If I had a citation for possession of marijuana and did community service to get the case dismissed, does that count as a conviction?
It depends on what your paperwork says.  If you pled guilty and were found guilty via a final judgment, but the sentence was suspended so that you could do community service, then yes, you still have a conviction you should tell an employer about.However, if you were on an informal program or some type of deferred probation and the judge did not find you guilty, but instead gave you an outright dismissal after you completed your community service hours, then no, that would not count as a final conviction. If you're not sure what your paperwork means, then get copies of everything in your court file from the clerk of the court and arrange to meet with a criminal defense attorney.  If you already have everything from the court's file together for them, it should take them less than 30 minutes to tell you what your status actually is.  This would run you only a nominal amount... especially compared to the peace of mind on knowing how to fill out your job applications correctly.