What's the differnce between criminal case being a) discharged, b) dismissed and c) out of court settlement?

Once you are arrested, you will have a record for the arrest. If the DA charges the case they will have to dismiss it unless you enter a plea of guilty or no contest or go to trial. If you get a out of court settlement with a victim, the DA can dismiss the case or a judge can find a civil compromise. Either way results in no conviction. The court clerk should be able to give you copies of the court's docket and minutes dismissing or compromising the case. However, in this day and age with technology many potential employers can still find record of the case and its disposition. The only way to avoid any record is a finding of factual innocence. I would think a dismiss is a better outcome. with a out of court settlement, it looks like you paid off the victim.

Ms. Burgess is correct in her response. This provides some additional information. In SF where I practice when there has been an arrest but the DA decides not to file charges the case is discharged. In terms of getting a statement of factual innocence a discharge is probably better than a dismissal. With a dismissal the DA has filed the charge but for one reason or another has decided not to proceed. With both a discharge and a dismissal there will still be a record of your arrest. In criminal law there is really no out of court settlement unless it is a civil compromise which must be approved by the DA and applies only to misdemeanors. Even in that case you would still have an arrest record.