Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility in Delaware

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Relief name and legal effect

Delaware calls the remedy expungement. Section 4372 says the records may be destroyed, segregated, or placed in State Bureau of Identification custody. The practical public result is the same across those methods: unauthorized inquiries do not receive the record, and ordinary requesters are told that there is no record.

Expungement does not require every government copy or identifier to be destroyed. Section 4376 preserves closed court and Department of Justice records and permits law enforcement to retain felony-arrest photographs and fingerprints and qualifying DNA.

Automatic or clean-slate relief

Under § 4373A, every case eligible for mandatory expungement under § 4373 is also eligible for automatic expungement. Since August 1, 2024, SBI must identify eligible cases each month and direct the courts and law-enforcement agencies to complete the expungement.

Automation does not eliminate the application route. If SBI has not processed an eligible case, the person may still request mandatory expungement under § 4373.

Convictions eligible by petition

Mandatory relief covers violations after three years; misdemeanors and § 4756 drug possession after five years; and six specified felonies after ten years. The six felony categories are three drug offenses, possession of burglar’s tools, second-degree forgery in the specified subsection, and unlawful use of a payment card.

Section 4374 provides a broader discretionary route. It covers eligible one-case misdemeanors, eligible felonies, and certain violations or misdemeanors spread across more than one case, subject to the separate record and offense limits.

Excluded offenses and statuses

The general rules bar relief while criminal charges are pending or while the person is incarcerated, on parole, or on probation. Section 4372 also names five convictions that cannot be expunged and regulates repeat expungements and felonies committed after earlier felony relief.

Mandatory expungement has additional exclusions for domestic-violence offenses, offenses against children or vulnerable adults, and enumerated misdemeanors. Discretionary relief excludes violent felonies listed in § 4201(c), the specified Title 16 and Title 31 offenses, and defined felony physical or sexual assault crimes.

Waiting period and when it starts

For mandatory relief, the clock runs from conviction except for the six listed felonies, which use the later of conviction or release from incarceration:

• violations: three years;
• misdemeanors and § 4756 drug possession: five years; and
• the six listed felonies: ten years.

For discretionary relief, eligible nonlisted misdemeanors use three years; misdemeanors on the mandatory-exclusion list and eligible felonies use seven years. Those periods run from conviction or release, whichever is later. Qualifying multiple-case violations or misdemeanors use five years from the most recent conviction or release, whichever is later.

Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions

Section 4372 requires all conviction-related fines, fees, and restitution to be paid. When a fine or fee remains unpaid for reasons other than willful noncompliance, the court may waive it or convert the obligation to a civil judgment. The statute does not give the same waiver option for restitution.

Most conviction routes also require the absence of a disqualifying prior or subsequent conviction. The exact rule differs between the mandatory and discretionary tracks, so eligibility must be tested under the route and case structure being used.

Petition process and decision standard

SBI handles mandatory applications and automatic processing. A discretionary petition is filed in Family Court when every relevant matter was disposed of there; otherwise it goes to Superior Court in the county of the most recent case. The petition must include the SBI criminal history and be served on the Attorney General, who has 120 days to object or answer and contacts the victim.

The court ordinarily decides without a hearing unless it believes one is needed. The petitioner must allege specific facts and prove by a preponderance of the evidence that continued existence and dissemination of the record causes or may cause manifest injustice.

Who can still see or use the record

Section 4376 keeps the record available for criminal investigations and law-enforcement employment review. Criminal-justice agencies may also use specified expunged records to determine eligibility for probation before judgment and first-offender or court-supervised diversion programs, and may review records for concealed-deadly-weapon licensing.

After a later conviction, SBI may provide the record to the court, prosecutor, and defendant for sentencing. It may also provide it to the Governor or Board of Pardons if the person later seeks a pardon for the new offense.

Boundaries and alternative relief

This subchapter applies to criminal cases and convictions entered in Delaware courts. Title 21 traffic offenses are generally outside the scheme, subject to the specific current provision in § 4374(i); pending SB 124 would change how those offenses affect other charges in the same matter.

Juvenile expungement, pardon-based relief, trafficking-victim vacatur and related expungement, nonconviction relief, and federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state records follow different provisions.

What trips people up

Mandatory does not mean the person must file. Section 4373 still describes an SBI request, but § 4373A separately directs SBI to identify the same eligible cases monthly. The request remains a fallback when automation does not occur.

Three different clocks may apply. Mandatory relief uses three, five, or ten years. Discretionary relief uses three, five, or seven years. The felony and discretionary clocks may run from release rather than conviction when release is later.

Expungement does not clear abuse registries. Section 4372 says relief does not automatically remove a person from the Child Protection Registry or Adult Abuse Registry, and it does not nullify an active protection-from-abuse order.

Common questions

What if an old charge has no recorded disposition? For eligibility, a charge at least seven years old with an unknown, unobtainable, or pending disposition is treated as dismissed unless there is an active warrant or case activity within the last twelve months.

Is a court hearing always required? No. A discretionary petition is decided without a hearing unless the court believes a hearing is necessary.

Can the person be asked about an expunged conviction? Section 4372 says the person is not required to disclose it and should not be asked, subject to the specific access rules in § 4376.

Statutes and sources

• 11 Del. C. § 4372 — definition and effect, general exclusions, current-status and payment conditions, prior relief, protection orders, and abuse registries. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title11/c043/sc07/index.html (accessed 2026-08-08)
• 11 Del. C. §§ 4373–4373A — mandatory offense categories and waits, exclusions, SBI applications, and monthly automatic expungement. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title11/c043/sc07/index.html (accessed 2026-08-08)
• 11 Del. C. § 4374 — discretionary eligibility, waits, venue, service, victim contact, hearing rule, manifest-injustice burden, and filing fees. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title11/c043/sc07/index.html (accessed 2026-08-08)
• 11 Del. C. § 4376 — retained criminal-justice, licensing, diversion, sentencing, and pardon access; retained identifiers and closed records. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title11/c043/sc07/index.html (accessed 2026-08-08)