Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility in Wyoming
At a glance
| Relief name and legal effect | Expungement of records of conviction: the court seals its own files (openable only by court order) and directs the Division of Criminal Investigation to reclassify the central-repository record so it is disseminated only to criminal-justice agencies for criminal-justice purposes—a sealing and limited-dissemination remedy, not destruction (§§ 7-13-1501(g), 7-13-1502(g); definition in § 7-13-1401(j)(i)). A granted felony expungement also restores rights lost from that conviction (§ 7-13-1502(m)). |
|---|---|
| Automatic or clean-slate relief | None. Wyoming has no automatic or clean-slate conviction relief; the person must file a verified petition in the convicting court under § 7-13-1501 (misdemeanors) or § 7-13-1502 (felonies). |
| Convictions eligible by petition | Two separate petition routes, each usable only once: a misdemeanor conviction—by guilty plea, nolo plea, or verdict—under § 7-13-1501, and a felony or felonies 'arising out of the same occurrence or related course of events' under § 7-13-1502, but only if the person has no other prior felony conviction. Both are filed in the convicting court (§§ 7-13-1501(a), (k); 7-13-1502(a), (k)). |
| Excluded offenses and statuses | Misdemeanors involving the use or attempted use of a firearm, and a health-care provider's patient sexual-battery offense under § 6-2-313, cannot be expunged (§ 7-13-1501(a)). Felony exclusions are broader and include violent felonies (§ 6-1-104(a)(xii)), sexual-assault and sexual-abuse offenses (§§ 6-2-301 through 6-2-320), and other enumerated serious felonies, plus any firearm-use felony except Title 23 game-and-fish offenses; a person with any other prior felony conviction is also disqualified (§ 7-13-1502(a)). |
| Waiting period and when it starts | Misdemeanor: five years for nonstatus offenses (one year for status offenses under § 7-1-107(b)(iii)) since expiration of the sentence terms, including probation or any court-ordered program (§ 7-13-1501(a)(i)). Felony: ten years since the later of expiration of the sentence terms (including probation), completion of any court-ordered program, and payment in full of any court-ordered restitution (§ 7-13-1502(a)(i)). |
| Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions | The clock starts only after the sentence terms expire, so the sentence must be complete. For a felony, court-ordered restitution must be paid in full before the ten-year clock even begins, and the petitioner must have no other prior felony conviction (§ 7-13-1502(a)(i)(C), (a)(ii)); the misdemeanor statute sets no separate restitution-paid or fines-paid bar. In both routes the court will not grant relief if the petitioner represents a substantial danger to himself, an identifiable victim, or society (§§ 7-13-1501(g), 7-13-1502(g)). |
| Petition process and decision standard | Verified petition to the convicting court, served on the prosecuting attorney and the Division of Criminal Investigation; the prosecutor mails notice to identifiable victims. The prosecutor or a victim may object within 30 days (misdemeanor) or 90 days (felony); an objection sets a hearing, and if none is filed the court may summarily grant if the petitioner is eligible. Relief is discretionary—the court must find eligibility and no substantial danger. Filing fee: $100 misdemeanor, $300 felony. The State may appeal a grant (§§ 7-13-1501(b), (e)–(h); 7-13-1502(b), (e)–(h)). |
| Who can still see or use the record | Court files are sealed and openable only by court order; the Division of Criminal Investigation record is reclassified so it is disseminated only to state or federal criminal-justice agencies for criminal-justice purposes, and investigatory criminal-justice files stay usable. The conviction is therefore not destroyed and remains available to law enforcement; a granted felony expungement restores rights lost because of the conviction (§§ 7-13-1501(g); 7-13-1502(g), (m); § 7-13-1401(j)(i)). |
| Boundaries and alternative relief | This route covers conviction records. Non-conviction relief—arrests, dismissed charges, and acquittals, including after a first-offender § 7-13-301 or drug § 35-7-1037 disposition—runs through the separate § 7-13-1401 route (no filing fee, 180-day wait). Juvenile records, gubernatorial restoration-of-rights certificates (§ 7-13-105), and federal or out-of-state convictions follow different rules. |
Requirements one by one
Relief name and legal effect
Wyoming's word is expungement, but the statutory definition is narrow. Under § 7-13-1401(j)(i)—borrowed by both conviction statutes—expungement is "only the classification" of the record held in the state central repository at the Division of Criminal Investigation so that it "will not be available for dissemination purposes other than to a criminal justice agency ... to be used solely for criminal justice purposes." When a court grants relief, § 7-13-1501(g) and § 7-13-1502(g) direct it to seal its own files (openable only by court order) and to send a certified copy of the order to the Division. The conviction record is therefore reclassified and shielded from public dissemination, not destroyed, and criminal-justice agencies keep access.
One route adds something the other does not: § 7-13-1502(m) says a felony expungement "shall restore any rights removed as a result of the conviction." The misdemeanor statute has no parallel restoration clause because a misdemeanor generally does not strip civil rights in the first place.
Convictions eligible by petition
There are two distinct petitions, and each may be used only once (§§ 7-13-1501(k), 7-13-1502(k)):
- Misdemeanor (§ 7-13-1501): any misdemeanor conviction—by guilty plea, nolo plea, or verdict—subject to the exclusions below.
- Felony (§ 7-13-1502): a felony, or several felonies "arising out of the same occurrence or related course of events," but only if the person "has not previously pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to or been convicted of a felony" apart from the ones in the petition.
Both are filed in the court that entered the conviction.
Excluded offenses and statuses
For misdemeanors, § 7-13-1501(a) bars any offense involving the use or attempted use of a firearm, and a health-care provider's offense under § 6-2-313 committed against a patient in their care. The felony list in § 7-13-1502(a) is longer: it excludes violent felonies (§ 6-1-104(a)(xii)), sexual offenses (§§ 6-2-301 through 6-2-320), and a series of other enumerated serious felonies, and it bars any firearm-use felony unless the offense is punishable under Title 23 (game and fish). A single earlier felony conviction anywhere in the person's history also disqualifies the felony route.
Waiting period and when it starts
The two clocks are very different:
- Misdemeanor: five years for a nonstatus offense, or one year for a status offense under § 7-1-107(b)(iii), measured from expiration of the sentence terms—including any probation or court-ordered program (§ 7-13-1501(a)(i)).
- Felony: ten years, measured from the latest of three events—expiration of the sentence terms (including probation), completion of any court-ordered program, and payment in full of any court-ordered restitution (§ 7-13-1502(a)(i)).
Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions
Because each clock runs from the end of the sentence, the sentence must be complete before the wait even starts. The felony route adds a hard money gate: under § 7-13-1502(a)(i)(C) the ten years cannot begin until all court-ordered restitution is paid. The misdemeanor statute contains no equivalent restitution-paid or fines-paid requirement. Beyond the clock, both routes are discretionary—§§ 7-13-1501(g) and 7-13-1502(g) let the court grant relief only after finding the petitioner "does not represent a substantial danger to himself, any identifiable victim or society."
Petition process and decision standard
The petition is verified and served on the prosecuting attorney and the Division of Criminal Investigation, and the prosecutor mails notice to identifiable victims. The objection window differs by route: 30 days for a misdemeanor (§ 7-13-1501(f)) and 90 days for a felony (§ 7-13-1502(f)). A written objection from the prosecutor or a victim triggers a hearing at which anyone with relevant information may testify; if no objection is filed, the court may summarily grant when the petitioner is otherwise eligible. The filing fee is $100 for a misdemeanor and $300 for a felony, and the State may appeal any grant.
Who can still see or use the record
After a grant the court file is sealed and openable only by court order, and the Division reclassifies the repository record so it is shared only with state or federal criminal-justice agencies for criminal-justice purposes; investigatory criminal-justice files remain usable (§ 7-13-1401(j)(i)). The practical effect is that the conviction drops out of public background checks but stays fully visible to law enforcement and the courts. A felony expungement additionally restores civil rights lost because of the conviction (§ 7-13-1502(m)).
What trips people up
Two petitions, two "onces." Sections 7-13-1501(k) and 7-13-1502(k) each cap their route at a single lifetime use, but they are separate caps—using the misdemeanor route does not consume the felony route, and vice versa.
A felony's restitution balance freezes the clock. The ten-year felony wait does not start until court-ordered restitution is paid in full (§ 7-13-1502(a)(i)(C)). Someone still paying restitution nine years after sentencing has not yet begun the clock.
Expungement here is not erasure. The statutory definition keeps the record alive for criminal-justice use (§ 7-13-1401(j)(i)); it limits public dissemination rather than destroying the file.
Common questions
Is a dismissed charge or an arrest handled the same way? No. Non-conviction records—including outcomes after a first-offender § 7-13-301 or drug § 35-7-1037 disposition—use the separate § 7-13-1401 petition, which has no filing fee and a 180-day wait.
Will an expunged felony restore my gun rights? Section 7-13-1502(m) restores rights removed by the conviction, but firearm eligibility can also turn on federal law and on how the offense is classified, so confirm before relying on it.
Can the prosecutor stop my petition? The prosecutor (or a victim) can object within the 30-day or 90-day window, which forces a hearing; even without an objection the court must independently find the person is eligible and not a substantial danger (§§ 7-13-1501(g), 7-13-1502(g)).
Statutes and sources
- Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-1501 — misdemeanor conviction expungement: five-year (one-year status) wait, firearm and health-care-provider exclusions, $100 fee, service, 30-day objection, substantial-danger standard, sealing, and once-only limit. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title07.pdf (accessed 2026-08-13)
- Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-1502 — felony conviction expungement: ten-year wait with restitution paid in full, no-prior-felony rule, excluded felonies, $300 fee, 90-day objection, substantial-danger standard, once-only limit, and restoration of rights. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title07.pdf (accessed 2026-08-13)
- Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-1401(j) — statutory definition of "expungement" as a reclassification limiting dissemination to criminal-justice agencies, and of "record." https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title07.pdf (accessed 2026-08-13)
- Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 6-1-104, 6-2-301, and 6-2-313 — current violent-felony, sexual-assault, and sexual-battery provisions incorporated by the conviction exclusions. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title06.pdf (accessed 2026-08-13)
- Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 7-1-107, 7-13-105, and 7-13-301, and § 35-7-1037 — status- offense definition and the separate rights-restoration and deferred- disposition boundaries. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title07.pdf and https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title35.pdf (accessed 2026-08-13)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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