50-State Surveys › Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility by State
Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility by State
Which adult convictions can be expunged, sealed, dismissed, or set aside, is relief automatic or petition-based, how long must a person wait, and what remains accessible afterward?
51 of 51 jurisdictions verified
every entry statute-checked, oldest 2026-07-19
What this survey covers
States use the same everyday word—"expungement"—for remedies that can be legally very different. This survey follows a completed adult state conviction through the general record-relief rules. It compares what the state calls the remedy, whether relief happens automatically or requires a petition, which convictions qualify, the waiting clock and completion conditions, the decision process, and who can still see or use the record afterward.
The scope is convictions, not every kind of criminal record. Arrests that did not lead to conviction, juvenile matters, pardons, innocence-based vacatur, marijuana-specific mass relief, and federal convictions have separate rules. Those routes appear only as short boundary notes when necessary to avoid confusing them with the state's general adult-conviction remedy.
The first organizing principle: name the relief honestly
California's familiar Penal Code § 1203.4 remedy is a plea withdrawal or verdict set-aside followed by dismissal—not destruction of the conviction. The statute preserves later-prosecution use, specified disclosure duties, firearm disabilities, public-office restrictions, and protective orders (Cal. Penal Code § 1203.4).
New York's Clean Slate statute instead directs automatic sealing after the current three-year misdemeanor or eight-year felony clock when the remaining conditions are met (CPL § 160.57). Its separate CPL § 160.59 application route uses a ten-year clock and limits the number and type of convictions that may be sealed (CPL § 160.59). One state can therefore have two different routes with different clocks and legal effects.
The second organizing principle: automatic and petition paths can coexist
California automatically identifies qualifying probation, infraction, misdemeanor, and specified felony records under Penal Code § 1203.425, while keeping petition remedies available under §§ 1203.4 and related sections (official § 1203.425). Minnesota likewise combines automatic relief under § 609A.015 with a petition path under § 609A.02. The current petition clock is two years for a petty misdemeanor or misdemeanor, three years for a gross misdemeanor, and four or five years for covered felony categories, measured from discharge of sentence (Minn. Stat. § 609A.02). The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension must grant qualifying automatic relief without an application, petition, or motion (§ 609A.015).
Automatic does not mean instantaneous or infallible. Repository matching, court notice, prosecutorial objections, missing data, funding, rollout dates, and later correction procedures can affect implementation. The table therefore states both legal eligibility and who is responsible for making the relief happen.
The clock is meaningless without its start date
A number alone is not comparable. New York measures from release from incarceration or sentence when there was no incarceration. Minnesota measures from discharge of sentence. California's automatic felony rule measures four years after completion of probation or supervision and adds a no-new-felony period. Other states start at conviction, judgment, completion of all sentence terms, or the most recent conviction. Each state row states the event, resets, and separate no-new-record condition rather than reducing the rule to "wait three years."
Sealed does not mean invisible to everyone
The public-access result is only one dimension. California preserves criminal- justice access and specified disclosure and background-check uses after automatic relief. Minnesota keeps criminal-justice access and identifies health, human-services, and educator background-study exceptions. New York retains access for enumerated courts, law enforcement, fingerprint-based checks, firearms licensing, vulnerable-population screening, and other listed purposes. A state page therefore answers two separate questions: what the public sees and what government or regulated decision-makers may still obtain or use.
What the fifty-one jurisdictions show
Across all fifty-one, a few patterns hold. The majority offer a petition-based expungement or sealing of at least some convictions, with waiting periods that most commonly cluster around three years for misdemeanors and five to ten years for felonies, measured from conviction or release. A growing minority—California, Minnesota, New York, Delaware, and, phasing in, the District of Columbia—layer an automatic "clean slate" process on top of the petition route, so eligible records clear without an application.
The outliers matter most to readers. A handful of states grant no general expungement of a true conviction: Alaska offers only a set-aside that leaves the conviction on the record, and South Dakota relies on a suspended-imposition discharge plus automatic removal of the smallest cases. The relief label is itself a variable—Vermont's 2025 rewrite and the District's Second Chance Act make sealing, not expungement, the general remedy, reserving expungement for decriminalized conduct. And "cleared" rarely means gone: several states, including North Dakota, keep the state bureau-of-investigation file outside the sealing order, and nearly all preserve access for law enforcement, licensing, or a later prosecution.
How to read the table
Start with the relief-name column, then check automatic relief before assuming a petition is needed. Eligibility, exclusions, and the waiting clock must all fit the same conviction. Sentence completion and later-record conditions are additional gates. Finally, read the access column before relying on the relief for a job, license, immigration matter, firearm issue, school, caregiving role, or later criminal case.
Get this answered for your state
This survey compares every state side by side. Ezel applies your state's law to your specific situation and answers with citations to the statutes.
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| State | Relief name and legal effect | Automatic or clean-slate relief | Convictions eligible by petition | Excluded offenses and statuses | Waiting period and when it starts | Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions | Petition process and decision standard | Who can still see or use the record | Boundaries and alternative relief |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement; records become protected and nonpublic but are archived and retained indefinitely by ALEA (Ala. Code §§ 15-27-7 to -10) |
No general automatic conviction relief; the person files in circuit court (Ala. Code §§ 15-27-1(b), 15-27-2(c)) |
Eligible misdemeanor, violation, traffic, and municipal convictions and like youthful-offender adjudications; eligible pardoned felonies; narrow trafficking-victim route (Ala. Code §§ 15-27-1(b), 15-27-2(b)-(c)) |
Generally excludes violent, sex, moral-turpitude, serious-traffic, and specified commercial-driving convictions; route and prior-relief caps apply (Ala. Code §§ 15-27-1(b)(3)-(7), 15-27-2(c)(4)-(7), 15-27-2.1) |
Three years from misdemeanor-level conviction; 180 days from qualifying felony pardon certificate (Ala. Code §§ 15-27-1(b)(2), 15-27-2(c)(3)) |
Misdemeanor-level route requires completed probation or parole and payment of fines, costs, restitution, and other ordered amounts; no general new-conviction waiting-period test (Ala. Code § 15-27-1(b)(1)) |
$500 administrative fee plus court/docket fee, subject to indigency waiver; objection triggers hearing no sooner than 30 days; eligibility must be shown and relief remains discretionary (Ala. Code §§ 15-27-4, 15-27-5) |
ALEA retains a protected archive; criminal justice, prosecutors, DHR, utilities, financial-information entities, and related civil matters retain specified access or use (Ala. Code §§ 15-27-1(c), 15-27-2(d), 15-27-7 to -10) |
Non-conviction expungement, juvenile matters, pardons alone, and innocence relief are outside this page; a pardon is a prerequisite, not itself expungement, for the general felony route |
| Alaska verified 2026-07-20 | No expungement of adult convictions exists, and there is no general conviction-sealing remedy. The two narrow tools are a court 'set-aside' of a conviction after a suspended imposition of sentence (AS 12.55.085(e)), which nullifies some consequences but neither seals nor erases the record and still counts as a prior conviction, and administrative sealing of criminal-justice information that resulted from mistaken identity or false accusation (AS 12.62.180(b)). |
None. Alaska has no automatic or clean-slate relief for adult convictions. |
There is no general petition to expunge or seal a conviction. A person may (1) receive a discretionary court set-aside under AS 12.55.085 only where the court suspended imposition of sentence and the person completed probation, or (2) administratively request sealing under AS 12.62.180(b) only for information shown beyond a reasonable doubt to stem from mistaken identity or false accusation. Neither is a general route keyed to offense class or a waiting period. |
A suspended imposition of sentence—and therefore any set-aside—is unavailable for homicide, assault, kidnapping, sexual, sex-trafficking, and other specified offenses (AS 11.41.100–.530, 11.66.110–.135, and more), where a firearm was used in the offense, or for many repeat offenders (AS 12.55.085(f)). Administrative sealing is limited to mistaken-identity or false-accusation cases and cannot be used to attack a valid judgment (AS 12.62.180(b)–(c)). |
No statutory waiting period applies, because there is no general clearance route. A set-aside is available only at discharge from probation following a suspended imposition of sentence (AS 12.55.085(e)); administrative sealing has no waiting period but requires proof of mistaken identity or false accusation (AS 12.62.180(b)). |
A set-aside depends on the person completing probation without revocation so that the court discharges them without imposing sentence (AS 12.55.085(a), (d), (e)); probation may be revoked for new criminal conduct or condition violations (AS 12.55.085(b)). There is no general restitution-paid clearance condition because there is no general clearance remedy. |
For a set-aside, the sentencing court acts at discharge and the decision is discretionary (AS 12.55.085(e)). For administrative sealing, the person submits a written request to the head of the agency holding the record; that decision is the final administrative decision, appealable to court only on a 'clearly mistaken' standard, and the appeal may not collaterally attack the judgment (AS 12.62.180(b)–(c)). |
A set-aside does not seal or erase the record—the conviction remains on the person's criminal history and still counts as a prior conviction, including for later sentencing (AS 12.55.085(f)(3)). Where information is administratively sealed, the person may deny its existence, but it stays available for record management, criminal-justice employment, the subject's own review, research, imminent-harm prevention, and any use authorized by statute or court order (AS 12.62.180(d)). |
Non-conviction records (acquittals, dismissed charges) and juvenile records are handled under separate Alaska laws, and a person may seek a gubernatorial pardon—but none of these expunges an adult conviction. For an adult conviction the practical options are a discretionary set-aside if eligible, or otherwise a permanent record; there is no general expungement or conviction-sealing statute. |
| Arizona verified 2026-07-19 | Set-aside: judgment set aside, charge dismissed, most penalties released, but the record is only annotated and not removed (§ 13-905(D)–(G)). Sealing: case records restricted and the person may usually deny the case, but specified later uses and access remain (§ 13-911(B), (I)–(J)). |
No general automatic relief. The person petitions the court for either set-aside or sealing; the court applies statutory factors or the petitioner-and-public-safety standard (§§ 13-905(A)–(C), 13-911(A), (D)). |
Set-aside begins with every conviction after sentence/probation fulfillment and discharge, subject to four exclusions. Sealing covers eligible Class 2–6 felonies and Class 1–3 misdemeanors after the class-based clock and full completion/payment conditions (§§ 13-905(A), (P), 13-911(A), (E), (G), (O)). |
Set-aside excludes dangerous offenses, registration offenses, sexual-motivation findings, and felonies with a victim under 15. Sealing excludes dangerous offenses, dangerous crimes against children, serious/violent/aggravated felonies, deadly-weapon or serious-injury element offenses, sex trafficking, and listed Class 2–5 sex/organized-crime felonies (§§ 13-905(P), 13-911(O)). |
Set-aside: no fixed period after sentence/probation fulfillment and discharge. Sealing: 10 years for Class 2–3 felony; 5 for Class 4–6 felony; 3 for Class 1 misdemeanor; 2 for Class 2–3 misdemeanor, measured from completion of nonmonetary probation/sentence conditions and discharge. A later felony after prior sealing adds 5 years (§§ 13-905(A), 13-911(E)–(F)). |
Set-aside requires fulfillment of probation or sentence and discharge; compliance, prior/subsequent convictions, victim input, and restitution status are decision factors. Sealing requires all sentence terms, all fines/fees, and full victim restitution; a qualifying pending charge can pause decision (§§ 13-905(A), (C), 13-911(A), (G), (N)). |
Set-aside: person, attorney, or probation officer applies without a filing fee; state/victim objections are due in 30 days and denial reasons must be written. Sealing: file in the case court; generally wait 60 days, prosecutor and noticed victims may object or request hearing, and the court shall grant only if best for petitioner and public safety (§§ 13-905(B), (H)–(J), 13-911(C)–(D)). |
Set-aside records remain and may be used in later cases and fingerprint-clearance reviews. Sealed records remain usable as priors, elements, impeachment, and enhancements and accessible to the person, victim, courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, corrections, probation, child-safety agencies, and other listed users (§§ 13-905(E)–(G), 13-911(B), (I)–(J), (P)). |
Arizona's general conviction remedies are set-aside and sealing, not destruction. Juvenile, nonconviction-only, pardon, innocence, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state relief are outside this survey. |
| Arkansas verified 2026-07-19 | Sealing removes the record from general access without physical destruction. The conduct is deemed never to have occurred and may ordinarily be denied, but criminal-case, habitual-offender, impeachment, healthcare-licensing, discovery, and law-enforcement-certification uses remain; firearm rights are not restored (§§ 16-90-1404(4), 16-90-1417). |
No general automatic conviction relief. A court may hear a proceeding under the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act only after the person files the uniform petition (§ 16-90-1403(c)). |
Most misdemeanors and violations; nonviolent Class C/D felonies; eligible unclassified felonies; Class A/B Uniform Controlled Substances Act felonies; related attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy; a nonviolent felony committed under age 18; and violent Class C/D felonies after 5 years. A special treated drug-possession route also exists (§§ 16-90-1405–1407). |
Felony exclusions include Class Y/A/B except the stated drug carve-out, manslaughter, an unclassified felony carrying over 10 years, felony sex offenses, a felony involving violence under § 5-4-501(d)(2), and any felony for which the person served time in the Division of Correction. Covered felony relief also allows no more than 1 previous felony; qualifying same-episode felonies count as 1 (§§ 16-90-1406(c), 16-90-1408). |
Most misdemeanors/violations and listed nonviolent or drug felonies: immediately after completion of sentence. Six named misdemeanors and violent Class C/D felonies: 5 years after completion. DWI/BWI: after § 5-65-111's applicable lookback period (§§ 16-90-1405, 16-90-1406). |
Completion includes paid fines, costs and other monetary obligations unless excused, full custody, discharge from supervision, completed suspended sentence, restitution, community service, license-reinstatement duties, and required vocational training. Pending charges are a felony decision factor, not stated as a universal filing bar (§§ 16-90-1404(1), 16-90-1415(b)). |
File the uniform petition in the sentencing circuit or district court; serve the prosecutor and any named arresting agency within 3 days. The prosecutor has 30 days to oppose. A misdemeanor shall be sealed absent clear and convincing evidence against relief; a felony may be sealed on a clear-and-convincing interests-of-justice finding (§§ 16-90-1413, 16-90-1415). |
Public/general access ends, but the person, authorized attorney, specified criminal-justice employers and checks, courts, prosecutors, healthcare licensing boards, ACIC, and the law-enforcement standards commission retain statutory access. The conviction remains usable for specified criminal and regulatory purposes (§§ 16-90-1416, 16-90-1417). |
Covers general adult state-conviction sealing under §§ 16-90-1401–1417. Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, human-trafficking-victim, specialty-court, drug-court, innocence, marijuana-specific, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state routes are outside this survey. |
| California verified 2026-07-19 | Plea withdrawal or guilty-verdict set-aside, then dismissal and release from most penalties and disabilities—not destruction; later prosecutions may still plead and prove the conviction (§§ 1203.4, 1203.4a, 1203.41–1203.42). |
For convictions on or after Jan. 1, 1973, DOJ must grant qualifying electronic-record cases relief, including dismissal, without a petition, subject to Budget Act appropriation: completed probation without revocation; completed misdemeanor/infraction outside that branch plus 1 year from judgment; or another covered felony plus 4 felony-free years after supervision (§ 1203.425(a)). |
Completed probation cases (§ 1203.4); nonprobation misdemeanors and infractions (§ 1203.4a); felonies sentenced under § 1170(h) or to state prison (§ 1203.41); and pre-realignment felonies that would have qualified for § 1170(h) sentencing (§ 1203.42), subject to each route's exclusions and status rules. |
Petition exclusions vary: §§ 1203.4 and 1203.4a list specified sex and vehicle offenses; the § 1203.41 state-prison route excludes registration-required felonies. Automatic relief bars sex registrants, active supervision, a current sentence or indicated pending charge, and, for its felony branch, serious, violent, and registration felonies (§§ 1203.4(b)–(c), 1203.4a(d), 1203.41(a)(6), 1203.425(a)(1)(B)). |
§ 1203.4: after probation terminates; § 1203.4a: 1 year after judgment; § 1203.41: 1 year after a split county-jail sentence or 2 years after a straight county-jail/state-prison sentence; § 1203.42: 2 years after sentence completion. Automatic: probation completion, 1 year after misdemeanor/infraction judgment, or 4 felony-free years after felony probation/supervision (§§ 1203.4, 1203.4a, 1203.41–1203.42, 1203.425). |
Petition routes require the specified sentence/probation completion and generally no current sentence, probation/supervision, parole, or charge; unpaid restitution or a restitution fine cannot itself support denial. Automatic relief requires no active supervision, no apparent current sentence or pending charge, and its felony branch requires no new felony during the 4-year period (§§ 1203.4(c), 1203.4a(a)–(b), (e), 1203.41(a), (d), 1203.42(a), (c), 1203.425(a)). |
The defendant applies to court; relief is mandatory under §§ 1203.4 and 1203.4a when all statutory conditions are met and otherwise may be discretionary in the interest of justice. §§ 1203.41–1203.42 are discretionary. The prosecutor gets 15 days' notice under §§ 1203.4, 1203.41, and 1203.42 and for a § 1203.4a infraction. Automatic relief needs no filing, but prosecutor/probation may object 90 days before eligibility on a substantial-public-safety-threat showing (§ 1203.425(b)). |
For covered dismissals, the court may disclose conviction information only to the person or a criminal-justice agency (§ 1203.425(a)(3)). Relief does not erase later-prosecution use, specified application disclosures, firearm disabilities, public-office bars, or enumerated care-provider background uses (§§ 1203.4(a), 1203.41(b), (h), 1203.425(a)(4)). |
California has general adult-conviction petition and automatic routes, so no alternative is needed here. Juvenile, non-conviction, marijuana-specific, pardon/certificate, innocence or immigration-related vacatur, special-program, and federal relief remain outside this survey. |
| Colorado verified 2026-07-19 | Sealing removes public access but does not vacate the conviction or authorize physical destruction. A new conviction requires unsealing (§ 24-72-703(2), (4)). |
Quarterly automatic sealing for eligible convictions: civil infraction after 4 years; petty offense or misdemeanor after 7; eligible felony after 10. No intervening conviction; prosecutor may object for listed grounds and to certain non-drug felonies (§ 13-3-117(1)–(3)). |
Motion route covers eligible civil infractions, petty offenses, misdemeanors, class 4–6 felonies, level 3–4 drug felonies, and other eligible offenses. A separate route covers limited multiple-conviction records blocked only by an intervening conviction (§§ 24-72-706(1), 24-72-709). |
Major exclusions include specified traffic and DUI records, unlawful-sexual-behavior cases, child abuse, domestic violence, sex offenses, crimes of violence, felony victims'-rights crimes, class 1–3 felonies, level 1 drug felonies, and other listed aggravated offenses; every conviction in one case must qualify (§§ 24-72-703(12), 24-72-706(2)). |
Motion route, from later of final disposition or release from supervision: 1 year civil/petty; 2 years lower misdemeanor; 3 years class 1 misdemeanor or lower felony; 5 years other eligible offenses. Multiple-conviction route: 2, 5, or 10 years from the later statutory event or latest conviction (§§ 24-72-706(1)(b), 24-72-709(2)). |
Restitution must be paid unless vacated. The required criminal history must show no new conviction after the later of final disposition or release; unpaid fines, court costs, late fees, and other fees cannot be considered (§§ 24-72-703(12)(b), 24-72-706(1)(e)–(f)). |
File a motion in the criminal case with custodians and a current verified criminal history; notify the district attorney. Hearing and mandatory/discretionary treatment vary by offense and objection. Contested cases use a privacy/adverse-consequence versus public-access balance; $65 fee, waivable for indigency (§ 24-72-706(1)). |
Public inquiries return no public record; most applicants may omit the conviction and state they were not convicted. Courts, justice agencies, prosecutors, statutory screeners, specified researchers, victims for limited records, and the person retain access or use; served private custodians must remove and secure records (§ 24-72-703(2), (5), (8)). |
This page covers general adult conviction sealing under §§ 13-3-117 and 24-72-703, -706, and -709. Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, trafficking-victim, marijuana-specific, innocence, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state relief are outside this survey. |
| Connecticut verified 2026-07-19 | Erasure bars ordinary disclosure; the person is deemed never arrested for the erased proceeding and may so swear. The subject may request physical destruction after 3 years from final disposition, but automated erasure need not destroy paper records (§§ 54-142a(g); 54-142t(c)). |
Eligible offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 2000 are erased by operation of law. DESPP, the Judicial Branch, and record-holding agencies implement automation; a person whose record was missed may submit a criminal-history search for a contested agency determination (§§ 54-142a(e)(1); 54-142t(a), (g)). |
For offenses before Jan. 1, 2000, the same clean-slate categories qualify by prescribed court form: misdemeanors and motor-vehicle violations with a maximum term of 1 year; class D or E felonies, unclassified felonies, and motor-vehicle violations with a maximum over 1 but no more than 5 years (§ 54-142a(e)(1)). |
Excludes higher-class or higher-maximum felonies; post-2000 family-violence convictions; sexual offenses; the closed statutory offense list; and repeat § 14-227a impaired-driving convictions within 10 years. All counts in a multi-count record generally must qualify (§ 54-142a(e)(2), (i)). |
7 years for an eligible misdemeanor or motor-vehicle offense with a maximum term of 1 year; 10 years for an eligible felony, a motor-vehicle offense with a maximum over 1 but no more than 5 years, or § 14-227a. Each runs from the most recent judgment of conviction (§ 54-142a(e)(1)). |
Before erasure, the person must complete incarceration, parole, special or medical parole, compassionate parole, transitional supervision, and probation for the covered offense and other post-2000 Connecticut convictions, and have no pending Connecticut criminal charge. Unremitted fines, registration, and standing protective-order duties survive erasure (§ 54-142a(e)(3), (7)-(9)). |
Pre-2000 route uses prescribed form JD-CR-202, one form per docket, filed where sentenced; the court may grant without a hearing or schedule one. No court fee is charged, and § 54-142a says eligible records shall be erased. Missed automatic records use DESPP review and a contested hearing (§§ 54-142a(e)(1), (k); 54-142t(g)). |
Custodians generally cannot disclose erased records. Employers cannot require disclosure or discriminate; state licensing agencies cannot use erased information except DMV as federally required; bulk background providers must delete after notice. Access remains for the subject, specified enforcement of registration/protective orders, immigration counsel, and listed court proceedings (§§ 31-51i; 46a-80g; 54-142a(g)-(j); 54-142c; 54-142e). |
This page covers general adult conviction erasure under § 54-142a(e). Juvenile and youthful-offender records, nonconvictions, absolute pardons, cannabis-specific §§ 54-142u and 54-142v, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state records are outside this survey. |
| Delaware verified 2026-07-20 | Expungement means case records are destroyed, segregated, or placed with SBI and withheld from unauthorized inquiry. The person need not disclose the case, but fingerprints, photographs, DNA, and closed court/DOJ records may remain (§§ 4372(c)–(e), 4376(c)–(e)). |
Since Aug. 1, 2024, SBI must identify mandatory-eligible cases monthly and expunge them. A person may still request mandatory expungement through SBI if automation has not occurred (§§ 4373, 4373A). |
Mandatory: violations, qualifying misdemeanors/drug possession, and six listed felonies. Discretionary court route: nonlisted misdemeanors, listed misdemeanors, broader felonies, and eligible violations/misdemeanors across multiple cases, subject to exclusions (§§ 4373–4374). |
Pending charges and current incarceration, parole, or probation generally bar relief. Universal exclusions include five named convictions; mandatory relief adds domestic-violence, child/vulnerable-adult, and enumerated offense exclusions; discretionary relief excludes § 4201(c) violent felonies and specified physical/sexual-assault crimes (§§ 4372(f), 4373(b), 4374(b)). |
Mandatory: 3 years from conviction for violations; 5 years for misdemeanors or § 4756 drug possession; 10 years from conviction or release, whichever later, for six listed felonies. Discretionary: 3 or 7 years for one-case misdemeanors/felonies, or 5 years from the most recent conviction/release for qualifying multiple cases (§§ 4373(a), 4374(a)). |
All conviction fines, fees, and restitution must be paid; a court may waive or civilly convert unpaid fines/fees caused by nonwillful noncompliance, but not restitution. Most conviction routes require no disqualifying prior/subsequent conviction, and discretionary relief is generally limited by recent prior expungement and post-relief felony rules (§§ 4372(f), (l), 4373(a), 4374(a)). |
SBI administers mandatory relief. Discretionary petitions go to Family Court or Superior Court, require the SBI criminal history and service on the Attorney General, allow 120 days to respond, and usually proceed without hearing. The person proves manifest injustice by a preponderance (§§ 4373(c)–(e), 4374(c)–(j)). |
Ordinary requesters are told there is no record, and the person need not disclose it. Access remains for criminal investigations, law-enforcement hiring, concealed-carry licensing, diversion/PBJ eligibility, later sentencing, and a later pardon; fingerprints, photographs, and DNA may remain (§§ 4372(d)–(e), 4376). |
Covers adult Delaware-court cases under Title 11, chapter 43, subchapter VII. Title 21 offenses are generally outside the expungement scheme except the current § 4374(i) provisions; juvenile, pardon, trafficking-vacatur, nonconviction, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief follow separate rules. |
| District of Columbia verified 2026-07-20 | Under the Second Chance Amendment Act (Ch. 8), sealing is the main remedy for a conviction: it removes records from public view while keeping restricted nonpublic access for courts, prosecutors, and other listed entities (§§ 16-806, 16-807). Expungement removes records more fully but reaches only decriminalized, legalized, or unconstitutional offenses and pre-2015 simple marijuana possession, or non-conviction records on actual-innocence grounds (§§ 16-802, 16-803). A person granted sealing cannot be treated as lying for not disclosing the record (§ 16-807(b)). |
Yes, phasing in. The Superior Court must automatically expunge decriminalized, legalized, or unconstitutional offenses and pre-Feb. 15, 2015 simple marijuana possession (§ 16-802), and automatically seal non-conviction records and misdemeanor convictions at least 10 years past sentence completion (§ 16-805), unless the prosecutor objects. The relief applies retroactively (§ 16-808) but is on a rollout the Court must complete by October 1, 2027, so a person should verify their record was actually cleared. |
By motion under § 16-806, a person may seek sealing of a conviction after the waiting period: any misdemeanor, and any felony except those in Offense Severity Groups 1–3 of the D.C. Sentencing Commission Master Grid (the most serious felonies). Expungement by motion (§ 16-803) is limited to non-conviction arrests or charges on actual-innocence grounds, so an ordinary conviction is sealed, not expunged. |
For sealing a conviction by motion, the only categorical bar is a felony in Master Grid Severity Groups 1–3 (§ 16-806(a)(3)(A)(ii)). Automatic sealing carries a longer exclusion list (§ 16-805(b))—intrafamily offenses, vulnerable-adult abuse or financial exploitation, incest, misdemeanor sexual abuse, sex-registration offenses, dangerous crimes and crimes of violence (§ 23-1331), and DUI or impaired driving—but most of those convictions may still be sealed by motion under the interests-of-justice standard. |
Sealing by motion: five years since completion of the sentence for a misdemeanor conviction and eight years for an eligible felony (§ 16-806(a)(3)(A)); the prosecutor may waive the waiting period in writing (§ 16-806(e)). Automatic sealing of a misdemeanor conviction: 10 years since completion of the sentence (§ 16-805(a)(2)). 'Completion of the sentence' is the latest unconditional discharge from incarceration, probation, parole, or supervised release (§ 16-801(2)). |
The clock runs from completion of the sentence—the latest unconditional discharge from custody or supervision—and § 16-801(2) expressly says nonpayment of fines, restitution, or other monetary assessments does not prevent completion, so an unpaid balance does not block relief. There is no fixed no-new-arrest bar, but the motion must list all of the movant's unsealed and unexpunged records, and the person's full and subsequent conduct is weighed under the interests-of-justice test (§ 16-806(b), (c)). |
The person files a written motion in the Superior Court showing, by a preponderance, that sealing is in the interests of justice, and serves the prosecutor, who need not respond unless ordered (§ 16-806(a), (d)). The court weighs the movant's interest, the community's interest in rehabilitation and reintegration, and the community's interest in retained access, may hold a hearing, and must rule in writing within 180 days (§ 16-806(b), (i)). A denied motion may be renewed after one year, up to a third and final motion (§ 16-806(i)(6)). |
Sealing removes records from public view but keeps them in a nonpublic, restricted file: § 16-801(5) defines 'public' to exclude courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, licensing agencies (for disqualifying offenses), schools and child-care facilities, and senior or judicial government employers, so those entities still see sealed records. Section 16-807(d) lets criminal-justice agencies use them for enumerated purposes, including later charging, sentencing, and firearm-possession checks. To the general public the clerk answers that no records are available, and the person may deny the record without penalty (§ 16-807(a)–(c)). |
Expungement in D.C. is narrow—automatic for decriminalized, legalized, or unconstitutional offenses and pre-2015 marijuana possession (§ 16-802), or by motion only on actual-innocence grounds for non-conviction records (§ 16-803)—so an ordinary conviction is sealed, not erased. Arrests and charges that did not lead to conviction are separately handled under §§ 16-805 and 16-806(a)(1)–(2). Juvenile records and out-of-jurisdiction convictions follow other law. |
| Florida verified 2026-07-19 | No general conviction relief; trafficking-victim expunction vacates a qualifying conviction (Fla. Stat. § 943.0583(3)) |
None for adult convictions; automatic sealing covers specified nonconviction dispositions (§ 943.0595(2)) |
Only offenses tied to the petitioner's trafficking victimization, committed as part of or at the direction of the scheme; disposition does not control (§ 943.0583(3)) |
Ordinary sealing/expunction bars adjudications of guilt; trafficking relief excludes offenses listed in § 775.084(1)(b)1 (§§ 943.0583(3), 943.0585(1), 943.059(1)) |
No fixed year-based wait; petition with due diligence after trafficking ends or victim services are sought (§ 943.0583(4)) |
No express sentence-completion, restitution, or later-record condition in the trafficking statute; trafficking connection and proof rules control (§ 943.0583(3), (5)) |
Eligible circuit court; no filing fee; serve prosecutor and arresting agency; discretionary relief; statutory proof standards (§ 943.0583(2), (3), (5), (7)) |
Agencies destroy or obliterate records except FDLE retains a confidential copy; criminal-justice, firearms-eligibility, and court-order access remain (§ 943.0583(8), (10)) |
Standard sealing, expunction, and automatic sealing principally cover nonconvictions or withheld adjudication—not adjudicated adult convictions (§§ 943.0585, 943.059, 943.0595) |
| Georgia verified 2026-07-19 | Record restriction limits dissemination; a separate clerk-record petition can make court records unavailable to the public, but neither remedy destroys the conviction or reverses it (§ 35-3-37(a)(6), (m), (o)) |
No general automatic conviction clearing; automatic restriction/sealing at First Offender sentencing and discharge applies to deferred adjudication rather than an ordinary conviction (Act 403; §§ 42-8-60, 42-8-62.1–62.2) |
A Georgia misdemeanor or single-incident misdemeanor series may qualify; lifetime maximum is two convictions/incidents, with consolidated counts treated as one; separately, a qualifying pardoned conviction may be petitioned (§ 35-3-37(j)(4), (7)) |
Listed family-violence, child/sexual, prostitution, emergency-call obstruction, peeping-Tom, most theft, minors-related, and serious-traffic misdemeanors are excluded; a pending charge, insufficient four-year conviction-free record, incomplete sentence, or exhausted two-incident cap also bars the general route (§ 35-3-37(j)(4)) |
No fixed post-sentence wait: the sentence must be complete and the person must have no conviction in any jurisdiction during the four years immediately before filing, excluding nonserious traffic convictions; a denied same-record petition may be refiled after two years (§ 35-3-37(j)(4)(A), (C)) |
Complete all sentence terms, have no pending charged offense, and satisfy the four-year conviction-free condition; § 35-3-37(j)(4) states no separate restitution rule beyond sentence completion (§ 35-3-37(j)(4)(A)) |
Petition the court of conviction and serve the prosecutor; a requested hearing occurs within 90 days; the court shall grant restriction if privacy harm clearly outweighs public access interest; clerk sealing then requires a separate preponderance finding (§ 35-3-37(j)(4), (m)) |
Ordinary public/private/government/licensing dissemination is blocked, but judicial and criminal-justice access, criminal proceedings, court orders, civil-case orders, federal disclosures, specified employment consequences, and the person's access remain (§ 35-3-37(a)(6), (t)–(v)) |
First Offender treatment, conditional discharge, nonconvictions, pardons, trafficking-victim relief, juvenile matters, and federal records are separate; First Offender discharge is no adjudication/no conviction and, from July 1, 2026, carries automatic restriction/sealing (§§ 42-8-60, 42-8-62.1–62.2) |
| Hawaii verified 2026-07-20 | Targeted conviction expungement under §§ 706-622.5, 706-622.8, and 706-622.9; targeted prostitution-conviction vacatur under § 712-1209.6. The expungement sections order the conviction record expunged; the prostitution section vacates the conviction but does not itself order sealing or expungement. |
No general automatic adult-conviction relief. Each route requires a written application or motion to the court (§§ 706-622.5(4)–(5), 706-622.8, 706-622.9(3)–(4), 712-1209.6). |
Specified first- or second-time nonmanufacture/nondistribution drug-possession or use cases sentenced to treatment probation, with conviction expungement limited to a person not previously sentenced under § 706-622.5; first-time class C felony property offenses tied to substance-abuse treatment; possession of ≤3 grams marijuana with no other charge from the facts; and listed prostitution-related convictions (§§ 706-622.5, 706-622.8, 706-622.9, 712-1209.6). |
No broad relief outside the closed routes. Drug-treatment eligibility excludes distribution/manufacture and listed methamphetamine offenses and requires a nonviolent finding and treatment need. Property relief requires a first-time class C felony property offense, treatment-related findings, and no disqualifying prior sentence/felony. Marijuana relief fails if the same facts produced another criminal charge (§§ 706-622.5(1), (5), 706-622.9(1), (3)–(4)). |
No numeric post-sentence wait for treatment-based drug/property expungement: apply after successful treatment and compliance with probation terms. Three-gram marijuana route states no wait. Prostitution vacatur requires 3 years from the original conviction with no later Hawaii Penal Code conviction. Historical pre-2004 drug and pre-June 22, 2006 property routes have their own completion findings (§§ 706-622.5(4)–(5), 706-622.8, 706-622.9(3)–(4), 712-1209.6). |
Drug/property treatment routes require successful treatment and compliance with other probation or sentence terms; the property route requires no prior felony, with the historical route requiring none before or after. Prostitution vacatur requires no Hawaii Penal Code conviction during the 3-year period. The marijuana route requires that the same facts led to no other criminal charge (§§ 706-622.5(4)–(5), 706-622.9(3)–(4), 712-1209.6). |
Written application or motion to the sentencing court. The drug/property statutes say the court shall issue the order when the stated conditions are met; the marijuana subsection says shall grant. Prostitution vacatur requires a hearing and shall be granted if the 3-year record test is met. These sections state no general prosecutor/victim notice, filing-fee, or objection procedure (§§ 706-622.5(4)–(5), 706-622.8, 706-622.9(3)–(4), 712-1209.6(2)). |
The targeted conviction sections order expungement of the conviction record but do not define retained agency access, later use, or a general right to deny the conviction. Section 712-1209.6 only vacates the prostitution-related conviction. Section 831-3.2's confidential-file and no-arrest-response rules govern qualifying arrest-record expungement, not these conviction orders by their text. |
Hawaii's general § 831-3.2 process annuls arrest records for persons not convicted of a crime, now including a crime charge ending in a noncrime violation under 2026 Act 152; it is not a general conviction-expungement route. Deferred-acceptance, juvenile, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief are outside scope. |
| Idaho verified 2026-07-20 | Shielding from disclosure. Court, investigatory, and fingerprint records become unavailable for public viewing; proceedings are ordinarily deemed never to have occurred, but the conviction is not destroyed and retained-access rules apply (§ 67-3004(11)(d), (f), (j)). |
No general automatic adult-conviction relief. The person must petition in the underlying criminal case, and only one lifetime petition may be granted (§ 67-3004(11)(a), (e), (k)). |
Any misdemeanor except the thirteen listed assaultive or violent misdemeanors, plus felony controlled-substance possession under § 37-2732(a), (c), or (e). One eligible crime, or multiple eligible crimes from one incident or transaction, may be shielded (§ 67-3004(11)(a)–(b), (k)). |
All other felonies; assault, battery, domestic battery/assault, second-degree stalking, protection/no-contact-order violation, telephone harassment, vehicular manslaughter, excessive DUI, battery on law enforcement, injury to children, sexual battery, and indecent exposure. Pending misdemeanor/felony cases, a current restraining order, or later conviction/supervision conditions also bar filing (§ 67-3004(11)(b)–(c)). |
Five years after completing the entire sentence, including all ordered probation, parole, fines, and restitution (§ 67-3004(11)(c)). |
Complete probation, parole, fines, and restitution; throughout the five years and through the hearing, have no later felony or misdemeanor conviction and no pending misdemeanor or felony case; at filing, have no restraining order and not be on probation or parole for a later conviction (§ 67-3004(11)(c)). |
File in the underlying criminal case. The court sets a hearing and notifies the prosecutor, who gives required notice to identifiable victims; relevant testimony is discretionary. If eligible, the court must also find accountability and no compromise to public or victim safety, then shall shield the records (§ 67-3004(11)(a), (d)–(e)). |
Records leave public view, and the person may ordinarily answer that the proceeding never occurred. The person, law enforcement, courts, POST-certified officers, and prosecutors retain specified access/use; firearm statutes remain unaffected; later felony shielding revocation is mandatory on request and misdemeanor revocation discretionary (§ 67-3004(11)(d), (f)–(j)). |
Section 19-2604 separately allows qualifying suspended-sentence, withheld-judgment, treatment-court, and limited sentence cases to seek plea/conviction set-aside and dismissal, but that is not public-record shielding. Section 67-3014 provides vacatur and true expungement only for qualifying trafficking-induced convictions. Nonconviction and juvenile relief are outside scope. |
| Illinois verified 2026-07-19 | General conviction relief is sealing: records remain maintained but become unavailable without authorized access; expungement physically destroys/returns agency records or removes the name, while the court file may remain impounded (20 ILCS 2630/5.2(a)(1)) |
Staged: Class C/municipal records and eligible Class 4 prostitution records by 2028; broader appropriations-dependent automatic sealing begins Jan. 1, 2029 with historical backfill through 2034 (§ 5.2(j)–(l)) |
Eligible probation/conditional-discharge convictions, other misdemeanors, and other felonies may be sealed unless excluded; narrow special statutes permit conviction expungement or vacatur-plus-expungement (§ 5.2(b), (c), (e)–(j)) |
Petition exclusions include DUI, most reckless driving, sex/domestic-battery/protection-order offenses, serious animal offenses, and registrable sex offenses; automatic sealing adds homicide, Class X, violence, robbery, trafficking, specified burglary, and pending/sentence bars (§ 5.2(a)(3), (k)(3)) |
Petition: 2 years after the last sentence for probation/conditional-discharge and misdemeanor records, 3 years for other felonies; qualifying in-sentence education can eliminate the felony wait. Automatic: generally 2 years for misdemeanors and 3 for felonies (§ 5.2(a)(1)(F), (c)(3), (k)(5)) |
Probation/conditional discharge must end without revocation; automatic relief waits until no Illinois sentence/supervision/qualified probation or pending charge. Unpaid ordinary legal obligations cannot justify petition denial, but unpaid victim restitution is outside that protection (§ 5.2(c)(2)(D), (d)(6)(C), (k)(3)) |
File a verified petition in each circuit where the arrest/charge occurred; clerk serves prosecutor, ISP, arresting agency, and municipal counsel when applicable; objections are due in 60 days and an objection triggers an evidence hearing (§ 5.2(d)) |
Unauthorized inquiries receive a no-record response, but courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, IDOC, and uses required or authorized by federal or state law retain access; sealed records are FOIA-exempt (20 ILCS 2630/5.2(k), 13) |
Juvenile, nonconviction, cannabis-only, pardon, factual-innocence, trafficking-victim, and immigration-vacatur routes are outside the general comparison; Illinois's ordinary adjudicated-conviction remedy is sealing, not destruction |
| Indiana verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement; §§ 2–3 seal records from public access, while §§ 4–5 leave public records visible but clearly marked expunged (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-6, -7) |
No general automatic adult-conviction route; verified petition required. Automatic court orders in § 1 concern dismissed, acquitted, or vacated matters, not completed convictions (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-1, -8) |
Misdemeanors and reduced Level 6/Class D; eligible Level 6/former Class D; other eligible felonies; specified serious felonies only with prosecutor consent (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-2 to -5) |
Track-specific exclusions include sex/violent-offender status, homicide/attempted murder, trafficking, sex offenses, death, repeated weapon felonies, serious-violent-felon firearm possession, and specified public-official misconduct (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-2(b) to -5(b)) |
5 years from conviction (§ 2); 8 years from conviction (§ 3); later of 8 years from conviction or 3 years from sentence completion (§ 4); later of 10 years or 5 years (§ 5); prosecutor may consent to earlier filing |
No pending charges; pay fines, fees, costs, and sentence restitution; no felony/misdemeanor conviction during the applicable lookback (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-2(e) to -5(e)) |
Verified county-of-conviction petition; civil filing fee subject to indigency relief; serve prosecutor, 30-day response; hearing if objected; petitioner proves facts by preponderance; one coordinated lifetime filing window (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-8, -9) |
Lower-level records sealed with statutory government, school, licensing, federal-sharing, and later-case access; higher-felony records remain public marked expunged; later sentencing use survives (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-6, -7, -10) |
Separate automatic and petition routes cover non-conviction and vacated records; expungement does not erase sex-offender duties, domestic-violence firearm disability, CDL reporting, or every internal record (Ind. Code §§ 35-38-9-0.6, -1, -6) |
| Iowa verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement; general § 901C.3 record becomes confidential and DPS removes conviction; special routes also order court-record expungement and DPS removal |
None for adult convictions; every current conviction route requires an application or petition |
Eligible misdemeanors under § 901C.3; § 123.46 public intoxication; § 123.47(3) underage alcohol; narrow § 725.1(1)(c) prostitution route |
No general felonies; § 901C.3(2) also excludes listed alcohol, §§ 321.218/321A.32/321J.21/321J.2, sex, manslaughter, assault, harassment, stalking, and other offenses |
>8 years from conviction under § 901C.3; 2 years from conviction under §§ 123.46(6), 123.47(9), and 725.1(1)(c) |
General route: no pending charges, fewer than 2 prior deferred judgments, all financial obligations paid; 2-year routes require no other convictions except specified traffic matters |
Apply in county of conviction under § 901C.3; mandatory as a matter of law if proven; one lifetime grant, with same-occurrence misdemeanors allowed in one application |
General record confidential and available from clerk only by court order; DPS removes conviction from its criminal-history data files (§ 901C.3(4)-(5)) |
Deferred-judgment discharge and non-conviction expungement are separate; current trafficking law supplies an affirmative defense, not post-conviction clearing |
| Kansas verified 2026-07-20 | Expungement. The person is ordinarily treated as not having been arrested, convicted, or diverted, and the custodian generally may not disclose the record; later-case use and listed disclosure/access exceptions remain (§ 21-6614(i), (k)–(m)). |
No general automatic adult-conviction relief. The person petitions the convicting court; specialty-court graduates also petition rather than receiving automatic expungement (§ 21-6614(a)). |
Generally: traffic, tobacco, and cigarette infractions; misdemeanors; former class D/E felonies; current nongrid and nondrug levels 6–10; and specified lower drug-grid levels after 3 years. Higher felony classes and grid levels may qualify after 5 years, subject to absolute exclusions (§ 21-6614(a), (c)). |
No relief for the listed homicide, sex, child-endangerment/abuse, aggravated-incest, commercial-DUI, and comparable pre-2011 convictions or attempts. No part of the record may be expunged while Kansas offender registration is required (§ 21-6614(e)–(f)). |
Usually 3 years; higher-level felonies and listed driving offenses 5 years; first DUI 5 years; second/subsequent DUI 10 years; coerced-prostitution route 1 year. The clock runs from sentence satisfaction or discharge from listed supervision (§ 21-6614(a)–(d)). |
The applicable sentence must be satisfied or listed supervision discharged before the clock runs. For ordinary petitions, no felony conviction in the prior 2 years and no felony proceeding presently pending or being instituted; the statute states no separate restitution-payment condition (§ 21-6614(a), (c)–(d), (h)). |
File in the convicting court in the original criminal action; the court sets a hearing and notifies the prosecutor and arresting agency. Base docket fee: $176, with a specialty-court waiver power. The court shall grant relief if the statutory record, conduct, public-welfare, and felony-firearm-safety findings are met (§ 21-6614(g)–(h)). |
The record becomes nonpublic, but it may be used for later sentencing and element-based prosecutions and disclosed for enumerated court, prosecutor, law-enforcement, licensing, care-institution, gaming, securities, attorney, and repository purposes. Fraudulent-insurance records must be disclosed on insurance-producer/public-adjuster applications. Kansas deems firearm rights restored and directs KBI to seek NICS withdrawal (§ 21-6614(i)–(m)). |
This row covers adult Kansas-law convictions under § 21-6614. City-ordinance convictions have a parallel petition route under § 12-4516. Juvenile, nonconviction, diversion-only, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state remedies are outside this survey. |
| Kentucky verified 2026-07-19 | Felonies are vacated, dismissed with prejudice, and expunged; misdemeanors are expunged and deemed never to have occurred; official state checks return no record (KRS 431.073(5)-(8), 431.078(6)) |
No general automatic conviction relief currently; eligible people apply or petition in the original court (KRS 431.073(1), 431.078(1)) |
Misdemeanors, violations, and traffic infractions; enumerated and otherwise qualifying Class D felonies, multiple eligible felonies, and fully pardoned convictions (KRS 431.073(1), 431.078(1)) |
Misdemeanor sex/child offenses and unexpired repeat-enhancement offenses; broad Class D route excludes DUI and specified offenses, public-office abuse, sex/child offenses, and serious-injury/death cases (KRS 431.073(1)(d), 431.078(4)-(5)) |
Five years after sentence completion or successful probation/parole completion, whichever is later; specified drug-treatment exceptions may differ (KRS 431.073(2)(a), 431.078(2)) |
No felony or misdemeanor conviction during the 5 years before filing and no pending or being-instituted felony/misdemeanor proceeding; broad Class D route also requires rehabilitation/no significant recidivism threat (KRS 431.073(5), 431.078(4)-(5)) |
Eligibility certificate required; felony response in 60 days and hearing by 120 days, with clear-and-convincing test for opposed broad Class D relief; misdemeanor hearing at least 30 days after filing (KRS 431.073(2)-(6), 431.078(3)-(5), 431.079) |
No record on official state checks and no ordinary application disclosure; prosecutors may retain a nonpublic felony record and AOC keeps a restricted expungement index (KRS 431.073(4)(c), (7), 431.074, 431.078(6), (9)) |
Non-conviction expungement under KRS 431.076 is outside scope; enacted 2026 Act ch. 126 adds one new Class D felony to KRS 431.073 effective April 30, 2027 |
| Louisiana verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement removes the record from public access but does not destroy it; the record becomes confidential (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 972(2), 973) |
No currently effective general automation; Article 985.2 awaits legislative funding, while a court may order immediate relief after a qualifying program (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 985.2, 985.3) |
Eligible misdemeanors after Article 894(B) dismissal or 5 years; eligible felonies after Article 893(E) dismissal, 10 years, or qualifying first-offender pardon; six listed violent felonies have a 10-year route (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 977-978) |
Misdemeanor sex-related cases, domestic abuse battery, and stalking; most violent, sex/minor-victim, and drug felonies and felony domestic abuse battery; hard-labor custody bars filing (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 975, 977(C), 978(B)) |
No added wait stated after qualifying set-aside/dismissal; otherwise over 5 years from misdemeanor completion, over 10 years from felony completion, or 90 days from first marijuana conviction (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 977(A), (D), 978(A)) |
Ordinary clocks start after sentence, deferred adjudication, probation, or parole completion; misdemeanor route bars intervening felonies/pending felony charge, felony route bars any intervening conviction/pending charge (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 977(A)(2), 978(A)(2)) |
Mandatory statutory forms; clerk serves prosecutor, state bureau, and arresting agency; 60-day objection period, objector bears preponderance burden; usually up to $550 (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 979-980, 983, 986) |
Confidential but accessible for criminal justice, courts for good cause, specified licensing/background entities, later-case use, investigations, and news organizations (La. C.Cr.P. art. 973) |
Separate non-conviction, interim felony-arrest, trafficking-victim, and age-17 expedited routes are outside or specialized; first-marijuana fee cap ends August 1, 2026 |
| Maine verified 2026-07-20 | Court-ordered sealing makes the conviction confidential from ordinary public dissemination, not destroyed. The person may ordinarily omit it outside authorized or criminal-justice inquiries; general-route sealing is lost after a new conviction (§§ 2264–2266). |
No general automatic conviction relief. The person files a written motion in the underlying criminal proceeding; the July 29, 2026 trafficking and sexual-exploitation expansion will also require a motion (§§ 2263–2264; P.L. 2025, ch. 513). |
Current law: current or former Class E crimes except Title 17-A, chapter 11 sexual assaults; specified pre-Jan. 30, 2017 Class D marijuana cultivation/possession convictions; and former § 853-A engaging-in-prostitution convictions under a special route. July 29, 2026: any crime may qualify if substantially resulting from the person's sex trafficking or sexual exploitation (§§ 2261–2262-A; P.L. 2025, ch. 513). |
General route excludes Chapter 11 sexual-assault convictions and all Class A–D crimes except the listed historical Class D marijuana offenses. A later Maine conviction or deferred-disposition dismissal, an out-of-state conviction, or a pending charge bars the general order; the prostitution route bars listed exploitation/prostitution convictions (§§ 2261–2262-A). |
General route: 4 years after fully satisfying every sentencing alternative. Former § 853-A engaging-in-prostitution route: 1 year after full sentence satisfaction. Beginning July 29, 2026, the trafficking or sexual-exploitation route may be filed any time after conviction (§§ 2262–2262-A; P.L. 2025, ch. 513). |
Fully satisfy each sentencing alternative before the 4-year general clock or 1-year prostitution clock begins. General relief requires no later Maine conviction or deferred-disposition dismissal, no later out-of-state conviction, and no pending charge; a new conviction after sealing requires unsealing. Beginning July 29, the prostitution and trafficking routes are exempt from that later-conviction unsealing rule (§§ 2262, 2262-A, 2264(7); P.L. 2025, ch. 513). |
File a written motion addressing each prerequisite in the underlying case. The clerk sets a hearing; counsel is allowed but not state-funded. The person proves every prerequisite by a preponderance, and the court then must seal. Beginning July 29, trafficking-route participants may appear remotely and the court may grant without hearing if the State consents (§§ 2263–2264; P.L. 2025, ch. 513). |
The record becomes confidential from ordinary public release, but remains available to the person, criminal-justice agencies, motor-vehicle authorities, victims, financial regulators, licensing agencies, legally required financial-institution checks, and fingerprint-check entities. The person may ordinarily omit it except to criminal-justice agencies or under oath in a later prosecution (§§ 2265–2266). |
Covers Chapter 310-A adult conviction sealing. Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief are outside scope. The separate trafficking post-conviction-review proposal, LD 1805, died April 29, 2026; the enacted July 29 sealing route changes record access, not the underlying conviction. |
| Maryland verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement removes information from public inspection by obliteration, secure separation, or removal of the record that provides access; it does not promise destruction in every case (§ 10-101(e)–(f)). |
No general automatic relief for adult convictions in this survey. Section 10-110 requires a petition; cannabis-only repository expungement under § 10-112 is outside scope (§§ 10-110(a)–(b), 10-112). |
A closed statutory list of misdemeanors, limited theft, controlled-substance possession-with-intent, and specified burglary felonies, plus attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation of a listed offense (§ 10-110(a)). |
Convictions outside § 10-110(a)'s list are excluded. An ineligible charge or conviction in the same unit blocks the unit; a pending criminal proceeding also bars relief, and a new crime during the clock blocks relief unless the new conviction becomes eligible (§§ 10-107, 10-110(d)). |
From completion of sentence: 5 years generally; 7 years for second-degree assault, common-law battery, or most eligible felonies; 15 years for a domestically related crime; 3 years for cannabis possession with intent; 10 years for specified burglary or felony theft (§§ 10-101(c), 10-110(c)). |
Completion includes expiration of probation, parole, and mandatory supervision. At a contested hearing, restitution must be paid or the person must lack ability to pay; no pending criminal case, and no disqualifying new crime during the waiting period (§§ 10-101(c), 10-110(d), (f)). |
File in the originating, transferee, or appellate court as applicable. State's Attorney and victims receive notice and have 30 days to object; no objection requires an order. After objection, the court must grant if eligibility, public safety, restitution, and interests-of-justice findings are made (§ 10-110(b), (e)–(i)). |
The record leaves public inspection. Opening, review, or disclosure requires a court order after notice and good cause, or an ex parte order for an urgent pending investigation; employers, schools, and state or local licensing/service authorities may not require expunged-charge information (§§ 10-101(f), 10-108, 10-109). |
This page covers conviction expungement under § 10-110. Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, cannabis-only mass relief, innocence, federal, tribal, military, out-of-state, and the narrower shielding remedy are outside this survey. |
| Massachusetts verified 2026-07-19 | Sealing by the Commissioner of Probation; court and probation files for the same proceeding are also sealed. It is not destruction, and authorized retained uses remain (ch. 276, § 100A). |
Not automatic under current law: the person submits the commissioner's sworn form. The commissioner shall comply when every statutory condition is met (ch. 276, § 100A). |
All Massachusetts offenses may be sealed after the applicable clock unless the conviction falls within the firearm/public-justice exclusions or special sex-offense restrictions; decriminalized offenses may qualify immediately (ch. 276, § 100A). |
Excluded: ch. 140 §§ 121–131H firearm-law convictions and chs. 268/268A public-justice/public-official convictions, except resisting arrest. Sex offenses require 15 years and no registration duty; a person ever classified level 2 or 3 cannot seal a sex offense (ch. 276, § 100A). |
Misdemeanor: 3 years; felony: 7 years, including any incarceration or custody period tied to the record. Sex offense: 15 years after disposition including termination of supervision, probation, or incarceration, or until registration ends, whichever is longer. Decriminalized offense: forthwith (ch. 276, § 100A). |
§ 100A states no separate restitution, fine, or fee payment gate. It requires no new Massachusetts guilty finding during the 3- or 7-year period and a sworn statement of no disqualifying out-of-state/federal conviction or imprisonment during that period; specified low-fine motor-vehicle offenses are excepted. |
Submit the Commissioner of Probation's form under penalty of perjury. This is mandatory administrative relief—commissioner shall comply if the five conditions and offense restrictions are satisfied—then promptly notify the court clerk and probation officer to seal their matching files (ch. 276, § 100A). |
Authorized non-law-enforcement requesters receive 'no record,' and the person may answer 'no record' on employment, housing, and licensing applications. Criminal-justice agencies and firearms licensing authorities may obtain sealed records; later sentencing and specified custody/visitation/abuse proceedings retain limited use (ch. 6, § 172(a)(1); ch. 276, § 100A). |
This page covers general adult conviction sealing under ch. 276, § 100A. Juvenile, nonconviction, expungement, pardon, innocence, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state relief are outside this survey. |
| Michigan verified 2026-07-19 | A conviction is 'set aside'; the person is generally considered not previously convicted, but fines are not refunded, restitution remains enforceable, registration/later-case exceptions apply, and MSP retains a nonpublic record (MCL 780.622–780.623) |
Operational since April 11, 2023: unlimited eligible ≤92-day misdemeanors after 7 years; up to 4 eligible ≥93-day misdemeanors after 7 years; up to 2 eligible felonies after 10 years, with database, no-pending-charge, no-new-conviction, count, and offense limits (MCL 780.621g) |
A person with no more than 3 counted Michigan felonies may seek all eligible Michigan convictions; lifetime maximum 2 assaultive convictions and only 1 same-offense felony punishable by >10 years; same-transaction offenses within 24 hours can count as one, with exceptions (MCL 780.621, 780.621b) |
Life-maximum felonies/attempts, listed child-abuse/sexual offenses, most OWI and specified traffic cases, repeat domestic-violence felony, trafficking, and terrorism are petition-ineligible; automatic relief adds assaultive, serious-misdemeanor, dishonesty, ≥10-year, vulnerable-victim/injury/death, and other bars (MCL 780.621c, 780.621g(7), (10)) |
Petition: 7 years for >1 felony; 5 years for 1 felony, serious misdemeanor(s), or first OWI; 3 years for other nonserious/nonassaultive misdemeanors, measured from the latest sentence/probation/parole/incarceration event stated for the tier. Automatic: 7 years from misdemeanor sentence; felony 10 years from later of sentence or MDOC imprisonment completion (MCL 780.621d, 780.621g) |
Petition requires no pending charge and no conviction during the applicable wait; automatic ≥93-day misdemeanor/felony relief uses the same database conditions; restitution survives any set-aside, and an automatic set-aside can be reinstated for no good-faith payment effort (MCL 780.621d(4), 780.621g(6), 780.621h(3), 780.622(7)) |
Apply in the convicting court; sworn application plus certified convictions, MSP/FBI fingerprints and $50 MSP fee; serve AG and each prosecutor; victim notice for assaultive/serious misdemeanors; hearing/proofs; court may grant if conduct and circumstances warrant relief and it is consistent with public welfare (MCL 780.621d(7)–(14)) |
The public record becomes nonpublic, but courts, judicial licensing, corrections, law enforcement, prosecutors, AG, and governor retain enumerated access for later applications, sentencing, pardons, law-enforcement/corrections employment, registration, charging, pleas, and sentencing; later repeat-offense use remains (MCL 780.622(9), 780.623) |
First-violation OWI is petition-only and stays on the Secretary of State driving record; misdemeanor marijuana and trafficking-victim routes are separate; juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, federal, tribal, and out-of-state records follow different rules (MCL 780.621c(3)–(5), 780.621e–f) |
| Minnesota verified 2026-07-30 | Expungement seals the criminal record and its existence from ordinary disclosure; records are not destroyed or returned. The conviction remains usable in later prosecution, and a crime-of-violence order preserves a firearms restriction (§§ 609A.015, subd. 5(i); 609A.03, subds. 5(d), 5a). |
BCA identifies qualifying records within 30 days after the waiting period, rechecks annually if initially ineligible, and grants relief without application, petition, or motion; BCA seals 60 days after judicial notice absent contrary information or order (§ 609A.015, subd. 5). |
Petition route covers petty misdemeanors, misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, specified reduced felonies, and a closed list of felony offenses. It can cover convictions excluded from the narrower automatic lists (§ 609A.02, subd. 3). |
Automatic relief excludes the statute's listed misdemeanor, gross-misdemeanor, and felony exceptions; requires no new Minnesota offense other than a petty misdemeanor during the clock and no pending non-petty charge at review. Petition felony relief is limited to § 609A.02's enumerated list (§§ 609A.015, subd. 3; 609A.02, subd. 3). |
From discharge of sentence: automatic—2 years petty/misdemeanor, 3 gross misdemeanor, 4 fifth-degree controlled-substance felony, 5 other qualifying felony. Petition—2 years petty/misdemeanor, 3 gross misdemeanor, and generally 4 years for listed felonies, with a 5-year reduced-felony category (§§ 609A.015, subd. 3(c); 609A.02, subd. 3(a)). |
The clock starts at discharge of sentence. Automatic relief requires no disqualifying new Minnesota offense and no pending non-petty charge at review. Petition relief requires the stated conviction-free period; outstanding restitution is a decision factor, not an express absolute bar (§§ 609A.015, subd. 3; 609A.02, subd. 3; 609A.03, subd. 5(c)(11)). |
Signed sworn petition, filing fee or indigency waiver, service on prosecutor and affected agencies, victim notice, and hearing at least 60 days after service. Conviction petitioner must prove by clear and convincing evidence that benefit is commensurate with public and public-safety disadvantages (§ 609A.03, subds. 1–5). |
Justice agencies may open, use, or exchange records for investigation, prosecution, sentencing, probation, and corrections; criminal-justice hiring, human-services and educator checks, victims in related matters, prosecutors, and the person retain specified access. Automatic orders omit specified health and human-services records (§§ 609A.015, subds. 1–5; 609A.03, subd. 7a). |
This page covers general adult conviction expungement under chapter 609A. Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, cannabis-specific, innocence, federal, tribal, military, out-of-state, and victim-specific restoration routes are outside this survey. |
| Mississippi verified 2026-07-19 | Expunction from all public records. The person is restored, in contemplation of law, to the pre-arrest status and may ordinarily omit the arrest, indictment, or conviction without making a false statement. MCIC and the district attorney retain limited nonpublic records (§ 99-19-71(3)–(5)). |
No general automatic conviction expunction. The misdemeanor and felony provisions each require a petition to the court of conviction (§ 99-19-71(1), (2)(a)). |
A first offender's nontraffic misdemeanor; and one felony conviction 5 years after successful sentence completion and payment of criminal fines and court costs, unless excluded. Convictions arising from a common nucleus of operative facts may count as the one felony in the court's discretion (§ 99-19-71(1), (2)(a)). |
Felony exclusions: a § 97-3-2 crime of violence; first-degree arson; controlled-substance trafficking; 3rd/4th/subsequent DUI; felon in possession; sex-offender-registration failure; voyeurism; witness intimidation; vulnerable-person abuse/neglect/exploitation; and specified embezzlement. A public official cannot expunge a conviction related to official duties (§ 99-19-71(2)(a), (5)). |
Misdemeanor: no numeric period stated in § 99-19-71(1). Felony: 5 years after successful completion of all terms and conditions of the sentence (§ 99-19-71(2)(a)). |
Felony petitioner must successfully complete all sentence terms and pay all criminal fines and court costs. The misdemeanor route requires first-offender status. Section 99-19-71 states no separate pending-charge or conviction-free-period gate; rehabilitation remains required (§ 99-19-71(1), (2)(a), (2)(b)). |
Petition the justice, county, circuit, or municipal court of conviction; pay the $150 statutory filing fee; give the district attorney 10 days' written notice before a hearing. The court may grant only after determining on the record or in writing that the applicant is rehabilitated; a denial must state specific findings (§§ 99-19-71(2)(b), 99-19-72). |
MCIC retains a nonpublic record solely to decide first-offender status later; the district attorney may keep a nonpublic law-enforcement record. An employer may ask whether an expunction order was entered, and a prospective juror must disclose the prior conviction and expunction to the court in camera upon request (§ 99-19-71(3)–(5)). |
Covers general adult state-conviction expunction under § 99-19-71. Juvenile, nonconviction, diversion, pardon, human-trafficking-victim, drug-specific, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state routes are outside this survey. |
| Missouri verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement closes and makes records confidential; they are not destroyed. The order generally restores civil rights and treats the event as not having occurred, subject to retained uses and disclosures (§§ 610.120, 610.140(8)–(10)). |
No general automatic process. The person files a petition in a Missouri court; the 2026 clean-slate bills did not pass (§ 610.140(2), (4)–(8)). |
One or more Missouri crimes may be included if each is eligible; same-course crimes count only at the highest level. Lifetime cap: 3 misdemeanors/ordinance violations carrying imprisonment and 2 felonies; infractions unlimited (§ 610.140(2), (13)). |
Major exclusions include Class A and dangerous felonies, registration offenses, death-element felonies, felony assault, domestic assault, felony kidnapping, chapter 566 and many enumerated sex/abuse/public-trust/firearm offenses, intoxication traffic/boating offenses, and commercial-driver motor-vehicle violations (§ 610.140(3)). |
Felony: 3 years; misdemeanor, municipal violation, or infraction: 1 year, measured from completion of every authorized disposition for the target crime. The same period must be free of another misdemeanor or felony, apart from listed traffic chapters (§ 610.140(6)(1)–(2)). |
All disposition obligations, including fines and restitution, must be satisfied; no charges may be pending; the applicable period must be free of a new disqualifying conviction; habits and conduct must show no public-safety threat (§ 610.140(6)). |
File in a court where charged or found guilty and name all known record-holding entities. Prosecutor has 30 days to object; hearing within 60 days after objection. Pleading public-safety/welfare factors creates a rebuttable presumption after objective conditions are met; court shall grant if all criteria are satisfied and decide within 6 months (§ 610.140(2), (4)–(8)). |
Records leave public view but remain available to criminal justice, fingerprint and care-screening, licensing, driver, federal, and other listed users. Later courts may use the crime as a prior; specified professional, firearm, emergency-services, banking, insurance, and legally restricted jobs require disclosure (§§ 610.120, 610.140(9)–(11), (13)). |
This page covers general adult conviction expungement under § 610.140. Juvenile, nonconviction, special first-intoxication-offense, pardon, innocence, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state relief are outside this survey. |
| Montana verified 2026-07-20 | Misdemeanor expungement: DOJ destroys, deletes, or erases covered criminal-history records; arresting agencies, prosecutors, and courts permanently seal their records. Fingerprints and data maintained for investigative purposes are excluded from the statutory record definition (§§ 46-18-1103, 46-18-1110). |
No general automatic relief. The person petitions a district court, serves each prosecution office, and after an order sends it with fingerprints and DOJ's identifying form to each listed record holder (§§ 46-18-1104–1110). |
One petition in a lifetime may seek expungement of one or more misdemeanor convictions from one or multiple courts and cases. The court may grant all, some, or none. General felony convictions are not eligible under Part 11 (§§ 46-18-1104, 46-18-1110). |
No misdemeanor is made absolutely ineligible by Part 11, but no presumption applies to assault, partner/family-member assault, stalking, sexual assault, protective-order violations, DUI, or an offense with a DUI-based enhanced penalty. Current detention, a current charge, or a pending new charge defeats the favorable presumption (§§ 46-18-1107–1108). |
Five conviction-free years after completing all sentencing terms creates a presumption; it is not written as an absolute filing bar. A military-academy, enlistment, National Guard, or current-service obstacle caused by the conviction supplies an alternative presumption (§ 46-18-1107). |
For the five-year presumption, complete all sentence terms, including financial obligations and court-ordered treatment, then have no conviction in Montana, another state, or federal court for 5 years; also have no current detention, charge, or pending charge. The statute states no post-order new-conviction reversal rule (§ 46-18-1107). |
File in a district court where at least one target misdemeanor occurred; submit fingerprints; serve every prosecution office. Prosecutors attempt victim notice within 14 days. The court uses a preponderance standard; public safety can overcome a presumption, while nonpresumed cases turn on age at offense, elapsed time, rehabilitation, reoffense risk, and other relevant factors (§§ 46-18-1104–1109). |
DOJ expunges covered records; arresting agencies, prosecution offices, and court clerks permanently seal theirs. Fingerprint records and data maintained for investigative purposes remain outside the definition of records to be expunged. Part 11 states no general applicant right to deny the conviction (§§ 46-18-1103, 46-18-1110). |
Covers the general misdemeanor-expungement act. Separate statutes cover dismissal and confidentiality after a successfully completed deferred sentence, marijuana conduct now lawful or punished less severely, and trafficking-caused prostitution, sex-trafficking, or other nonviolent convictions (§§ 46-18-204, 16-12-113, 46-18-608). Juvenile, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief are outside scope. |
| Nebraska verified 2026-07-20 | Conviction set-aside. The order nullifies the conviction and removes civil disabilities/disqualifications, but it does not seal the ordinary conviction record and many statutory uses remain (§§ 29-2264(5)–(6), 29-3523(4)–(7)). |
No general automatic conviction relief. The person petitions the sentencing court; the court's probation-release order is separate from the petition-based set-aside (§ 29-2264(1)–(3)). |
Eligible sentence paths: probation, fine-only, or community service after satisfactory completion; or another completed sentence that did not include more than 1 year of imprisonment. 'Offense' broadly includes state and local felonies, misdemeanors, infractions, traffic violations, ordinances, and county resolutions (§ 29-2264(2)–(3), (7)). |
A sentence of more than 1 year of imprisonment is outside the general routes. For the subsection (3) route, denial is mandatory for a pending criminal charge anywhere, current sex-offender registration, a misdemeanor/felony motor-vehicle offense, or filing within 2 years after a prior denial (§ 29-2264(3)(b)). |
No general numeric wait after the qualifying sentence is completed. Probation/fine/community-service petitioners file after satisfactory completion and payment/completion; other eligible petitioners file after sentence completion. A subsection (3) denial creates a 2-year refiling bar (§ 29-2264(2)–(3)). |
Complete probation or the other eligible sentence; pay any fine and complete community service for the subsection (2) route. Only subsection (3) expressly bars a pending charge; the statute states no general conviction-free period or separate restitution-payment clause (§ 29-2264(2)–(3)). |
Petition the sentencing court. The court considers post-sentence behavior, likelihood of no further criminal activity, and any other relevant information; it may grant relief if the order is in the offender's best interest and consistent with public welfare (§ 29-2264(4)–(5)). |
Ordinary set-aside does not make the conviction nonpublic. The conviction remains usable for impeachment, later sentencing/enhancement, later set-aside eligibility, specified care/education/law-enforcement licensing, sex-offender rules, felon-firearm law, victim civil actions, driver points, and CDL matters (§ 29-2264(6)). |
Sex-trafficking victims may obtain a separate mandatory set-aside for causally connected offenses after sentence completion and then move to seal under §§ 29-3005 and 29-3523(4). Pardon-based sealing, nonconviction records, juvenile matters, innocence relief, and federal/tribal/out-of-state records are outside this survey. |
| Nevada verified 2026-07-19 | Sealing; proceedings deemed never to have occurred and person may answer accordingly; trafficking route also vacates judgment and dismisses charge (§§ 179.247, 179.285) |
No mandatory general clean slate; limited reentry-program records may be sealed after 4 years without a hearing unless Parole and Probation objects (§ 179.259) |
Most felony and misdemeanor classes after statutory waits; trafficking victims may seek vacatur/sealing for qualifying nonviolent offenses; district court can consolidate records from multiple courts |
General route excludes crimes against children, sexual offenses, armed home invasion, and specified felony impaired-driving/boating offenses; pending charge or new nontraffic conviction during wait bars relief |
General: 10 years, 7 years, 5 years, 2 years, or 1 year by offense, from later custody release or supervision/suspended-sentence end; reentry route: 4 years after program |
Relevant custody and supervision must end before clock runs; no pending charge or new conviction during wait except minor traffic; § 179.245 states no separate restitution/fine-payment gate |
File in conviction court with verified state history and record/custodian details; court notifies arresting agency and prosecutor; 30-day objection period; rebuttable presumption favors sealing |
Named custodians seal; gaming, insurance, prosecutors, sex-offense repository/registry, law enforcement, and pardon authorities retain specified access (§§ 179.275, 179.301) |
Non-conviction, decriminalized-offense, pardon, juvenile, and innocence relief are separate; sealing restores vote, office, and jury rights, but not firearm rights (§ 179.285) |
| New Hampshire verified 2026-07-20 | Annulment of the arrest, conviction, and sentence. The person is ordinarily treated as never arrested, convicted, or sentenced; court records are sealed, state police remove the criminal-history record, and arresting/prosecuting agencies mark it annulled, subject to retained uses (§ 651:5(I), (X)–(XI)). |
No general automatic adult-conviction annulment. A person petitions the sentencing court. For specified post-2018 highest-offense violations and class B misdemeanors, the court shall annul after a 20-day prosecutor objection window if eligibility and sentence completion are established (§ 651:5(III)(a)(2), (b)(2)). |
Violations; class B and A misdemeanors; class B and A felonies; sexual assault under § 632-A:4; felony indecent exposure/lewdness; misdemeanor domestic violence; and class A misdemeanor/felony offenses under § 318-B:26(II), unless a permanent bar or multiple-record rule applies. Separate routes cover pre-Sept. 16, 2017 possession of ≤3/4 ounce marijuana and successful veterans-court cases (§§ 651:5(III), 651:5-b; 490-I:1(IV)). |
No annulment for violent crimes, felony obstruction-of-justice crimes, or an offense with an extended-term sentence. If any offense of record is barred, none may be annulled; a pending charge pauses the petition if conviction would bar relief or extend the clock. Violent crime includes listed homicide, first-degree assault, aggravated/felonious sexual assault, kidnapping/criminal restraint, class A arson, robbery, specified child offenses, and felony child-sexual-abuse-image offenses (§ 651:5(V)–(VIII), (XIII)–(XIV)). |
After completing all sentence terms, remain conviction-free: violation 1 year; class B misdemeanor 2; class A misdemeanor 3; class B felony 5; class A felony 10; § 632-A:4 sexual assault 10; felony indecent exposure/lewdness 10; misdemeanor domestic violence 10; § 318-B:26(II) class A misdemeanor/felony 2. DWI uses 10 years from conviction. Marijuana § 651:5-b may be filed at any time; veterans-court route after 1 year from all programs/conditions (§§ 651:5(III), 651:5-b, 265-A:21(I), 490-I:1(IV)). |
Complete every term and condition of the sentence, then have no new crime during the applicable period except a qualifying motor-vehicle violation. All offenses of record must satisfy the bar and timing rules; an out-of-state conviction for conduct not an offense in New Hampshire does not count. A potentially disqualifying or clock-extending pending charge holds the petition (§ 651:5(III), (VI)–(VII)). |
Petition the sentencing court. General standard is discretionary: annulment must assist rehabilitation and be consistent with public welfare; the court may decide without a hearing unless the petitioner requests one. Corrections investigates for $100 and Safety charges a successful petitioner $100, each waivable for indigency; prosecutor receives the petition and may be heard. A denial permits a new petition only every 3 years (§ 651:5(I), (IV), (IX)). |
Court records remain available to the person/counsel, sentencing courts, and law enforcement for legitimate purposes; police may share with other officers and the Police Standards and Training Council for fitness review. A later court may use the conviction in sentencing and habitual-offender status. Applications may ask only about unannulled records. Journalists may report an annulled record, and public/private entities are not liable for failing to remove or correct older reports (§ 651:5(X)–(XI), (XVI)–(XVII)). |
Covers adult New Hampshire convictions under § 651:5 and the conviction-specific marijuana and veterans-court routes. Nonconviction and vacated-conviction annulment under § 651:5(II)–(II-a), the age-17 historical rule, juvenile, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief are outside scope. |
| New Jersey verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement means extraction, sealing, impounding, or isolation; the matter is generally deemed not to have occurred, subject to statutory disclosure and later-use exceptions (N.J.S.A. §§ 2C:52-1, -27) |
No general automatic Clean Slate process is operating: § 2C:52-5.3 remains a petition route, while § 2C:52-5.4 directs automation; NJ Courts still instructs applicants to file, and 2026 S4270/A5095 would implement automation |
Regular: 1 crime plus up to 3 disorderly/petty-disorderly offenses, or qualifying same-judgment/closely related short-sequence convictions; DP/PDP-only route up to 5. Clean Slate: all eligible NJ convictions regardless ordinary count limits (§§ 2C:52-2, -3, -5.3) |
Listed homicide, kidnapping, human-trafficking, sex, child-exploitation, robbery, arson, perjury, terrorism and related crimes; public-office-connected crime; most drug distribution; pending charges and other statutory bars (§§ 2C:52-2, -8, -14) |
Regular crime and DP/PDP petitions: 5 years from latest conviction, assessment payment, probation/parole completion, or release; discretionary early paths at 4 years for crimes and 3 years for DP/PDP. Clean Slate: 10 years from the same latest-event list (§§ 2C:52-2, -3, -5.3) |
Petition must state no pending charge; regular eligibility limits later convictions. Assessment payment is a clock event, but nonwillful unpaid amounts can become a civil judgment once the remaining wait is met (§§ 2C:52-2, -3, -5.3, -8, -23.1) |
Verified Superior Court e-filing in residence or conviction county; electronic service and 60-day State/prosecutor review. Court applies statutory denial grounds; an objector bears the records-availability burden (§§ 2C:52-7, -10.1, -14) |
Agencies ordinarily isolate records and answer 'no record,' but courts, prosecutors, probation/pretrial services, and AG retain specified bail, release, presentence, and sentencing uses; judicial/law-enforcement/corrections applicants must disclose (§§ 2C:52-15, -21, -27) |
This survey excludes marijuana-specific, recovery-court, nonconviction, juvenile, pardon, federal, and innocence matters. A special abuse-victim expungement route is enacted but not effective until Nov. 1, 2026 (N.J.S.A. § 2C:52-5.5) |
| New Mexico verified 2026-07-20 | Expungement means removal of covered arrest and public records from general-public access. Proceedings are treated as if they never occurred and officials and the person may ordinarily reply that no record exists, subject to statutory exceptions (§§ 29-3A-2(B), 29-3A-7). |
No general automatic adult-conviction relief. A convicted person petitions the district court. Section 29-3A-8's cannabis-specific automation is outside this survey (§§ 29-3A-5(A), 29-3A-8). |
A municipal-ordinance, misdemeanor, or felony conviction may be petitioned after the completion, payment, restitution, pending-case, and conviction-free-period requirements, unless categorically excluded (§ 29-3A-5(A), (C), (G)). |
Excluded: offense against a child; offense causing great bodily harm or death; sex offense under § 29-11A-3; embezzlement under § 30-16-8; and DWI/drug-impaired-driving offense. An incomplete sentence or pending charge/proceeding also prevents relief (§ 29-3A-5(A), (C), (G)). |
2 years for most misdemeanors/municipal violations; 4 for misdemeanor aggravated battery and most 4th-degree felonies; 6 for most 3rd-degree; 8 for most 2nd-degree; 10 for 1st-degree and any Crimes Against Household Members Act offense. Measure from the last sentence completed for any conviction in any jurisdiction (§ 29-3A-5(C)(4), (F)). |
Complete the sentence; pay conviction fines and fees owed to the state; fulfill court-ordered victim restitution; have no other charge or proceeding pending; and have no new criminal conviction during the applicable 2/4/6/8/10-year period (§ 29-3A-5(A), (C)). |
Petition the district court of conviction; notify the district attorney, Department of Public Safety, and arresting agency; hearing required. The court orders relief within 30 days after the hearing only if the statutory findings are met, including that justice will be served after consideration of five listed factors (§ 29-3A-5(B)–(E)). |
Covered records leave general-public access and ordinarily produce a no-record response. The Act's public-record definition excludes specified confidential prosecution/agency files and authorized background-check records; courts may authorize release. The person and officials must disclose for employment or association with a FINRA- or SEC-regulated financial institution (§§ 29-3A-2(C), 29-3A-5(D), 29-3A-7). |
Covers adult New Mexico convictions under § 29-3A-5. Identity-theft, nonconviction, cannabis-specific, juvenile, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief are outside this survey; the Act cannot expunge another jurisdiction's records. |
| New York verified 2026-07-19 | Sealing, not destruction; conviction remains usable in later criminal proceedings (§§ 160.57(7), 160.59(10)) |
Yes—OCA automatic sealing under CPL § 160.57; backfile rollout must finish by Nov. 16, 2027, with quarterly eligibility rechecks |
Up to 2 eligible offenses, no more than 1 felony, under the separate ten-year CPL § 160.59 application route |
Automatic: sex offenses and non-drug class A felonies; petition: sex, child-sexual-performance, homicide felony, violent felony, class A, related conspiracy/attempt, and registration offenses; other status bars apply |
Automatic: 3 years misdemeanor / 8 years felony from release or sentence if no incarceration; petition: 10 years from latest sentence or release, extended by later incarceration (§§ 160.57(1), 160.59(5)) |
Automatic requires no pending NY charge and no current probation/parole for the conviction; later conviction resets clock; sealing does not discharge restitution, fines, surcharges, or fees (§ 160.57(1), (8), (10)) |
Automatic route ordinarily requires no filing; § 160.59 petition goes to conviction court, serves DA, allows 45-day objection, hearing if opposed, and discretionary multi-factor decision |
Nonpublic, but extensive criminal-justice, court, fingerprint-screening, vulnerable-population, licensing, firearm, later-case, and other statutory access remains (§§ 160.57(1)(d), 160.59(8)–(10)) |
State convictions only; Clean Slate rollout is not complete until Nov. 16, 2027; federal/out-of-state, juvenile, nonconviction, marijuana-specific, pardon, and innocence remedies are outside this survey |
| North Carolina verified 2026-07-19 | Expunction removes the conviction from public court, law-enforcement, and notified agency records and restores pre-case legal status, but confidential AOC/clerk files, prosecutor access, later-case use, DNA, and federal commercial-driving exceptions remain (§§ 15A-145.5(d)–(f), 15A-150–153) |
No general automatic conviction expunction; § 15A-146(a4) automates only all-dismissed/not-guilty cases, outside this conviction survey |
One or more qualifying nonviolent misdemeanors and up to three qualifying nonviolent felonies; same-session convictions count as one, multi-county petitions are coordinated, and multiple felonies must have been committed within one 24-month period (§ 15A-145.5(b)–(c5)) |
Class A–G felonies, A1 misdemeanors, assault-element, registrable, listed sex/stalking, specified drug, hate/intimidation, contaminant, burglary, commercial-vehicle, attempt, and impaired-driving offenses are excluded; prior relief and other-record limits also apply (§ 15A-145.5(a)–(c3)) |
One misdemeanor: later of 3 years after conviction or sentence/supervision completion; multiple misdemeanors: later of 7 years after last conviction or 7 years after completion; one felony: 10 years, one § 14-54(a) felony: 15, and 2–3 felonies: 20, each measured from both conviction and completion (§ 15A-145.5(c)) |
Complete active sentence, probation, and post-release supervision; misdemeanor relief expressly requires no outstanding restitution order/civil restitution judgment and no warrant/pending-case/indictment bar; both routes apply disqualifying bond status and route-specific conviction limits (§ 15A-145.5(c1)–(c3)) |
File an AOC petition/motion in the county of conviction with affidavit and SBI/AOC search authorization; serve the DA, who gets 30 days plus possible 30-day extension; victim participation and hearing apply; misdemeanors 'shall' be granted on findings, felonies 'may' be granted; $175 fee unless indigent (§ 15A-145.5(c1)–(g)) |
The person ordinarily may omit the conviction and employers/schools cannot demand it, but AOC/clerk confidential files, prosecutors, courts, law-enforcement hiring, training commissions, later sentencing/habitual/offense-level/Evidence Rule uses, DNA, and specified federal-law records remain (§§ 15A-145.5(d), 15A-151–153) |
Youthful-offender, drug, prostitution, trafficking-victim, identity-theft, innocence, nonconviction, juvenile, pardon, federal, and automatic dismissal/acquittal provisions are separate; this cell centers the no-age-limit § 15A-145.5 conviction route |
| North Dakota verified 2026-07-20 | Sealing (N.D.C.C. ch. 12-60.1): court and prosecution records may not be disclosed unless a court authorizes it; records are not deleted or destroyed and the conviction remains. The order declares the petitioner sufficiently rehabilitated but subject to § 12.1-33-02.1, and the information is still released for statutorily required background checks (§§ 12-60.1-01(7), 12-60.1-04(8)). |
None for convictions. Only nonconviction court records close automatically—61 days after an order of nonconviction entered on or after August 1, 2025 (§ 12-60.1-05). A conviction is sealed only on petition (§ 12-60.1-02). |
A misdemeanor with no new-crime conviction for at least 3 years, a felony with none for at least 5 years, or any conviction after an unconditional governor's pardon (§ 12-60.1-02(1)). |
The chapter does not apply to a felony involving violence or intimidation while the person is ineligible to possess a firearm under § 62.1-02-01(1)(a), or to an offense requiring registration under § 12.1-32-15 (§ 12-60.1-02(2)). |
Measured backward from filing: no conviction of a new crime for at least 3 years (misdemeanor) or 5 years (felony) before the petition is filed. The clock keys to being new-crime-free before filing, not to a discharge date (§ 12-60.1-02(1)(a)-(b)). |
The court must find all terms of imprisonment and probation completed, all court-ordered restitution paid, and reformation demonstrated; the 3- or 5-year window itself requires no new-crime conviction (§§ 12-60.1-04(1)(c)-(e), 12-60.1-02(1)). |
File in the existing criminal case with name and aliases, addresses, reasons, and full criminal history, plus a proposed order; serve the prosecutor. The court grants by clear and convincing evidence on six findings, weighing eight factors; a hearing is no sooner than 45 days; a denial can bar refiling up to 1 year; a municipal-court denial gets de novo district-court review without a fee (§§ 12-60.1-03, 12-60.1-04). |
Sealing bars disclosure of the court and prosecution records unless a court authorizes it, but the Bureau of Criminal Investigation criminal-history record is outside the chapter and is not sealed (§§ 12-60.1-01(4), 12-60-16.1(5)). Sealed information is still released to any entity with a statutory duty to run a criminal-history background check, and licensing follows § 12.1-33-02.1 (§ 12-60.1-04(8)). |
Sealing convictions is separate from closing nonconviction records—dismissals or acquittals—under § 12-60.1-05 and from a governor's unconditional pardon. Juvenile, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state relief follow other law. |
| Ohio verified 2026-07-19 | Sealing closes official records but preserves statutory access; expungement makes most entities permanently destroy/delete/erase the record, while BCI keeps a law-enforcement-employment record and other exceptions remain (R.C. 2953.31(B), 2953.32(D)(5), 2953.34) |
No general automatic conviction clearing; the person applies under § 2953.32, while a prosecutor may separately apply for a low-level controlled-substance conviction under § 2953.39 |
Generally minor misdemeanors, other misdemeanors, F4/F5 convictions, and one or two qualifying F3 convictions; specified former registrants and improper-compensation convictions use special clocks (§ 2953.32(A)–(B)) |
Traffic-code offenses, nonsexual felony violence, current registrable sex offenses, most offenses against under-13 victims, theft in office, F1/F2 felonies, M1/M2 domestic violence, and excess F3/record counts are excluded; M3/M4 domestic violence and protection-order convictions are sealing-only (§ 2953.32(A)) |
Sealing: 6 months minor misdemeanor; 1 year misdemeanors/F4/F5; 3 years one or two F3s; 7 years improper compensation; 5 years after registration ends. Expungement: 6 months minor misdemeanor, 1 year other misdemeanor, or 10 years after the felony sealing date (§ 2953.32(B)) |
The clock starts at final discharge, and the court must find no pending criminal proceeding and rehabilitation; § 2953.32 does not state a separate generally applicable paid-restitution/fine prerequisite (§ 2953.32(B)–(D)) |
Apply to the sentencing court; one application may cover multiple cases; $50 state fee plus local fee up to $50 unless indigent; hearing in 45–90 days, prosecutor/victim participation, rehabilitation and interest-balancing findings (§ 2953.32(C)–(D)) |
Sealed records remain available for enumerated law-enforcement, prosecutor, corrections, BCI/background-check, later-case, and other uses; admissible prior convictions, DNA/fingerprints, investigatory work product, and limited BCI expungement data can remain (§§ 2953.32(D)(5), 2953.34) |
Human-trafficking, obsolete-firearm, nonconviction, juvenile, pardon, DNA-innocence, federal, and out-of-state routes follow separate rules; this cell centers the general Ohio conviction application and notes the prosecutor's low-level-drug route |
| Oklahoma verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement means sealing, not immediate physical destruction. Official actions are deemed never to have occurred, but conviction-based orders are generally only partially sealed and remain available to law enforcement and for specified later uses (§§ 18(B), (D); 19(E), (I)). |
Subject to funding, clean-slate relief covers qualifying records from January 1, 1980 forward, including limited single-source misdemeanor and § 63-2-402(A)(1) felony-possession records. Request portal due Nov. 1, 2026; monthly automatic identification begins by Nov. 1, 2027; eligible electronic backlog due by Nov. 1, 2029 (§§ 18b; 19d). |
Specified fine-only misdemeanors; other misdemeanors; one nonviolent felony outside § 57-571; up to two felonies outside § 21-13.1 and sex-registration offenses; a nonviolent felony later reclassified as a misdemeanor; and prostitution-related offenses committed because of human trafficking (§§ 18(A)(10)-(13), (16); 19c). |
Misdemeanor routes bar a felony history and pending misdemeanor or felony charges. The 5-year felony route bars § 57-571 violent crimes, another felony, and a separate misdemeanor within 7 years; the 10-year route bars § 21-13.1 offenses, sex-registration offenses, more than 2 felonies, and pending charges (§ 18(A)(10)-(13)). |
Fine-only misdemeanor under $501: no additional statutory wait after payment. Other misdemeanor: 5 years after end of last misdemeanor sentence. One qualifying nonviolent felony: 5 years after sentence completion. Up to 2 qualifying felonies: 10 years after sentence completion. Reclassified felony: 30 days after completion or commutation (§ 18(A)(10)-(13), (16)). |
Fine-only route requires the fine paid or satisfied by time served. Reclassified-felony route requires full restitution, completed court-ordered treatment, and no current sentence in any state. Other routes impose the stated felony, misdemeanor, and pending-charge screens; automatic processing permits an objection for unpaid victim restitution or fact-supported ongoing criminal activity (§§ 18(A)(10)-(13), (16); 19d(E)(3)). |
File in the district court where the arrest information is located; the court sets the hearing and provides 30 days' notice to the prosecutor, arresting agency, OSBI, and other relevant parties. The court may seal when privacy harm or unwarranted adverse consequences outweigh the public interest; qualifying same-county offenses may share one petition (§ 19(A)-(D)). |
Public access ends; the person and justice agencies may answer that no action or record exists, and most employers, schools, and government applicants need not disclose it. Conviction-based and clean-slate records generally remain available to law enforcement; paragraph 10-13 and clean-slate records remain usable in later prosecutions (§§ 18(D); 18b(D)-(E); 19(E)-(N)). |
This page covers adult conviction sealing. Acquittal, dismissal, deferred-sentence, identity-theft, juvenile, pardon, DNA-innocence, marijuana-specific, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state routes are outside this survey; § 19c's trafficking-victim conviction remedy is included because it reaches a conviction. |
| Oregon verified 2026-07-19 | Set-aside plus sealing; person is deemed not previously convicted and may answer accordingly, subject to civil-case disclosure and limited reopening rules (ORS § 137.225(3), (4), (10), (11)) |
No general automatic route; narrow automatic sealing applies to drug-enforcement-misdemeanor convictions 3 years after judgment, subject to warrant and mixed-case rules (2024 Or. Laws ch. 70, § 54(4)–(7)) |
Most misdemeanors, Class C felonies, felonies reducible to misdemeanors, violations, pre-1972 equivalents, and non-person Class B felonies other than ORS 166.429 (ORS § 137.225(5)) |
Class A felonies; person Class B felonies; ORS 166.429; listed elder/child-abuse, homicide, assault, and sex offenses; traffic convictions; recent disqualifying convictions; pending crime or specified contempt charge (ORS § 137.225(5)–(8)) |
7 years Class B felony; 5 years Class C felony; 3 years Class A misdemeanor; 1 year Class B/C misdemeanor or violation—later of conviction or release from imprisonment; special contempt and revoked-probation rules (ORS § 137.225(1)(b), (e), (f)) |
Must fully perform the sentence and finish supervision; applicable lookback must be free of other offenses except stated exclusions, and no disqualifying charge may be pending; monetary obligations cannot support public-safety denial (ORS § 137.225(1)(a), (3)(a), (7)) |
File in conviction court; serve prosecutor; submit fingerprints and actual-cost OSP check fee; no court filing fee; 120-day objection window; if objected, hearing and mandatory relief unless clear-and-convincing public-safety findings (ORS § 137.225(1)–(3)) |
Official case records are sealed and occurrence may be denied; civil truth-based claims may obtain disclosure, and prosecutor or defendant may seek limited good-cause reopening without undoing relief (ORS § 137.225(3), (4), (10), (11)) |
Covers conviction set-asides under ORS § 137.225; the same section's arrest, citation, acquittal, and dismissal routes are outside this conviction survey, as are juvenile, pardon, federal, and innocence remedies |
| Pennsylvania verified 2026-07-19 | Mostly limited access, not destruction; narrow true expungement for summary/age-70/§ 6308 categories; limited-access records remain usable for sentencing (§§ 9122, 9122.5(c)) |
Yes—Clean Slate limited access for specified M2/M3/ungraded ≤2-year offenses after 7 years, qualifying drug offenses after 10, and summaries after 5 (§ 9122.2) |
Qualifying misdemeanor/ungraded ≤5-year offenses after 7 years; specified non-F1/F2 property, fraud, trespass, Human Services, and qualifying drug felonies after 10 (§ 9122.1) |
Violence, family, firearm, sexual/registration, corruption-of-minors and listed offenses; serious or repeated records trigger additional petition/Clean Slate bars (§§ 9122.1(b), 9122.3) |
Limited access: 7-year misdemeanor / 10-year specified felony or drug clocks, measured conviction-free; summary Clean Slate/expungement: 5 years (§§ 9122(b)(3), 9122.1, 9122.2) |
Limited access requires paid restitution and program fee; conviction-free period applies; later misdemeanor/felony can vacate automatic limited access (§§ 9122.1, 9122.2, 9122.4(b)) |
Court of common pleas in county of conviction; DA notice in 10 days, 30-day objection window; court may grant without hearing if unopposed and eligible (§ 9122.1(c)) |
Ordinary disclosure/use barred, but criminal justice and statutory noncriminal access remain; record remains for sentencing and specified public-office disclosure (§§ 9121, 9122.5) |
Expungement does not erase § 9104 public court/docket records; pardons, ARD/nonconvictions, juvenile, marijuana-only, federal, and innocence relief are outside this survey (§§ 9104, 9122(e)) |
| Rhode Island verified 2026-07-20 | Expungement means sealing and retaining the record, removing it from active files and public inspection—not destruction. It releases ordinary penalties and disabilities, but the conviction remains usable at later sentencing (§§ 12-1.3-1(2), 12-1.3-4(a)). |
No general automatic conviction-clearing route. Possession-only marijuana convictions and civil violations that were later decriminalized were a narrow automatic exception, with all eligible records due to be expunged before July 1, 2024 (§ 12-1.3-5(a)–(b)). |
First offender: one felony or misdemeanor. Multiple routes: 2–5 misdemeanors and, under the June 22, 2026 amendment, 2–4 felonies; deferred sentences and later-decriminalized offenses have separate motion routes (§ 12-1.3-2(a)–(i)). |
Single-conviction relief excludes crimes of violence. The multiple-misdemeanor route excludes chapter 29 of title 12, DUI, and refusal convictions and bars specified felony history; multiple-felony relief also excludes violent and listed prohibited offenses and is a one-time use (§§ 12-1.3-1(1), (6), 12-1.3-2(a)–(c)). |
From sentence completion: 5 years for one misdemeanor; 10 years for one felony; 10 years from the last sentence for multiple misdemeanors; 15 years from the last sentence for multiple felonies. A deferred-sentence motion may follow completion (§ 12-1.3-2(d)–(h)). |
Single route requires monetary obligations paid, reduced, or waived and no arrest or conviction during the 5- or 10-year lookback. Multiple routes require no arrest or conviction during the 10- or 15-year lookback; every route requires no pending criminal proceeding and the applicable good-character showing (§§ 12-1.3-2(a), 12-1.3-3(b)(1)). |
File in the court of conviction; notify the Attorney General and originating police at least 10 days before the hearing. The court may grant relief in its discretion after finding the statutory record, rehabilitation to its satisfaction, and consistency with the public interest (§§ 12-1.3-2, 12-1.3-3(a)–(b)). |
The person may ordinarily deny the conviction, but must disclose for law-enforcement employment, bar admission, teaching, coaching, and early-childhood work. The person, later sentencing courts, specified bar/education bodies, and law enforcement in specified repeat-offense matters retain access (§ 12-1.3-4). |
Covers chapter 12-1.3 adult conviction expungement. Deferred sentences and later-decriminalized offenses have separate motion rules; possession-only marijuana automation is a narrow exception. Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief remain outside scope. |
| South Carolina verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement of arrest and conviction records, not a broad vacatur. SLED retains a nonpublic offense/date record to enforce one-use limits; employers other than criminal-justice agencies may not use expunged information adversely (§§ 22-5-910 to -930; 17-22-960). |
No general automatic conviction relief. Applications are administered through the circuit solicitor's office using its mandatory form; eligible routes still require an application and order (§§ 17-22-910, 17-22-920, 17-22-930). |
Specified routes include low-penalty offenses and first firearm/weapon possession; third-degree domestic violence; qualifying first Youthful Offender Act conviction; first simple-possession or prescription-drug conviction; first PWID; first or qualifying multiple misdemeanor fraudulent checks; and first-offense failure to stop (§§ 22-5-910 to -930; 34-11-90; 56-5-750(F)). |
No general felony route. Low-penalty route excludes motor-vehicle offenses; Youthful Offender route excludes motor-vehicle, violent, most domestic-violence, and registry offenses. Felony fraudulent checks are excluded. Routes impose one-use, new-conviction, pending-charge, and first-offense limits (§§ 22-5-910 to -930; 34-11-90). |
1 year after first misdemeanor fraudulent-check conviction; 3 years after low-level/DV conviction or after completion for first simple-possession and failure-to-stop; 5 years after Youthful Offender sentence completion; 10 years after last qualifying multiple check conviction; 20 years after completion for first PWID (§§ 22-5-910 to -930; 34-11-90; 56-5-750(F)). |
Youthful, drug, and failure-to-stop clocks follow completion including supervision; specified periods require no disqualifying new conviction. Multiple-check relief requires full restitution. Sections 22-5-910 and -930 generally bar pending charges unless pending over 5 years, excluding bench-warrant tolling (§§ 22-5-910 to -930; 34-11-90(f); 56-5-750(F)). |
Apply through the circuit solicitor using the mandatory form. Solicitor coordinates eligibility, signatures, SLED verification, filing, and distribution; typical charges are $250 administration, $25 SLED verification, and $35 filing, with statutory exceptions. Some routes say the court may grant; check and failure-to-stop routes say shall/must when criteria are met (§§ 17-22-910, -930, -940). |
Government recipients receive the order, while SLED keeps a nonpublic one-use record available only to authorized law or court officials for that purpose. Except for criminal-justice agencies, employers may not use expunged information adversely; current law states no broader universal applicant-disclosure rule (§§ 17-22-940, -960; 22-5-910 to -930). |
This page covers adult conviction expungement. Juvenile, nonconviction, diversion, conditional discharge without conviction, pardon, innocence, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state relief are outside this survey; § 17-1-65 separately offers a time-limited route for one pre-2024 unlawful-handgun-possession conviction. |
| South Dakota verified 2026-07-20 | Two narrow routes, both sealing rather than destruction (SDCL 23A-3-26). After a suspended imposition of sentence, discharge and dismissal are 'without court adjudication of guilt' and 'not deemed a conviction,' and the court seals all official records (§§ 23A-27-14, 23A-27-17). Separately, minor charges/convictions are removed from the public record though the case file survives (§ 23A-3-34). No general expungement of an entered conviction. |
Yes, but only for the smallest cases: a petty offense, municipal-ordinance violation, or Class 2 misdemeanor that was the highest charge is automatically removed from the public record five years after all court-ordered conditions are met, if no further offense in that period (§ 23A-3-34). No application is filed. |
No petition seals an ordinary entered conviction. Conviction relief instead depends on having received a suspended imposition of sentence—available once for a first-time felony offender (§ 23A-27-13) and once for a misdemeanor (§ 23A-27-12.2)—then completing probation to earn discharge and sealing (§§ 23A-27-14, 23A-27-17). |
A suspended imposition of sentence is unavailable for a felony punishable by death or life, for anyone previously convicted of a felony, and entirely for rape under § 22-22-1(2) or (3) (§§ 23A-27-13, 23A-27-13.3). It may be used only once per person. Automatic removal reaches only petty, municipal-ordinance, or Class 2 misdemeanor cases (§ 23A-3-34). |
Automatic removal: five years measured from satisfaction of all court-ordered conditions on the case, with no further conviction in those five years (§ 23A-3-34). The suspended-imposition route sets no fixed number—sealing follows discharge, which occurs on completing the probation term the court imposed (§§ 23A-27-13, 23A-27-14). |
Both routes require completion. Discharge under the suspended-imposition route follows 'completion of the observance of all conditions imposed' during probation (§ 23A-27-14). Automatic removal requires that 'all court-ordered conditions on the case have been satisfied' and no new conviction within the five years (§ 23A-3-34). |
A suspended-imposition discharge is brought to the court's attention by the court services officer or the defendant, the clerk enters a formal discharge, and the sealing order issues (§§ 23A-27-14, 23A-27-17). Automatic removal needs no filing (§ 23A-3-34). Where the general expungement chapter applies, the court may order expungement only on clear and convincing evidence that the ends of justice and the best interest of the public and the person are served (§ 23A-3-30). |
Sealing prohibits disclosure but does not destroy records (§ 23A-3-26). After a suspended-imposition discharge the court seals all official records except the nonpublic records retained by the Division of Criminal Investigation, and the person may lawfully decline to acknowledge the arrest or trial (§ 23A-27-17). An automatically removed minor case still 'remains available to court personnel or as authorized by order of the court and may be used as an enhancement in the prosecution of subsequent offenses' (§ 23A-3-34). |
The general expungement chapter (§§ 23A-3-26 to 23A-3-35) mainly clears arrests that did not lead to conviction—no accusatory instrument, dismissal, or acquittal—and diversion-program records (§§ 23A-3-27, 23A-3-35); those are non-conviction matters. Juvenile records (§ 26-7A-115) and gubernatorial pardons follow separate law. |
| Tennessee verified 2026-07-19 | Expunction destroys public conviction records and treats the conviction as never having occurred, subject to a confidential retained record and narrow uses (Tenn. Code §§ 40-32-108(f), 40-32-110) |
No general automatic conviction route; each current conviction path requires a petition in the court of conviction (Tenn. Code §§ 40-32-107–108) |
Closed lists of Class C, D, and E felonies; most misdemeanors except listed exclusions; qualifying pre-1989 offenses, single-episode cases, up to two eligible offenses, pardon, and recovery-court routes (Tenn. Code § 40-32-107) |
Eligibility is list-based; exclusions include listed violent, sex/minor, domestic-violence, stalking, firearm, DUI, and other offenses, later ineligible convictions, prior conviction expunction, and commercial-driving controlled-substance cases (Tenn. Code § 40-32-107(a)) |
Ordinary route: 5 years after sentence completion for a misdemeanor/Class E felony; 10 years for Class C/D; two-offense route applies the same clock to each offense (Tenn. Code § 40-32-107(a)(3), (b)(1)) |
Complete imprisonment/probation/release and pay fines, restitution, costs, and assessments; ordinary offenses must precede any ineligible conviction, and prior conviction expunction generally disqualifies (Tenn. Code § 40-32-107(a)(3), (b)(1)) |
Court of conviction; clerk serves prosecutor; 60-day response window, order no sooner than day 61, TBI offense certificate, evidence and public-safety balance; rebuttable presumption for ordinary qualifying routes (Tenn. Code §§ 40-32-102(c), 40-32-108) |
Public records destroyed; confidential court record remains accessible to the prosecutor, person, counsel, and judge and may enhance a later sentence; otherwise-eligible firearm rights may be restored (Tenn. Code §§ 40-32-108(f), 40-32-110) |
Separate rules cover non-conviction, diversion, trafficking-victim, and arrest-only expunction; the recovery-court route clears a later eligible offense, not the earlier DUI (Tenn. Code §§ 40-32-105–109) |
| Texas verified 2026-07-19 | General conviction relief is an order of nondisclosure: public disclosure is barred and court records are sealed, but the conviction is not vacated and remains usable in later criminal proceedings (Gov't Code §§ 411.073–.0775). True expunction is limited here to a pre-Sept. 1, 2021 former § 46.02(a) handgun conviction and prohibits release, maintenance, dissemination, or use of expunged records (Code Crim. Proc. arts. 55A.005, 55A.401). |
No general automatic relief for a completed adult conviction. The no-petition nondisclosure rule in § 411.072 applies to a deferred-adjudication discharge and dismissal, not a conviction; Chapter 55A's automatic procedures concern acquittal, actual-innocence pardon, or specified program dismissals outside this survey (§ 411.072; arts. 55A.201–.203). |
General routes cover specified first-record misdemeanor convictions after community supervision (§ 411.073), other specified first-record misdemeanors after sentence (§ 411.0735), and limited Penal Code § 49.04 DWI convictions with or without community supervision (§§ 411.0731, 411.0736). Article 55A.005 separately covers a former § 46.02(a) handgun conviction for conduct before Sept. 1, 2021. |
The general misdemeanor routes exclude listed alcohol, intoxication, and organized-crime offenses; DWI is limited to § 49.04 convictions not punishable under subsection (d), and another-person collisions bar DWI nondisclosure. Section 411.074 bars sex-registration, enumerated serious offenses, and family-violence records or findings; most general routes also require no prior conviction/deferred adjudication except fine-only traffic (§§ 411.073–.074). |
§ 411.073: at community-supervision completion for ordinary covered misdemeanors or 2 years after completion for listed Penal Code chapters. § 411.0735: at sentence completion for fine-only misdemeanors or 2 years after completion otherwise. DWI: 2 years after supervision with 6 months' interlock, otherwise 5 years (§ 411.0731); 3 years after sentence with 6 months' interlock, otherwise 5 years (§ 411.0736). Article 55A.005 states no separate postconviction wait. |
The nondisclosure routes require successful completion of supervision or the sentence, including confinement and payment of all fines, costs, and restitution. From sentence/supervision through the waiting period, no new conviction or deferred adjudication is allowed except fine-only traffic; DWI's shorter clock also requires at least 6 months of ignition-interlock compliance (§§ 411.073–.074). |
File in the court that imposed the sentence or community supervision; pay the ordinary civil-case filing fee and include eligibility evidence when required. The state receives notice; a hearing is unnecessary only if the state does not request one within 45 days and the court finds eligibility and best interest of justice (§§ 411.073–.0745). The narrow expunction uses a verified Chapter 55A petition in a district court for the arrest/offense county and a hearing set at least 30 days after filing (arts. 55A.251, 55A.253–.255). |
Nondisclosed court records are closed to the public, but remain available to the person, criminal-justice agencies, regulatory licensing, noncriminal-justice agencies and entities listed in § 411.0765, and federally required recipients; the person need not disclose the proceeding on employment, information, or licensing applications, and the conviction may be used in a later criminal case (§§ 411.0755–.0775). Expunction has the broader effect stated in art. 55A.401. |
Deferred adjudication is not a final conviction and is outside the main table even though §§ 411.072–.0726 provide nondisclosure routes. Sections 411.0727–.0729 separately cover veterans-treatment, trafficking-victim, and veterans-reemployment cases, including some convictions. Pardons, actual-innocence relief, acquittals, dismissals, juvenile records, and ordinary non-conviction expunction remain outside this survey. |
| Utah verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement seals or restricts public access; it does not destroy the record. The person may generally answer as if the conviction did not occur, subject to contrary law or court order (§§ 77-40a-101(16), 77-40a-401(5)). |
Court and bureau records qualify without a petition when every conviction is eligible controlled-substance possession, a class B or C misdemeanor, or an infraction and the 5-, 6-, or 7-year adjudication clock and other gates are met; the prosecutor has 35 days to object (§§ 77-40a-204, 77-40a-205). |
Felonies below the excluded categories, felony drug-possession offenses, and class A, B, or C misdemeanors and infractions may qualify, subject to separate-episode numerical caps; some non-drug caps relax after 10 years (§ 77-40a-303). |
Capital, first-degree, violent, specified felony impaired-driving, and registry offenses are excluded; pending misdemeanor/felony proceedings or pleas, current custody/supervision, an active protective order or stalking injunction, false application information, and conviction-count limits also bar a certificate (§ 77-40a-303(2)-(8)). |
Petition: 10 years for specified impaired-driving misdemeanors; 7 years for another felony; 5 years for felony drug possession or class A misdemeanor; 4 years for class B; 3 years for class C/infraction—measured from conviction or release from incarceration, parole, or probation, whichever is last. Automatic: 5/6/7 years from adjudication (§§ 77-40a-205(2), 77-40a-303(1)). |
Petition requires full payment of court-ordered fines, interest, and restitution, no disqualifying pending case or plea, and no current incarceration, parole, or probation except narrow low-level exceptions. Automatic relief bars unsatisfied criminal accounts, Utah misdemeanor/felony proceedings, state-prison custody or AP&P supervision, and may be stopped for unpaid victim restitution or fact-supported continuing criminal activity (§§ 77-40a-205(3), (5), 77-40a-303(1)-(2)). |
Apply to BCI for a certificate, generally valid 180 days, then file under Criminal Rule 42 in the original case court. Court notice: prosecutor within 3 days; prosecutor response 35 days; victim response 60 days; an objection requires a hearing. The court shall grant only on clear-and-convincing findings of eligibility and no harm to public interests (§§ 77-40a-301, 77-40a-304 to -306). |
Agencies generally restrict or deny public access, but enumerated boards, federal authorities when federal law requires, education and judicial-selection investigators, researchers, prosecutors in specified cases, and sentencing courts retain routes to the information. The person and limited civil-action participants may obtain it (§§ 77-40a-401, 77-40a-403 to -404). |
This page covers adult convictions. Utah's separate automatic and petition rules for acquittals, dismissals, pleas in abeyance, traffic-only cases, medicinal-cannabis cases, pardons, juvenile matters, and innocence vacatur are outside or specialized routes. |
| Vermont verified 2026-07-20 | Two remedies under chapter 230 (rewritten by 2025 Act 60, eff. July 1, 2025): sealing of a 'qualifying crime' conviction—the general remedy—and expungement, limited to a conviction whose underlying conduct is no longer a crime. Sealing treats the person 'as if never arrested, convicted, or sentenced' and answers public inquiries 'NO CRIMINAL RECORD EXISTS,' but the record survives for criminal-justice use; expungement annuls the record and the case file is destroyed once all charges are expunged (§§ 7602, 7606, 7607). |
None. Vermont's 2025 reform consolidated record relief into a single petition-based process; § 7602(a) requires the person to file a petition in the Criminal Division of the Superior Court. Chapter 230 has no automatic or clean-slate conviction-sealing section. |
Sealing covers a 'qualifying crime'—all misdemeanors except an enumerated exclusion list, plus specific felonies: burglary (§ 1201, but not burglary of an occupied dwelling unless the person was 25 or younger and unarmed), designated felony property offenses (forgery, larceny, embezzlement, identity theft, retail theft, and others in § 7601(5)), listed regulated-drug felonies (18 V.S.A. §§ 4230–4235a), and any offense unconditionally pardoned by the Governor. Expungement applies only where the underlying conduct is no longer prohibited by law (§§ 7601(4), 7602(a)). |
A 'qualifying crime' excludes listed violent crimes (§ 5301(7)), child sexual exploitation (ch. 64), abuse-prevention or stalking-order violations (§ 1030), vulnerable-adult abuse (ch. 28), voyeurism (§ 2605(b)–(c)), hate-motivated crimes (§ 1455), child cruelty and mistreatment (§§ 1304(a), 1305, 1306), female genital mutilation (§ 3151), sexual exploitation of a minor (§ 3258(b)), extreme-risk-protection-order violations (§ 4058(b)(1)), and any sex-offender-registration offense (ch. 167, subch. 3). Felonies outside the qualifying-felony list cannot be sealed, and a commercial-driver's-license holder cannot seal an in-vehicle offense (§§ 7601(4), 7602(a)(5)). |
Each period runs from the date the person completed the terms and conditions of the sentence: three years for a qualifying misdemeanor (§ 7602(c)(1)), seven years for a qualifying felony (§ 7602(d)(1)), and ten years for a qualifying DUI misdemeanor (§ 7602(e)(1)). Expungement of a decriminalized offense has no year-count—only completion of any sentence or supervision (§ 7602(b)(1)). |
Every route requires the sentence or supervision complete and all restitution and surcharges for any crime of conviction paid in full (surcharges excused only if the court waived them under § 7282). For sealing, the court must grant relief unless the respondent shows sealing 'would be contrary to the interests of justice,' so the State carries that burden (§ 7602(b)–(e)). A new charge filed before decision is governed by § 7604. |
The person petitions the Criminal Division of the Superior Court; the prosecuting State's Attorney or Attorney General is the respondent. If both stipulate, the court grants without a hearing. For sealing, relief is mandatory once the waiting period and restitution conditions are met and the respondent fails to show it is contrary to the interests of justice; expungement of decriminalized conduct has no interests-of-justice test. Victims receive notice and input (§§ 7602, 7608). |
After sealing, public and most employment or licensing inquiries are answered 'NO CRIMINAL RECORD EXISTS' and the person may deny the record, but criminal-justice agencies and the Attorney General keep access for criminal-justice purposes, the Vermont Crime Information Center and FBI retain access for firearms (NICS) checks without limitation, courts and the person retain access, a sealed DUI stays usable as a sentencing predicate, and unauthorized disclosure is a civil violation up to $1,000. Expungement goes further—the record is annulled and the case file destroyed once all charges are expunged (§§ 7606, 7607). |
Non-conviction records (arrests, dismissals, acquittals) are sealed through the separate § 7603 process, and there is a distinct young-adult (18–21) sealing route in § 7609. Expungement here reaches only convictions for conduct that is no longer criminal; ordinary convictions are sealed, not expunged. Federal and out-of-state convictions, and juvenile records, follow different law. |
| Virginia verified 2026-07-19 | Sealing prohibits ordinary public access but does not destroy the record; the person may usually deny it, while government and federal duty-related sharing remains (§ 19.2-392.5) |
Automatic after 7 years for listed misdemeanor petit larceny, shoplifting, trespass, marijuana distribution, and disorderly-conduct convictions dated Jan. 1, 1986 or later, with no new reportable conviction and no same-day ineligible conviction (§§ 19.2-392.6–392.7) |
General petition: misdemeanors, Class 5 or 6 felonies, and grand-larceny/other felonies punished under § 18.2-95. Separate mandatory petition route covers the automatic-list offenses plus underage alcohol and specified paraphernalia offenses (§§ 19.2-392.12, -392.12:1) |
General route excludes listed homicide/DUI/domestic-violence and protective-order offenses, registrable sex crimes, violent felonies, firearm-used felonies, hate/election/animal-cruelty crimes, family-or-household-member victims, and extensive other listed categories (§ 19.2-392.12(L)) |
Automatic and special-list petition: 7 years from conviction or deferred dismissal. General petition: 7 years for misdemeanors, 10 for felonies, from the latest conviction/dismissal, release, supervision-violation finding, or post-violation release (§§ 19.2-392.6(B), -392.12(F)(2), -392.12:1(I)) |
General petition requires full restitution, any required drug/alcohol rehabilitation showing, and qualifying prior-record history; fines, costs, penalties, and restitution remain owed after sealing. The waiting period must be free of new reportable convictions (§§ 19.2-392.5(F), -392.12(F)) |
No-fee circuit-court petition where disposed; serve the Commonwealth's attorney, who has 30 days; request Virginia and national CCRE history. Court shall seal only if every criterion, including manifest injustice, is met; up to 2 general petitions lifetime (§ 19.2-392.12(B)–(G)) |
Public and ordinary employer access is restricted, but records remain usable for later bail/sentencing, firearms checks, law enforcement and required employment screening, child-custody matters, jury eligibility, social-services and other statutory/government functions (§§ 19.2-392.5, -392.13) |
Convictions receive sealing, not Chapter 23.1 expungement; expungement is a separate nonconviction remedy. Marijuana-possession mass sealing, juvenile, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief are outside this survey |
| Washington verified 2026-07-19 | Vacation withdraws the guilty plea or sets aside the verdict, dismisses the charge, and releases most penalties and disabilities; it is not destruction, and later-prosecution and firearm consequences may remain (§§ 9.94A.640(1), (4), 9.96.060(1), (8)). |
No general automatic clean-slate process: a person applies to the sentencing court, which may grant qualifying felony or misdemeanor vacation in its discretion. Narrow special statutes use mandatory language but do not automate general adult-conviction relief (§§ 9.94A.640(1), (5), 9.96.060(2), (4)–(7)). |
After discharge, covered Class B and C felonies may qualify; assault 2, specified assault 3, and robbery 2 can qualify despite the person-crime rule if no firearm, deadly-weapon, or sexual-motivation enhancement. Misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors are broadly petitionable subject to exclusions (§§ 9.94A.640(1)–(2), 9.96.060(2)). |
Felony relief bars pending charges and generally violent or person crimes except three listed offenses. Misdemeanor relief bars pending charges, violent offenses, DUI and listed intoxication offenses, most sex/obscenity offenses, specified domestic-violence histories or notice failures, and current or recently violated protection/restraint orders (§§ 9.94A.640(2), 9.96.060(2)). |
Class B felony: 10 years; Class C felony: generally 5 years, each from the latest of sentencing, release from confinement, or release from community custody, with no new crime during the same period. The Class C elapsed-time bar excepts felony DUI/physical control, but the 5-year no-new-crime test still applies. Ordinary misdemeanor: 3 years from the latest of sentencing, confinement release, or supervision/probation release; domestic violence: 5 years from completing original sentence conditions other than financial obligations (§§ 9.94A.640(2)(c)–(f), 9.96.060(2)(f)–(h)). |
Felony applicants must first be discharged after completing sentence requirements, including legal financial obligations. Misdemeanor applicants must complete all sentence terms and financial obligations, have no pending charge, and have no new crime during the applicable period; domestic-violence cases add treatment, affidavit, history, notice, and order-status gates (§§ 9.94A.637(1)–(4), 9.96.060(2)). |
Apply to the sentencing court; the court may grant qualifying general felony or misdemeanor relief in its discretion. A domestic-violence misdemeanor applicant must give written notice to the prosecuting attorney and provide that notice to the court (§§ 9.94A.640(1), 9.96.060(2)(f)). |
The person may state that the conviction never occurred; State Patrol and local law enforcement may disclose it only to criminal-justice enforcement agencies. The order goes to those agencies and the FBI, while later-prosecution use and separate firearm-restoration requirements remain (§§ 9.94A.640(4), 9.96.060(8)–(9)). |
This page covers general adult conviction vacation. Victim, cannabis/substance-use, treaty-fishing, and prison-riot special routes are boundary-only; juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, innocence, federal, tribal, military, and out-of-state relief are excluded (§§ 9.94A.640(3), (5), 9.96.060(3)–(7)). |
| West Virginia verified 2026-07-20 | Expungement removes evidence of the charge or conviction from public records; court records are sealed and agency records expunged. The matter is ordinarily treated as never having occurred, subject to access and disclosure exceptions (§ 61-11-26(k)–(m), (p)(2), (7)–(8)). |
No general automatic adult-conviction relief. The person files a verified circuit-court petition and bears the clear-and-convincing burden (§ 61-11-26(a), (d), (h)). |
Eligible misdemeanors; and one or more nonviolent felonies arising from the same transaction or series, if the court finds no listed exclusion, no intentional serious bodily injury, no violence or potential violence, and facts consistent with the statute. Relief under §§ 61-11-26 and 61-11-26a is available only once (§ 61-11-26(a), (o), (p)(5)). |
Excluded categories include violent-person felonies, specified minor-victim felonies, sex offenses, deadly-weapon cases, domestic violence, strangulation, child abuse, DUI, specified license/commercial-driving offenses, obscenity/exploitation offenses, burglary of a regularly used dwelling, sexually motivated convictions, and listed attempts/conspiracies. Pending criminal charges also defeat the required proof (§§ 61-11-26(c), (h)(3), 61-11-26b(a)). |
Ordinary route: 1 year for one misdemeanor, 2 years for multiple misdemeanors, 5 years for nonviolent felony—each measured from the latest of conviction, incarceration completion, or supervision completion. Approved-program route: after 90 days/program completion for one misdemeanor, 1 year for multiple misdemeanors, or 3 years for felony, subject to its exact start rules (§§ 61-11-26(b), 61-11-26a(a)). |
Complete the incarceration and supervision periods used by the applicable clock; disclose any current or prior restitution, protection, restraining, or no-contact order. Prove no pending charge, that the target convictions are the only convictions for the specified offense(s) in West Virginia, public-welfare consistency, rehabilitation, and law-abiding behavior. Section 61-11-26 does not state a separate fines/costs/restitution payoff element (§ 61-11-26(b), (d)(7), (h)). |
Verified petition in each circuit court of conviction; serve State Police, prosecutor, arresting agency, confinement official, and disposing court; prosecutor serves identified victims. Opposition and reply each have 30 days. Within 60 days the court grants, returns, sets a hearing, or summarily denies; petitioner bears clear-and-convincing proof. Civil-action filing fee plus $100 State Police processing fee, with the $100 waived under § 61-11-26a (§ 61-11-26(d)–(j), (n); § 61-11-26a(c)). |
Public records are removed and ordinary employment, credit, and other applications need not disclose the matter. Law-enforcement-position applicants must disclose; entities legally required to run criminal-history checks may know; the person or a prosecutor may obtain court-approved inspection for specified purposes. Expungement does not restore forfeited retirement or employment benefits (§ 61-11-26(l)–(m), (q)). |
Covers adult West Virginia convictions under §§ 61-11-26 and 61-11-26a. Nonconviction/deferred-disposition relief under § 61-11-25, pardons, juvenile, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief are outside scope; pardon records held by the Governor, Legislature, or Secretary of State are not expunged (§ 61-11-26(p)(6)). |
| Wisconsin verified 2026-07-19 | Expungement of the record upon successful sentence completion; the statute does not vacate the conviction. Required Department of Transportation conviction information is excluded (§ 973.015(1m)(a)1.). |
No general clean-slate identification. The court must order eligibility at sentencing; after successful completion, the required discharge certificate itself has expunging effect, without a later petition (§ 973.015(1m)(a)–(b)). |
No post-sentence petition. General eligibility: under age 25 when the offense occurred and maximum imprisonment of 6 years or less, if the judge finds benefit to the person and no harm to society (§ 973.015(1m)(a)1.). |
Class H felony excluded if the person has a prior lifetime felony, or the offense is statutorily violent, stalking, specified child abuse, or sexual exploitation by a therapist. Offenses with maximum imprisonment over 6 years are outside the general route (§ 973.015(1m)(a)1., 3.). |
No additional numbered waiting period. The order must be made at sentencing, and expungement takes effect on successful completion of the sentence through the discharge certificate (§ 973.015(1m)(a)–(b)). |
Successful completion requires no subsequent conviction; for probation, no revocation and satisfaction of all probation conditions. The section states no separate restitution rule beyond satisfaction of probation conditions (§ 973.015(1m)(b)). |
Ask the sentencing court before sentence is imposed; the general decision is discretionary based on benefit to the person and no harm to society. After successful completion, the detaining or probation authority must send the discharge certificate to the court (§ 973.015(1m)(a)–(b)). |
The court record is expunged, but required Department of Transportation conviction information remains outside the statute. Section 973.015 does not provide a general applicant-disclosure rule or direct every other record holder to destroy records (§ 973.015(1m)(a)–(b)). |
This page covers general youthful-offender expungement under § 973.015(1m). Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, innocence, federal, tribal, military, out-of-state, and the separate trafficking-victim vacatur or expungement motion under § 973.015(2m) are outside this survey. |
| Wyoming verified 2026-07-20 | Expungement of records of conviction: the court seals its own files (openable only by court order) and directs the Division of Criminal Investigation to reclassify the central-repository record so it is disseminated only to criminal-justice agencies for criminal-justice purposes—a sealing and limited-dissemination remedy, not destruction (§§ 7-13-1501(g), 7-13-1502(g); definition in § 7-13-1401(j)(i)). A granted felony expungement also restores rights lost from that conviction (§ 7-13-1502(m)). |
None. Wyoming has no automatic or clean-slate conviction relief; the person must file a verified petition in the convicting court under § 7-13-1501 (misdemeanors) or § 7-13-1502 (felonies). |
Two separate petition routes, each usable only once: a misdemeanor conviction—by guilty plea, nolo plea, or verdict—under § 7-13-1501, and a felony or felonies 'arising out of the same occurrence or related course of events' under § 7-13-1502, but only if the person has no other prior felony conviction. Both are filed in the convicting court (§§ 7-13-1501(a), (k); 7-13-1502(a), (k)). |
Misdemeanors involving the use or attempted use of a firearm, and a health-care provider's patient offense under § 6-2-313, cannot be expunged (§ 7-13-1501(a)). Felony exclusions are broader and include violent felonies (§ 6-1-104(a)(xii)), sexual offenses (§§ 6-2-301 through 6-2-320), and other enumerated serious felonies, plus any firearm-use felony except Title 23 game-and-fish offenses; a person with any other prior felony conviction is also disqualified (§ 7-13-1502(a)). |
Misdemeanor: five years for nonstatus offenses (one year for status offenses under § 7-1-107(b)(iii)) since expiration of the sentence terms, including probation or any court-ordered program (§ 7-13-1501(a)(i)). Felony: ten years since the later of expiration of the sentence terms (including probation), completion of any court-ordered program, and payment in full of any court-ordered restitution (§ 7-13-1502(a)(i)). |
The clock starts only after the sentence terms expire, so the sentence must be complete. For a felony, court-ordered restitution must be paid in full before the ten-year clock even begins, and the petitioner must have no other prior felony conviction (§ 7-13-1502(a)(i)(C), (a)(ii)); the misdemeanor statute sets no separate restitution-paid or fines-paid bar. In both routes the court will not grant relief if the petitioner represents a substantial danger to himself, an identifiable victim, or society (§§ 7-13-1501(g), 7-13-1502(g)). |
Verified petition to the convicting court, served on the prosecuting attorney and the Division of Criminal Investigation; the prosecutor mails notice to identifiable victims. The prosecutor or a victim may object within 30 days (misdemeanor) or 90 days (felony); an objection sets a hearing, and if none is filed the court may summarily grant if the petitioner is eligible. Relief is discretionary—the court must find eligibility and no substantial danger. Filing fee: $100 misdemeanor, $300 felony. The State may appeal a grant (§§ 7-13-1501(b), (e)–(h); 7-13-1502(b), (e)–(h)). |
Court files are sealed and openable only by court order; the Division of Criminal Investigation record is reclassified so it is disseminated only to state or federal criminal-justice agencies for criminal-justice purposes, and investigatory criminal-justice files stay usable. The conviction is therefore not destroyed and remains available to law enforcement; a granted felony expungement restores rights lost because of the conviction (§§ 7-13-1501(g); 7-13-1502(g), (m); § 7-13-1401(j)(i)). |
This route covers conviction records. Non-conviction relief—arrests, dismissed charges, and acquittals, including after a first-offender § 7-13-301 or drug § 35-7-1037 disposition—runs through the separate § 7-13-1401 route (no filing fee, 180-day wait). Juvenile records, gubernatorial restoration-of-rights certificates (§ 7-13-105), and federal or out-of-state convictions follow different rules. |
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