Utah: Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility
The short answer
Utah expungement seals or restricts public access rather than destroying the record. Limited controlled-substance-possession misdemeanors, class B and C misdemeanors, and infractions can qualify for automatic clean-slate relief after five to seven years from adjudication; a broader petition route uses three- to ten-year clocks measured from conviction or release from incarceration, parole, or probation, whichever is later. Petitioners generally need a Bureau of Criminal Identification certificate, full payment of fines, interest, and restitution, and clear-and-convincing proof that the statutory requirements are met and public interests will not be harmed.
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This is the general rule in Utah. Ezel applies current Utah law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Relief name and legal effect | 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)). |
|---|---|
| Automatic or clean-slate relief | 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). |
| Convictions eligible by petition | 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). |
| Excluded offenses and statuses | 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)). |
| Waiting period and when it starts | 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)). |
| Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions | 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)). |
| Petition process and decision standard | 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). |
| Who can still see or use the record | 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). |
| Boundaries and alternative relief | 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. |
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Requirements one by one
Relief name and legal effect
Utah calls the remedy expungement, but § 77-40a-101 defines it as sealing or
restricting access and expressly says it is not record destruction. Under
§ 77-40a-401, an agency keeps and indexes the record while restricting or
denying access. The person may generally answer an inquiry as though the
conviction did not occur unless another law or a court requires a different
answer.
Automatic or clean-slate relief
Section 77-40a-205 covers a case only when every conviction is an eligible
controlled-substance-possession misdemeanor, class B misdemeanor, class C
misdemeanor, or infraction. The clock runs from adjudication: five years for a
class C misdemeanor or infraction, six years for a class B misdemeanor, and
seven years for a class A controlled-substance-possession misdemeanor.
The prosecutor receives monthly notice and has 35 days to object for statutory
ineligibility, unpaid victim restitution, or a fact-supported reasonable belief
that the person continues criminal activity. Without a timely objection, the
court must proceed. Section 77-40a-204 directs automatic processing on and
after January 1, 2026, but makes the speed goals subject to available funding.
Convictions eligible by petition
Section 77-40a-303 supplies the broader route. It can cover eligible felonies,
felony drug-possession offenses, and class A, B, and C misdemeanors and
infractions that survive the offense exclusions and total-record limits.
The ordinary non-drug limits generally bar two or more separately episodic
felonies, combinations of three or more convictions that include two class A
misdemeanors, combinations of four or more that include three class B
misdemeanors, and five or more convictions of any degree. Drug-possession
limits generally bar three or more felony convictions or five or more total
convictions from separate episodes. After every conviction has reached the
statute's ten-year point, some non-drug limits increase or stop applying for
lower-level records.
Excluded offenses and statuses
The petition route excludes capital and first-degree felonies, violent
felonies, felony convictions in the impaired-driving group defined through
§ 41-6a-501(2), and offenses requiring sex-, kidnap-, or child-abuse-offender
registration at sentencing or when the certificate application is made.
A pending misdemeanor or felony proceeding or plea in abeyance, current
incarceration, parole, or probation, an active civil or criminal protective
order or criminal stalking injunction, intentionally false application
information, or a criminal history beyond the numerical limits also prevents
BCI from issuing the ordinary certificate. Traffic matters and specified minor
low-level supervision receive limited exceptions.
Waiting period and when it starts
For a petition, the clock starts on the later of conviction or release from
incarceration, parole, or probation. The periods are:
- Ten years for a misdemeanor in the impaired-driving group referenced by
§ 41-6a-501(2). - Seven years for another felony.
- Five years for felony drug possession or a class A misdemeanor.
- Four years for a class B misdemeanor.
- Three years for a class C misdemeanor or infraction.
These are not the automatic clean-slate clocks. Automatic eligibility instead
uses five, six, or seven years from adjudication, depending on the eligible
conviction class.
Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions
Petition eligibility requires full payment of the court-ordered fines and
interest tied to the conviction and full payment of court-ordered restitution.
The later-of-conviction-or-release clock also means incarceration, parole, or
probation can postpone the start date.
Automatic relief has different financial and status gates. The case is barred
if its criminal accounts receivable has become an unsatisfied civil account or
restitution judgment, and a prosecutor may object specifically for unpaid
victim restitution. A pending Utah misdemeanor or felony case, state-prison
incarceration, or probation or parole supervised by Adult Probation and Parole
also blocks the automatic route described in § 77-40a-205.
Petition process and decision standard
Section 77-40a-301 generally requires an application to BCI, the application
and issuance fees, and then a petition. Under § 77-40a-304, BCI checks
government records, including national databases and previously expunged
records. A certificate is valid for 180 days. Indigency provisions can affect
the issuance and filing fees, but an unpaid issuance fee can prevent BCI from
processing a granted order.
The petition is filed under Criminal Rule 42 in the court where the criminal
case was filed. Section 77-40a-305 requires the court to notify the prosecutor
within three days after the filing fee is paid or waived. The prosecutor has 35
days to respond, a victim has 60 days, and the petitioner may answer objections
within 14 days. An objection requires a hearing; without one in 60 days, the
court may act without a hearing.
Under § 77-40a-306, the court shall issue the order only if clear and convincing
evidence establishes the applicable certificate and statutory requirements and
that granting expungement would not harm the interests of the public.
Who can still see or use the record
Section 77-40a-403 generally forbids an agency from divulging an expunged
record without a court order, but it preserves specified access. The Board of
Pardons and Parole, Peace Officer Standards and Training, federal authorities
when federal law requires, the State Board of Education, judicial-office
investigators, and qualifying criminal-justice researchers may request
information. Prosecutors may share information about specified stalking,
domestic-violence, registry, and weapons matters.
An expunged record is generally unavailable as a predicate or sentencing
enhancement unless a prosecutor obtains a good-cause reopening in a later
eligible case. A sentencing court may separately order the record opened and
admitted. Section 77-40a-404 also permits access by the person and, under
confidentiality limits, certain officers or parties in a civil action arising
from the incident.
What trips people up
Automatic relief initially reaches court and BCI records. Section
77-40a-205 describes the automatic order as covering records held by the court
and bureau. By contrast, after a petition order, § 77-40a-307 requires BCI to
notify all affected agencies and forward the order to the FBI; the petitioner
may also deliver copies but is not assigned a mandatory service deadline.
Automatic eligibility does not guarantee timely identification. Section
77-40a-201 allows a petition if automatic relief has not occurred and says the
failure to identify or clear an eligible case does not create a damages claim.
A certificate can expire before filing. It lasts 180 days, and the court
may not accept a petition based on an expired certificate.
Common questions
Do previously expunged convictions count when BCI reviews a new petition?
Yes. Sections 77-40a-303 and 77-40a-304 direct BCI to consider previously
expunged convictions when applying the numerical rules.
Can I petition even if the conviction qualifies for automatic relief? Yes.
Section 77-40a-201 expressly preserves the petition route when automatic
expungement has not occurred.
Can I ask an agency to confirm that it processed the order? Yes. Under
§ 77-40a-404, the person may request written confirmation that the agency
expunged all records of the offense.
Does an expungement cancel an administrative case already underway? No.
Section 77-40a-401 preserves pending administrative proceedings, prior
administrative findings, evidence used in those proceedings, and records that
law requires an agency to maintain or distribute.
Statutes and sources
- Utah Code § 77-40a-101 — definitions of automatic expungement and
expungement's sealing, access-restriction, and non-destruction effect.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S101_2026050620260701.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-201 — preserved petition route and no damages claim for a
missed automatic case.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S201_2024100120240501.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-204 — automatic-processing start and funding-dependent
timing goals.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S204_2024100120240501.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-205 — clean-slate conviction classes, adjudication clocks,
exclusions, objections, and court/bureau processing.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S205_2026050620260506.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-301 — certificate application, fees, and petition sequence.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S301_2024100120240501.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-303 — conviction eligibility, exclusions, payment gates,
waits, numerical caps, and ten-year adjustments.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S303_2026050620260506.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-304 — BCI review, 180-day certificate, fees, and indigency
procedures.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S304_2024100120240501.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-305 — filing court, notice, response periods, and hearing
trigger.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S305_2025050720250507.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-306 — clear-and-convincing findings, public-interest test,
order, and certified-copy request.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S306_2025050720250507.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-307 — BCI distribution to affected agencies and the FBI.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S307_2024100120240501.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-401 — agency processing, response to inquiries, and
preserved administrative uses.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S401_2024100120240501.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-403 — agency disclosure limits, enumerated access,
prosecutorial use, and sentencing-court reopening.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S403_2026050620260701.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19) - Utah Code § 77-40a-404 — confirmation and limited individual/civil-action
access.
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter40A/C77-40a-S404_2024100120240501.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-19)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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