Oregon: Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility

Requirements one by one

Relief name and legal effect

Oregon calls the remedy a set-aside. Under ORS § 137.225(3) and (4), the court
sets aside the conviction and seals the conviction record and other official
records in the case. For purposes of Oregon law, the person is deemed not to
have been previously convicted, the proceeding is deemed not to have occurred,
and the person may answer questions accordingly.

That is a strong legal effect, but it is not destruction. Subsections (10) and
(11) preserve court-ordered disclosure for a truth-based civil claim or defense
and limited good-cause reopening for a prosecutor or defendant. A reopening
order does not undo the set-aside.

Automatic or clean-slate relief

ORS § 137.225(1)(a) says an eligible person applies "by motion" in the court
where the conviction was entered. The general conviction route is therefore not
automatic. Once a motion is filed, however, subsection (3)(b) requires the
court to grant it if the prosecutor does not object and the statutory conditions
are met.

A narrow offense-specific exception operates without a motion. Section 54(4)
of 2024 Oregon Laws chapter 70, as amended in 2025, requires the court to seal a
drug-enforcement-misdemeanor conviction within 60 days after three years from
judgment. An outstanding warrant stops the clock and blocks sealing. Multiple
drug-enforcement misdemeanors in one case must all be eligible, and other case
records must first be set aside or expunged.

Convictions eligible by motion

Subsection (5) covers most misdemeanors, Class C felonies, felonies punishable
as misdemeanors under ORS 161.705, violations, and older offenses that would
qualify under the modern classification. A Class B felony can qualify only if
it is not a person felony under the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission's rules
and is not a violation of ORS 166.429.

The eligible-class list must be read with subsections (6) and (7). Being a Class
C felony or misdemeanor does not override a specific statutory exclusion.

Excluded offenses and statuses

ORS § 137.225(6) excludes listed elder-victim criminal mistreatment, specified
child-abuse forms of criminal mistreatment and endangering a minor, qualifying
criminally negligent homicide, a specified third-degree assault, and sex crimes
unless one of the statute's narrow exceptions is satisfied. Class A felonies
are outside subsection (5), while person Class B felonies and ORS 166.429 are
expressly excluded there.

Subsection (7) separately excludes state and municipal traffic convictions and
bars a motion when a disqualifying recent conviction or specified contempt
finding falls inside the applicable lookback. A pending criminal charge—or a
pending contempt charge for violating an abuse-related or person-crime
order—also blocks the motion.

Waiting period and when it starts

The general clock runs from the later of conviction or release from imprisonment:

• seven years for a Class B felony;
• five years for a Class C felony;
• three years for a Class A misdemeanor; and
• one year for a Class B or C misdemeanor or a violation.

The five-year branch also applies to contempt for violating an order related to
abuse or a person crime; other contempt findings use the one-year branch. If
probation was revoked, subsection (1)(e) requires the later of three years after
revocation or the ordinary class-based eligibility date. A court-reduced
classification uses the reduced class's period, still measured from conviction
or release from imprisonment.

Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions

The person must have fully complied with and performed the sentence. Someone
still under supervision has not done so. The statute does not state a separate
restitution test in this section; at an objection hearing, it expressly forbids
the court from using monetary obligations as part of the public-safety inquiry.

The recent-record rule is independent of sentence completion. During the
class-based lookback, another offense generally disqualifies the motion, though
motor vehicle violations and the statute's named drug-enforcement-misdemeanor
exception do not count. One nonmotor-vehicle violation is also disregarded, but
a conviction previously set aside under this section still counts for this
lookback.

Motion process and decision standard

The motion goes to the court where the conviction was entered. The filer serves
the prosecuting attorney, sends fingerprints to the Department of State Police,
and pays the department's actual-cost criminal-record-check fee. ORS
§ 137.225(1)(g) eliminates the ordinary court filing fee, and the prosecutor may
not charge a separate processing fee.

The prosecutor has 120 days from filing to object and must notify the victim of
the motion and hearing date. If there is an objection, the court holds a hearing
and lets the victim speak. The court must grant relief unless it makes written
findings, by clear and convincing evidence, that post-conviction circumstances
and behavior create a public-safety risk. The permitted inquiry is limited to
criminal behavior and related regulatory or administrative violations; it may
not use nonpunitive civil liability, monetary obligations, or motor vehicle
violations.

Who can still see or use the record

The order seals the official case records, and the clerk sends certified copies
to the agencies directed by the court and to the Department of Corrections for a
conviction. The statute nevertheless preserves targeted access. In a civil case
where truth matters to a claim or defense, ORS § 137.225(10) allows a party to seek disclosure in the
interest of justice. A prosecutor or defendant may also seek limited reopening
for an investigation on an affidavit showing good cause.

What trips people up

The waiting clock is not sentence completion. Oregon separately requires
full sentence performance, but the numbered clock runs from the later of the
conviction date or release from imprisonment. Treating the end of probation as
the universal start date can produce the wrong filing date.

Eligibility is a three-step check. First identify the class under subsection
(5), then check the named offense exclusions in subsection (6), and finally
apply the recent-record, traffic, and pending-charge rules in subsection (7).

No objection does not make the route automatic. The person still files a
motion, serves the prosecutor, and completes the fingerprint and record-check
steps. No objection changes the decision path, not the need to apply. The
separate drug-enforcement-misdemeanor sealing rule is the narrow automatic
exception.

Common questions

Can a set-aside conviction be denied on a job or housing application? ORS
§ 137.225(4) says the person may answer questions as though the conviction did
not occur. That does not guarantee removal from every federal or private
database or answer a separate disclosure rule outside this statute.

Does an old set-aside conviction count in the recent-record check? Yes.
Subsection (7)(b) expressly says a conviction set aside under this section is
still considered when applying the lookback rule.

Can the sealed file ever be reopened? Yes, in the limited circumstances in
subsections (10) and (11). Reopening for an investigation does not itself undo
the set-aside order.

Statutes and sources

• Or. Rev. Stat. § 137.225(1), (5) — motion requirement, sentence completion,
  eligible classes, waiting periods, revoked probation, and reduced
  classifications.
  https://web.archive.org/web/20251117161024id_/https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2492/A-Engrossed
  (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 137.225(6)–(8) — offense exclusions, traffic rule,
  recent-record lookback, pending charges, and nonconviction boundaries.
  https://web.archive.org/web/20251117161024id_/https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2492/A-Engrossed
  (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 137.225(1)(g), (2), (3) — fees, service, fingerprints,
  objection period, victim notice, hearing, and public-safety standard.
  https://web.archive.org/web/20251117161024id_/https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2492/A-Engrossed
  (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 137.225(3), (4), (10)–(12) — set-aside effect, sealing,
  disclosure exceptions, limited reopening, and statewide forms.
  https://web.archive.org/web/20251117161024id_/https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2492/A-Engrossed
  (accessed 2026-07-19)
• 2024 Or. Laws ch. 70, § 54(4)–(7), amended by 2025 Or. Laws ch. 532 —
  automatic drug-enforcement-misdemeanor conviction sealing and warrant,
  multiple-offense, and mixed-case conditions.
  https://web.archive.org/web/20250809123830id_/https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB236/B-Engrossed
  (accessed 2026-07-19)