Well I guess ill start off the story with what I got arrested for. Approx 6/2000 I was arrested at the age of 16 for first degree trespassing, illegal use of motorized vehicle, and damage to property. Basically I went into a nearby plant and road around on some golf carts with friends and dented them up a bit. Yes it was stupid. No felonies though and not a conviction. It was dismissed by prosecution....
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Anyways I was just looking to see if there is any advice on what I should be doing, and if all that seems fair. I am getting an attorney to explore sealing records or expungement options. also I have around 30k saved up. I was thinking if worse comes to worse I could start my own hydro seed business/ landscaping or something similar. any helpful information or opinions would be appreciated.
1)a) The first thing to know is that your own lawyer is usually out to take your money. This is not silly advice. Almost without exception, they do not have your best interests at heart because all of their money comes from you, the client. Like most people, they want to earn more money faster. So they bill a lot to prepare for the case, but they do not do the work. (By billing multiple clients for the same time, many attorneys bill for more hours than there are in his work day.) Then they dump the case as fast as they can, usually by losing it because they have not prepared.
1)b) The only solution is read the court's "local rules" and your State's laws regarding your specific legal issue, which is expungement. (All of this is published on the internet, and you can learn it in a few days.) You need to know this so that you can tell when your own lawyer is lying to you.
1)c) Then demand to see your lawyers "work-product" every month when he sends his bill, before you pay it.
1)d) In civil cases, when you go to court, insist on attending any meetings between your lawyer and the opposition, because that is when your lawyer will make a deal and then "sell" it to you, even if he has to lie to you. Your lawyers's primary interest in getting himself out of doing the work you paid for. You saved $30,000 to start a business, but a bad attorney can cheat you out of a big chunk of it.
1)e) If it is a criminal case, then your lawyer can meet with the prosecutor, but you cannot attend the meetings. But you should insist that any plea bargain be put in writing. Every promise your lawyer makes to you about the plea bargain should be put in writing and signed by the prosecutor. If not, your lawyer may well be lying to you to sell you the deal. Most lawyers make more money "preparing" for a case, when they can charge several clients for work they do not do, than the lawyer makes in court. This is especially true of "public defender" lawyers which are hired by the government to represent poor people for a fixed fee per case. (Fixed fee lawyers are hired by the government when the real Public Defender Office is overloaded with work and cannot handle the case.) However, if a poor person is assigned a lawyer that actually works out of the Courthouse Public Denfender Office so the lawyer is paid a salary by the government, then the real Public Defender will probably do a better job than the fixed fee lawyer.

2) Expungment is for 1st offenders, i.e. they were convicted of only one offense. you were convicted of no (none, zero) offenses because the charges were dropped. You cannot get expunged for a conviction that you did not receive. However, there is an expungement of an arrest record after the charges were dropped. This reference is for Minnesotta, but you should find it very informative. http://www.bwlap.org/TAPs/expcrim.pdf

3) Since police and prosecutors like to pile on the charges for the same incident, many states consider a single incident as a 1st offense for expungement purposes, even if there were multiple charges. You would have to check out the law in your State.

4) Since you were convicted of nothing, you do not have to admit to anything on a job application. Just be prepared with an honest explanation that shows you in the best possible light.

5) Many States, counties, municipalities have a simplified expungment process where you fill out a simple form, pay a $75 fee, and then just show up on the court date (or not).

Official North Carolina state website is located at www.ncgov.com. This site is full of informative information on contacting state and county offices for your North Carolina background check.
Sex Offenders Registry Has Information for a North Carolina Background Check
Search Sex Offenders for the North Carolina from ncfindoffender.com/ . Find out if the person you are running a North Carolina background check on is a registered sex offender.
Search Inmates for your North Carolina Background Check
North Carolina offender information is at http://www.doc.state.nc.us/offenders/. Here you can search by name for the public information pertaining to inmates, or those on probation.
Crime Control and Public Safety Records for a North Carolina Background Check
North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety is located at www.nccrimecontrol.org. You will find a list of phone numbers for the county clerks for each county. You can navigate to the North Carolina Court system to access a data_base_ of crimes, the Department of Corrections for a prisoner search. Then try the State Bureau of Investigations for fingerprint _base_d criminal history of $14 or the Federal Bureau of Investigation who can get records for your North Carolina background check back to you in 16 to 18 weeks after they receive an $18 payment and the properly filled out paperwork.
Some private companies offer nationwide criminal background record search over the internet with almost instant results reported to your computer screen. Put you name and state in the web page form and the search returns likely candidate names. Then select exact name and information you need.