Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility in Kentucky

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Relief name and legal effect

For an eligible felony, KRS 431.073 authorizes the court to vacate the judgment, dismiss the eligible charge with prejudice, and expunge the record. The order is not a finding of innocence or legal error.

For a misdemeanor, violation, or traffic infraction, KRS 431.078 says the expunged proceeding is deemed never to have occurred. Both routes remove the matter from official state-performed background checks, permit a no-record response, and generally eliminate disclosure on employment, credit, and other applications.

Automatic or clean-slate relief

There is no currently effective general automatic conviction-expungement system. A felony applicant files a motion in the original criminal case, and a misdemeanor-level petitioner files in the court of conviction. The 2026 SB 290 proposal would have created automation for later offenses, but it did not pass.

Convictions eligible by petition

KRS 431.078 covers a misdemeanor, violation, traffic infraction, a series from one incident, and a series from different incidents. Relief is mandatory after the findings for the single-incident group and discretionary for the different-incident group.

KRS 431.073 reaches the long enumerated Class D list, a series of listed Class D felonies from one incident, a conviction covered by a full pardon, and the broader subsection (1)(d) category of otherwise qualifying Class D felonies or multiple qualifying felonies. The broader route carries additional proof and public-safety review when the Commonwealth objects.

Excluded offenses and statuses

Misdemeanor-level relief excludes a sex offense or offense against a child. An offense subject to repeat-offense enhancement is unavailable until the enhancement period expires.

The broad Class D route excludes DUI under KRS 189A.010, the specified KRS 508.032 and 519.055 offenses, abuse of public office, sex offenses, offenses against children, and offenses that resulted in serious bodily injury or death. Because subsection (1)(a) is an enumerated list and subsection (1)(c) separately covers a full pardon, a person should identify the exact statutory route rather than apply subsection (1)(d)'s exclusions mechanically to every application.

Waiting period and when it starts

Both principal routes use five years after sentence completion or successful completion of probation or parole, whichever occurs later. For misdemeanors, the statute cross-references special drug-treatment provisions that may supply a different route.

Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions

The person must have no felony or misdemeanor conviction during the five years before filing and no felony or misdemeanor proceeding pending or being instituted. For the broad Class D route, the court must also find rehabilitation and no significant threat of recidivism.

Neither KRS 431.073 nor KRS 431.078 states a separate universal restitution-payment prerequisite. The felony expungement itself is not completed until its statutory fee is fully paid.

Petition process and decision standard

Every conviction application needs the KSP/AOC certification of eligibility. The felony application has a $50 nonrefundable filing fee and a $250 fee after the order; the latter may be paid by an installment plan, but the record is not expunged until full payment. A misdemeanor petition carries a $100 filing fee.

For a felony, the prosecutor ordinarily responds within 60 days and the merits hearing occurs no later than 120 days after filing. If the prosecutor states no objection, or 120 days pass without a response from the prosecutor or victim, the court may act without a hearing.

When the Commonwealth opposes the broad Class D route, the applicant must prove by clear and convincing evidence that relief is consistent with public welfare and safety, supported by rehabilitation and a law-abiding life, warranted by the interests of justice, and otherwise appropriate. The court also weighs the applicant's harm against the public interest in access to the criminal history.

The misdemeanor hearing is set no sooner than 30 days after filing, with notice to the county attorney, an identified victim, and other persons the petitioner believes may have relevant information.

Who can still see or use the record

KRS 431.073 lets a prosecutor retain a nonpublic felony record for law- enforcement purposes. The Administrative Office of the Courts also keeps a restricted index available for eligibility certifications and Kentucky Law Enforcement Council qualification checks; an earlier expunged felony may be included in a later eligibility certification.

For misdemeanor records, later inspection is permitted only on a petition by the person whose record was expunged and only to the people named in that petition. The statutes do not promise deletion from every federal or private database.

Boundaries and alternative relief

KRS 431.076's non-conviction expungement is outside this page. A full pardon is one felony eligibility route, but KRS 431.073 still governs the court process and expungement effect.

Enacted 2026 Acts chapter 126 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 126, §§ 29, 31, and 34) will add one Class D offense under the new virtual-currency-kiosk law to subsection (1)(a), effective April 30, 2027. It does not otherwise change the five-year petition framework. The enacted text opens the change, "SECTION 29. A NEW SECTION OF SUBTITLE 13 OF KRS CHAPTER 286 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS."

What trips people up

The five-year date is the later completion event. Counting from conviction can be too early when probation, parole, or another part of the sentence ended later.

Single-incident and multiple-incident misdemeanors use different verbs. The court “shall” grant for the former and “may” grant for the latter after making the same listed findings.

Vacatur is not innocence. The felony statute expressly says the order does not find innocence or legal error in the original proceeding.

Common questions

Can multiple felonies be expunged? Yes, when they fit subsection (1)(b)'s single-incident enumerated route or subsection (1)(d)'s multiple-eligible- felony route and the remaining requirements are met.

Can the court grant a felony application without a hearing? It may do so after a no-objection response or after 120 days without the specified response.

Does an expunged felony disappear from every state record? No. Official state background checks return no record, but prosecutors and the restricted AOC index retain the narrow access the statutes describe.

Statutes and sources

• KRS 431.073 — felony eligibility, five-year clock, process, heightened standard, fees, vacatur, expungement, disclosure, and retained prosecutor record. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53904 (accessed 2026-08-11)
• KRS 431.078 — misdemeanor, violation, and traffic-infraction routes, mandatory/discretionary distinction, five-year conditions, fee, and effect. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=45221 (accessed 2026-07-19)
• KRS 431.074 — restricted AOC index and access. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54140 (accessed 2026-07-19)
• KRS 431.079 — required KSP/AOC eligibility certification and expungement definition. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=49360 (accessed 2026-07-19)
• 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 126, §§ 29, 31, and 34 — future virtual-currency-kiosk Class D felony and April 30, 2027 KRS 431.073 expansion. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0126.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)