What type of offense is solicitation classified as?

Solicitation is classified as an inchoate offense because it involves the act of encouraging or seeking to persuade another person to commit a crime. Inchoate offenses are those that have not yet been completed but demonstrate an intention to engage in criminal conduct. Solicitation reflects this intent, as it requires an active effort to bring about a criminal act, even if the crime itself has not been executed.

While solicitation could potentially lead to felony or misdemeanor charges depending on the nature of the crime being solicited, the classification as an inchoate offense is more specific to its intrinsic nature of being a preparatory act rather than the final commission of a crime. Ex post facto offenses refer to laws that apply retroactively, changing the legal consequences of actions that were committed before the enactment of the law, which is not applicable to the definition of solicitation. Thus, identifying solicitation as an inchoate offense emphasizes its role in the continuum of criminal activity.