Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility in Minnesota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Relief name and legal effect

Minnesota calls the remedy expungement, but its ordinary operation is sealing. Section 609A.03 says the existence of the record may be withheld and the record kept closed except for statutory access. It also says records are not destroyed or returned.

The conviction remains usable in a later prosecution. If the expunged conviction is a statutory crime of violence, the order must preserve the firearms restriction unless separate relief restores firearm rights.

Automatic or clean-slate relief

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identifies qualifying records without an application, petition, or motion. It makes the first eligibility decision within 30 days after the waiting period and rechecks annually if the record is not yet eligible. BCA seals its record 60 days after notifying the judicial branch unless contrary information or a judicial order stops sealing; the judicial branch then seals the case records.

Automatic relief does not extend to records held by the commissioners of children, youth, and families; health; and human services. A separate petition may be needed to reach those records.

Since August 1, 2026, Chapter 70, § 5 also permits BCA to unseal an automatic record if its criminal-history system later shows that the record did not qualify. BCA must notify the judicial branch, which then unseals the related court records.

Convictions eligible by petition

The petition route is broader than automatic eligibility for misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors. It covers petty misdemeanors, misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, specified felonies reduced under § 609.13, and the closed felony list in § 609A.02, subdivision 3(b).

That route matters when an offense is excluded from automatic relief or when the person seeks an order directed to a record holder outside the automatic order.

Excluded offenses and statuses

Automatic eligibility uses detailed exception lists for misdemeanor, gross- misdemeanor, and felony convictions. It also requires no new Minnesota offense other than a petty misdemeanor during the applicable period and no pending non-petty Minnesota charge when the period ends or BCA later reviews the record.

Petition-based felony relief is not open-ended. The felony must fall within § 609A.02's enumerated list or one of its specified reduced-felony rules.

Waiting period and when it starts

Every conviction clock runs from discharge of the sentence.

For automatic relief, the waits are two years for a petty misdemeanor or misdemeanor, three years for a gross misdemeanor, four years for a felony under § 152.025, and five years for another qualifying felony.

For a petition, the waits are two years for a petty misdemeanor or misdemeanor, three years for a gross misdemeanor, and generally four years for a felony on the statutory list. One reduced-felony category uses five years.

Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions

The person must complete the sentence before the clock begins. Automatic relief and the petition route each impose the applicable new-offense screen; automatic relief also checks for a pending non-petty Minnesota charge.

Outstanding restitution is not written as an absolute petition bar. The court must consider the amount outstanding, prior payment efforts, and measures to ensure payment continues after expungement.

Petition process and decision standard

The petition is signed under oath and must disclose the offense, rehabilitation, complete conviction and charge history, pending cases, prior record-relief requests, and related protection or no-contact orders. The person serves the prosecutor and every affected agency; requested victim notice follows. The hearing occurs no sooner than 60 days after service.

For conviction relief, the petitioner must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the benefit is commensurate with the public and public-safety disadvantages of sealing and administering the order. Indigency can waive the filing fee. An entered order is automatically stayed for 60 days for appeal.

Who can still see or use the record

Criminal-justice agencies may open, use, or exchange the record without a court order for investigation, prosecution, sentencing, probation, or corrections. The statute also preserves specified access for criminal-justice hiring, human-services background studies, educator licensing checks, victims in substantially related matters, prosecutors seeking certified records, and the person whose record was sealed.

The automatic process tells law enforcement not to disclose affected records to ordinary requesters, while preserving criminal-justice access. A record opened by an authorized recipient remains subject to the expungement order.

What trips people up

Automatic and petition felony clocks differ. Many listed felonies may be petitioned after four years even though the general automatic felony clock is five years.

Automatic relief does not reach every agency. Health, human-services, and children-and-family records require attention to the petition and service rules.

Automatic sealing can be corrected. Since August 1, 2026, BCA may reverse an automatic sealing when its criminal-history system later shows the record was ineligible.

Common questions

Must restitution be fully paid before petitioning? The statute makes outstanding restitution and payment efforts decision factors, not an express automatic bar.

Is a hearing required for a conviction petition? Yes. It must be scheduled at least 60 days after service, and a victim may submit a statement.

Can the record be used in a later criminal case? Yes. Criminal-justice access remains, and an automatically expunged record has the same effect in a later prosecution as if relief had not been granted.

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. § 609A.015 — automatic eligibility, offense exceptions, waits, BCA review and sealing, agency limits, and later-prosecution use. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609A.015 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Minn. Stat. § 609A.02 — petition eligibility, conviction-free periods, and enumerated felony list. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609A.02 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Minn. Stat. § 609A.03 — petition contents, service, hearing, standard, restitution factor, sealing effect, firearms order, access, and appeal stay. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609A.03 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• Minn. Stat. § 645.02 — default August 1 effective date for a nonappropriation act without a different specified date. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/645.02 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 70, § 5 — current BCA correction and unsealing process, effective August 1, 2026 under § 645.02. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/70/laws.0.5.0 (accessed 2026-08-08)