Expungement / Record Sealing Petition and Eligibility Memo — Illinois

Illinois Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility Memo

Applicant: [________________________________]

Prepared by: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

Question presented

Which Illinois adult criminal records may be expunged, sealed, or immediately sealed under the version of 20 ILCS 2630/5.2 effective June 1, 2026, and what statewide forms and procedure apply?

Short answer

Illinois treats expungement and sealing differently. Expungement is ordinarily limited to nonconviction outcomes, successfully completed supervision, successfully completed qualified probation, and narrow conviction-relief routes. Sealing reaches many misdemeanor and felony convictions, subject to offense exclusions and a two- or three-year wait measured from the applicant's last sentence. Public Act 104-459 shortened the ordinary wait for misdemeanor convictions and for eligible felony probation or conditional discharge completed without revocation to two years. Other eligible felonies ordinarily retain a three-year wait.

The applicant must use the current statewide Request, Case List, granting order, and denial order. A separate filing is required in every Illinois county containing a requested arrest or charge. The circuit clerk—not the applicant—serves the original petition on the statutory agencies. Those recipients have 60 days from service to object.

1. Current-law framework

A. Expungement

“Expunge” generally means destroying or returning agency records and removing the applicant's name from official indexes or public records. The statute does not require destruction of the circuit-court file; the court record is impounded as directed by § 5.2(d)(9). See § 5.2(a)(1)(E).

The ordinary § 5.2(b)(1) routes cover an arrest or charge resulting in:

• acquittal, dismissal, or release without charging;
• a conviction reversed or vacated;
• successfully completed supervision; or
• successfully completed qualified probation.

The applicable waits are:

Convictions are not expunged simply because a general waiting period has elapsed. Separate statutory routes include:

• a Governor's pardon specifically authorizing expungement, § 5.2(e);
• a Prisoner Review Board certificate specifically authorizing expungement, § 5.2(e-6);
• factual-innocence or certificate-of-innocence relief, § 5.2(b)(6) and (8);
• qualifying trafficking-victim relief, § 5.2(h); and
• eligible cannabis relief under the special statutory and statewide-form process.

B. Sealing

“Seal” means maintaining the records while making them unavailable without a court order, subject to statutory access exceptions. See § 5.2(a)(1)(K). Sealing does not vacate a conviction.

The post-amendment petition schedule is:

For this calculation, the “last sentence” is the sentence, supervision, or qualified probation for a criminal offense that terminates last in any jurisdiction, even if that record is omitted from the petition. Multiple sentences ending on the same day are treated collectively. An outstanding financial obligation does not prevent termination. See § 5.2(a)(1)(F) and (M).

For an eligible felony in the three-year category, the court may permit filing when the last sentence ends if the applicant earned a new high-school diploma, associate's degree, career certificate, vocational or technical certification, bachelor's degree, or GED during the sentence or mandatory supervised release. This waiver is limited to § 5.2(c)(2)(F) records. See § 5.2(c)(3)(E).

C. Excluded records

Section 5.2(a)(3) excludes specified records from expungement, sealing, or both. The principal screening categories are:

• DUI and an equivalent local ordinance;
• reckless driving, except the statute's narrow under-age-25 misdemeanor route;
• a sexual offense committed against a minor;
• most Article 11 sex offenses, subject to the stated prostitution and misdemeanor-public-indecency exceptions;
• indecent solicitation of an adult, violation of an order of protection, criminal transmission of HIV, certain child-related offenses, and dog fighting;
• domestic battery and violation of a stalking no-contact or civil no-contact order;
• Class A misdemeanors and felonies under the Humane Care for Animals Act;
• an offense or attempted offense that would require Sex Offender Registration Act registration; and
• minor traffic offenses, unless the applicant was arrested and released without charging.

The exact statutory section and disposition must be compared with § 5.2(a)(3). Do not rely on an offense label alone.

2. Special routes

Same-hearing immediate sealing

Section 5.2(g) applies to an acquittal or dismissal with prejudice occurring on or after January 1, 2018. The defendant's attorney may file the verified petition on the same day and during the same hearing as the disposition. The State's Attorney is served in open court, no other agency service is required from the applicant, and no proof of a passed drug test is required. If the same-hearing route is missed, ordinary sealing remains available under § 5.2(c)(3)(A).

Trafficking-victim relief

Under § 5.2(h), a trafficking victim may seek vacation and expungement or immediate sealing after completing the last sentence when participation in the offense resulted from human trafficking or a severe form of trafficking. The petition must include the statutory concise statements, and the applicant bears a preponderance-of-the-evidence burden if eligibility is contested. This route requires individualized, trauma-informed legal review.

Pardon and Prisoner Review Board certificates

A pardon must specifically authorize expungement to support § 5.2(e) relief. A Prisoner Review Board certificate must specifically authorize sealing or expungement for the corresponding § 5.2(e-5) or (e-6) route and must be attached when required by § 5.2(d)(2).

3. Procedure

A. County and forms

File with the circuit clerk where the arrest occurred or the charge was brought. If records exist in multiple counties, file separately in each county. See § 5.2(d)(1).

The adult statewide suite approved in June 2026 requires:

1. Request to Expunge and/or Seal Criminal Records;
2. Case List for Request to Expunge and/or Seal Criminal Records;
3. Order to Expunge and/or Seal Criminal Records; and
4. Order Denying Request to Expunge and/or Seal Criminal Records.

Use the additional-arrest and additional-case pages when necessary. Juvenile and cannabis matters use separate approved suites.

B. Petition contents

The request must be verified and provide the applicant's name, birth date, current address, and, for each requested record, the case number, arrest date if any, arresting authority, and other information the court requires. The applicant must promptly report an address change while the matter is pending. See § 5.2(d)(2).

C. Fees

The filing and Illinois State Police processing amounts vary. Confirm them with the circuit clerk rather than inserting a statewide fixed dollar figure. A fee waiver may be requested under Supreme Court Rule 298. If a record was previously sealed and the applicant later petitions to expunge that same record, § 5.2(d)(10) waives the expungement-petition fee for that record.

D. Service and objections

The circuit clerk promptly serves the petition and supporting documentation on:

• the State's Attorney or other prosecutor;
• Illinois State Police;
• the arresting agency; and
• for a municipal-ordinance violation, the chief legal officer of the local government that effected the arrest.

See § 5.2(d)(4). The original request should not include a petitioner certificate asserting that the applicant served these agencies. The current suite supplies a Certificate of Service by Circuit Clerk.

An entitled recipient has 60 days from service to file a specific written objection. If no timely objection is filed, the court enters an order granting or denying the petition. If an objection is filed, the court sets a hearing and provides at least 30 days' notice. See § 5.2(d)(5)-(7).

E. Financial obligations

The court may not deny sealing because of an outstanding cost, assessment, fine, or fee. Victim restitution is treated differently unless converted to a civil judgment. The obligation itself is not erased by sealing. See § 5.2(d)(6)(C).

F. Order implementation

The court provides the entered order to the statutory recipients. Section 5.2(d)(9) controls the effect on agency, Illinois State Police, and court records. Agencies subject to an expungement order generally act within 60 days after service unless a qualifying motion is pending. Illinois State Police sends the applicant written compliance notice when required by § 5.2(d)(9)(D).

4. Future automatic sealing does not replace today's petition

Public Act 104-459 created future automatic-sealing programs, but they are not a present substitute for a petition:

• § 5.2(l) begins sealing qualifying municipal-ordinance violations and Class C misdemeanors without petition on January 1, 2028; and
• § 5.2(k) begins broader automatic sealing on January 1, 2029, with phased deadlines and additional exclusions.

An eligible applicant need not wait for those future programs and may use the current petition process.

5. Case analysis

6. Recommended filing checklist

☐ Review court records and statewide criminal-history information.

☐ Obtain the Chicago Police RAP sheet for any Chicago arrest.

☐ Identify the last sentence in any jurisdiction.

☐ Confirm satisfactory completion or nonrevocation where the route requires it.

☐ Compare every offense with § 5.2(a)(3).

☐ Prepare a separate county packet for each county containing requested records.

☐ Attach any required pardon, certificate, vacation order, or educational proof.

☐ File the current Request, Case List, granting order, and denial order.

☐ Confirm local filing method and current fees with the circuit clerk.

☐ Preserve a permanent copy of the entered order and Illinois State Police compliance notice.

Sources and References

• 20 ILCS 2630/5.2 — current official text
• Illinois Courts — approved expungement and sealing forms
• How to Clear Your Criminal Record: Expungement & Sealing (approved June 2026)
• Request to Expunge and/or Seal Criminal Records (approved June 2026)
• Case List for Request to Expunge and/or Seal Criminal Records (approved June 2026)