code, and only the Total fine and Total sentence show in the window. How it’s computed:
| Part | Rule |
|---|---|
| Base fine | the row’s fixed amount, plus amount per unit × quantity for a row with quantity |
| Sentencing degree | its multiplier applies to the fine, the sentence or both, depending on the code’s setting |
| Complicity, attempt | when ticked on the line, each one’s multiplier applies to the fine and the sentence, after the degree (see below) |
| Rounding | the fine to the currency unit, the sentence to the minute (or the month, depending on the code’s unit); a half rounds up |
Example: a row at $500 plus $100 per bag, 42 bags, degree Max 1 (×1.5): (500 + 42 × 100) × 1.5 = $7,050.
Quantity goes from 1 to 999. Without degrees in the code, amounts apply as they are. The code’s default degree is picked for every new line.
Sentences are written in the penal code’s unit: minutes (the default, real cell time on most servers) or months, depending on the code’s setting (Penal code › Sentences). Each file keeps the code’s unit from the moment its amounts were computed.
Complicity and attempt
Section titled “Complicity and attempt”If your penal code enables them (Penal code › Sentences), each offense in the window has two boxes: Complicity and Attempt. Ticking one multiplies the line’s fine and sentence by that notion’s multiplier (×0.5 by default), after the degree. Both can stack: complicity in an attempt, with the starter settings, gives ×0.25.
Example: a line at $1,000 and 20 min, degree Nominal, as an Attempt (×0.5): $500 and 10 min.
The multiplier is frozen on the file when it is computed: changing the code’s setting later doesn’t touch saved files. Complicity or attempt shows on the line, with its multiplier (“Attempt (×0.5)”), on the file’s page, in the criminal record and in the fines; the file list shows the Complicity or attempt badge.
The file type
Section titled “The file type”The File type banner follows the offenses: on every addition or removal, SuperMDT looks for the first type that covers the most serious level of the list. It shows what happens next, Straight to the record or Needs review.
- With a Suggest type, the picked type is marked Suggested: Change type lets you keep another one among the possible types.
- With a Block type, a type that doesn’t cover the most serious offense is greyed out, with the reason. You must take the matching type.
- If no type covers the level, the window says so: the justice department must create or set up a type that covers it.
When the type changes, its fields appear; fields present in both types keep their value. The types offered are your department’s and those shared by every police department.
Linking the file to an operation
Section titled “Linking the file to an operation”If the type has a Linked report field, you can pick an operation in it. When saved, the person joins the operation’s Suspects (unless already there), the file shows in its Linked offense files and its timeline records it. From an operation, this field is prefilled; if the type has none, the window warns that the file won’t be linked.
When the window doesn’t open
Section titled “When the window doesn’t open”| Message | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No department can file offenses | your rank has Records & fines › Create an offense file in no department | ask your administrator |
| No penal code yet | the department has no code (or, with separate codes, it isn’t a police department) | the justice department creates the code in Penal code |
| No file type | no type is set up for this department | the justice department creates a type in Penal code › Case types |
Outcomes
Section titled “Outcomes”The starter types Arrest report and Arrest file have an Outcome section: Outcome offers Held in custody or Charges dropped, and Custom outcome takes any other outcome as free text (impound, release under conditions…). The outcome list is edited like any choice field, type by type, in Penal code › File types: add your server’s own outcomes. The Reason for stop (caught in the act, arrest warrant, traffic stop, 911 call…) is also a choice field of these types, edited the same way.
Procedure times and cell time
Section titled “Procedure times and cell time”Each file has two optional procedure times: Rights read at and Placed in cell at. Fill them in from the file window or later on its page (Cell time card): Now in one click, or Exact time. Each type can rename them or hide the one it doesn’t use, like any base field.
The cell time counts down from one of them, depending on the file type (Cell time setting, From the placement in cell by default), over the file’s total sentence:
| What the file shows | When |
|---|---|
| 23 minutes left, with the release time | the start time is set and the sentence isn’t over |
| Cell time over, with the time release has been possible since | the sentence is over |
| “Set the time the person was placed in a cell to start the countdown” (or the rights were read) | the start time is missing |
The countdown updates every minute, in your organization’s time zone. It only applies to sentences in minutes: with a code in months (fictional months), the file shows the sentence without a countdown.
offense-file-cellThe cell time also shows as a badge in the file list, in the record of the citizen page and on the tablet: minutes left, “Cell time over” (for a few hours after release), or the time to fill in (file from today). Older files show nothing there: their page says it all.
offense-file-cell-missingWho fills in the times: the file’s author, even once it is closed (these are field facts, not the legal content), or a rank that can edit the file. Each change goes to the audit log and the file’s history, before → after.
A file’s page
Section titled “A file’s page”Clicking a file opens its page: number, person, Legal status, type, department, author, dates, Most serious level, the Cell time and its procedure times, then the Offenses with their amounts. Each line details its computation: “Quantity: 42 (bag)”, “Degree: Max 1 (×1.5)”, “Computed: $500 + 42 × $100”. Then come the File details, the Linked report and the History (creation, edits, procedure times, status changes, in-game collection, deletion, restoration).
offense-file-sheetLegal statuses
Section titled “Legal statuses”Each type has its statuses (label and color chosen by the justice department), sorted into three categories that set the effect:
| Category | Effect | Starter statuses |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | nothing is on the record yet | Awaiting review, Awaiting the prosecutor, Postponed |
| Closed | the offenses go on the record, fines are created Unpaid | Closed |
| Rejected | nothing on the record; a reason is required | Rejected, Dismissed |
A file sent for review takes its type’s first “pending” status; a straight file, the first “closed” status.
Approving, rejecting, postponing
Section titled “Approving, rejecting, postponing”Members of a type’s reviewing rank (in any department) see the module’s To review tab, with the number of pending files. On the file’s page, Change status offers the type’s statuses in three groups: Pending, Approve and close, Reject or dismiss.
- Moving to a closed status puts the offenses on the record and creates the fines.
- A rejection needs a Reason, which the author will see. A Note is possible for other statuses.
- A closed file no longer changes status.
For a type with review, only the type’s reviewing ranks change the status: the Records & fines › Change the legal status permission isn’t enough there. For a type without review, the file is closed as soon as it is saved; as long as a file of that type isn’t closed, its author changes its status, and Change the legal status allows doing so on someone else’s file.
A file’s assigned prosecutor reviews it like one of the type’s reviewing ranks: they see the file and change its status.
Reviewing while editing the offenses
Section titled “Reviewing while editing the offenses”On a pending file, a reviewing rank of the type (or the assigned prosecutor) sees the Edit the offences button. The window only touches the offenses: add or remove a line, change a quantity, a degree, tick or untick complicity or attempt. The total is recomputed as you go.
- On the pending file’s page, click Edit the offences.
- Fix the lines, then Save the offences.
- Then pick the status with Change status: approve and close, reject, or leave pending.
The file’s history notes “Offences edited during review”, and the audit log keeps each line before → after.
Fixing a file
Section titled “Fixing a file”Edit reopens the window, prefilled. Who can use it depends on the file’s state:
- before closing (pending or rejected): its author, or a rank with Records & fines › Edit someone else’s file;
- once closed: only Records & fines › Edit a closed file, author included.
A rejected file that its author fixes goes back to its type’s first status (awaiting review, or closed for a straight type). Editing an already closed file updates the record: added, changed or removed offenses follow, and the audit log says exactly what changed.
Deleting a file
Section titled “Deleting a file”Delete file works by holding the button down (Records & fines › Delete a file permission). The file’s offenses leave the record with it. It’s a soft delete: an administrator restores it from the archives, offenses included.
Prosecutor and lawyer
Section titled “Prosecutor and lawyer”counsel-fileA file’s page has a Prosecutor and lawyer card, with two roles:
| Role | Who can hold it |
|---|---|
| Prosecutor | a member whose rank has Prosecutor › Act as a file’s prosecutor (justice, by default); they try the file in an immediate appearance |
| Defence lawyer | a member whose rank has Lawyer › Defend (lawyer), never granted by default (the Lawyer rank of the Justice template has it); they defend the accused as public defender |
For each role, two ways to find someone:
- Assign: pick from the members who can hold the role;
- Request: send a request, with an optional Place (station, cell, court…). Cancel the request withdraws it as long as nobody has taken it.
Once someone is in place, Remove takes them off the file; the assigned person can also Withdraw. Assigning, requesting, cancelling or removing requires Prosecutor and lawyer › Assign or request (members and up, police included).
What happens to a request
Section titled “What happens to a request”- The request goes to the bell of every member who can accept it and, if your organization set it up, to the Prosecutor requests or Public defender requests Discord channel, pinging the chosen role, with an Accept button (see Discord).
- The first one to click Accept, in the MDT or on Discord, becomes the file’s prosecutor (or lawyer). The others see the request as taken; the Discord message is updated (“Accepted by …”) and loses its button.
- Without an answer, the request expires after the configured delay (30 minutes by default, in Penal code › Prosecution and record); its author is notified.
A file has at most one open request per role. Every step (assignment, request, acceptance, cancellation, expiry, removal) is written to the file’s History and to the audit log.
When creating the file
Section titled “When creating the file”counsel-creationIf your rank has Prosecutor and lawyer › Assign or request, the new file window has an optional Prosecutor section: Later (the default), Assign (pick the prosecutor) or Request (with a Request place). The assignment or request goes out as soon as the file is saved.
The Requests and My files tabs
Section titled “The Requests and My files tabs”counsel-requestsAnyone who can be a prosecutor or a lawyer gets two tabs in the module:
- Requests: the requests you can accept (file, defendant, offences, place, expiry), each with Accept;
- My files: the files you are assigned to, as prosecutor or as lawyer.
The criminal record
Section titled “The criminal record”A citizen’s record is the Record tab of their file: their offense files, newest first, with their lines, their status and, for each fine, its state. A line of a file still pending shows “Not on the record yet”. The Unpaid total shows at the top. See Citizens.
Expunging a conviction
Section titled “Expunging a conviction”record-expungedA closed file is a conviction. Its page has a Record expungement card: Expunge the conviction works by holding the button down, with an optional Reason (rehabilitation, judge’s decision…).
An expunged conviction is hidden, never deleted:
- for other services, it disappears from files, records, fines and search;
- justice (Record › See expunged convictions) still sees it, marked Expunged, with the date, the author and the reason;
- Restore puts it back on the record, visible to everyone who sees records.
To expunge everything at once, the Record tab of the citizen’s file has an Expunge the whole record button (hold it down): every closed conviction of the citizen is expunged, and can then be restored one by one.
Automatic expungement expunges each conviction a number of days after it was closed. It is off by default and is set in Penal code › Prosecution and record. The file’s history then notes “Conviction expunged automatically”.
Expunging and restoring require Record › Expunge and restore. Every expungement and every restore is written to the file’s history and to the audit log.
The module’s Fines tab lists fines across the whole organization, most recent offenses first, 25 at a time (Show more loads the rest). Three filters: Unpaid (the default, with the Total unpaid), Paid and Cancelled.
offense-file-finesEach row gives the Date, the Citizen, the Offense (with its details and a link to its file), the Officer and the Amount. Depending on the filter:
- Unpaid: Mark as paid, or Cancel by holding the button down;
- Paid: the payment date (Paid on…) and Mark unpaid;
- Cancelled: Mark unpaid.
Tracking payment and cancelling are two separate permissions: Records & fines › Mark a fine paid to mark a fine paid or unpaid again, Records & fines › Cancel a fine to cancel it or to set a cancelled fine back to unpaid. A button you’re not allowed to use stays visible but locked, with a “Restricted: …” hint.
An offense without a fine has no payment status (No fine). Nothing is erased: a cancelled fine stays visible.
In-game collection
Section titled “In-game collection”If your server links SuperMDT to the game and picked a Collection mode (Settings › Game, Integrations card), closing a file sends its unpaid fines to the game: direct debit from the character’s bank, or an invoice (esx_billing, okokBilling, qb-phone, custom script). Paying in game marks the fines Paid in the MDT on its own: the file’s history notes “Fine of … paid in game”, and the audit log “The system received from the game the fine payment of …”. The file’s page shows the In-game collection: state, amount and mode. Mark paid stays there for a fine settled another way (no integration, or a script that doesn’t report payments).
- One invoice per file, never two, even if the file is fixed later.
- The person must be a game character.
- A fine marked paid or cancelled in the MDT before sending updates the collection (or cancels it when nothing is left to collect).
- Retry the collection shows after a failure (insufficient funds, missing script…), unless the result is uncertain: check in game then. It requires the Records & fines › Retry a collection permission.
Modes, required resources and their limits are described in Fine collection.
Who can do what
Section titled “Who can do what”Rights are set on the Records & fines module of the matrix, in Ranks and permissions, one permission per action. The record is shared across the organization: a permission in one of your departments is enough, except to create (see above). An action you’re not allowed to do stays visible but locked, with a padlock and a “Restricted: …” hint (for example “Restricted: Records & fines › Edit a closed file”); see Permissions.
| Permission | What it allows | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Records & fines › See records and files | the module, the files, the Record tab and the fines | every rank |
| Records & fines › Create an offense file | New file; its author edits it until it is closed | members and up |
| Records & fines › Edit someone else’s file | Edit, before closing, a file you did not write | supervisors and up |
| Records & fines › Edit a closed file | Edit a file already on the record | command |
| Records & fines › Change the legal status | for types without review: change the status of someone else’s file | supervisors and up |
| Records & fines › Delete a file | Delete file (restorable, offenses included) | supervisors and up |
| Records & fines › Mark a fine paid | Mark as paid, Mark unpaid a paid fine | members and up |
| Records & fines › Cancel a fine | Cancel a fine, or set it back to unpaid | supervisors and up |
| Records & fines › Retry a collection (game) | Retry the collection in game after a failure | members and up |
| Prosecutor and lawyer › Assign or request | Assign, Request, Cancel the request and Remove on the Prosecutor and lawyer card; the Prosecutor section of a new file | members and up |
| Prosecutor › Act as a file’s prosecutor | be assigned as prosecutor, accept a prosecutor request, the Requests and My files tabs | members and up, justice services only |
| Lawyer › Defend (lawyer) | be assigned as lawyer, accept a public defender request; only see the files and cases you defend | never by default; the Justice template’s Lawyer rank |
| Record › See expunged convictions | see expunged convictions, marked Expunged | every rank, justice only |
| Record › Expunge and restore | Expunge the conviction, Expunge the whole record, Restore | command, justice only |
| Record › Set prosecution and record rules | the penal code’s Prosecution and record tab: request lifetime, automatic expungement | command, justice only |
“Default” is the first rank level that gets the permission when you create a service from a template; the levels above have it too. “Justice only”: the permission is only granted by default to ranks of justice services. The permission marked (game) only shows when the game integration is on.
Three rights don’t depend on the matrix:
- a file’s author can always read it, edits it until it is closed, and fills in its procedure times even afterwards;
- a type’s reviewing ranks (set in Penal code › File types) read that type’s files, see the To review tab and are the only ones who change their status;
- the assigned prosecutor and the assigned lawyer read the file; the prosecutor reviews it like a reviewing rank and can Edit the offences.
A lawyer (rank with Lawyer › Defend (lawyer), without Records & fines › See records and files) only sees the files they defend, and the cases they defend.
Creation, edits, every status change, deletion and fine changes are written to the audit log, as are assignments, requests, offence edits during review, expungements and restores.