Expungement Petition and Eligibility Memo - North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA EXPUNCTION ELIGIBILITY MEMO

1. EXECUTIVE ROUTING SUMMARY

North Carolina does not have one generic expunction petition. The disposition and exact
statute determine the official form, findings, waiting period, fee, and effect.

The Judicial Branch maintains separate forms for other targeted statutes. A potentially
applicable youth, controlled-substance, prostitution, human-trafficking, identity-theft,
pardon, or other route must be analyzed under its own current text and form.

2. MATERIAL CURRENT-LAW CORRECTIONS

The prior pair should not be used because it stated several obsolete rules:

• The wait for one § 15A-145.5 nonviolent misdemeanor is now three years, not
  five years.

• Section 15A-145.5 now permits analysis of up to three qualifying felonies; it is
  not limited to one.

• A single § 14-54(a) felony has a specific 15-year branch, and two or three
  qualifying felonies use a 20-year branch.

• The previous memo's AOC-CR-281 and AOC-CR-285 route assignments were wrong.
  Current principal forms are AOC-CR-297/298 and AOC-CR-287/288.

• Section 15A-146(a4) uses an automatic-processing window of 180 to 210 days,
  not immediate expunction at disposition.

• The effect of these expunctions is now governed principally by § 15A-153, with
  confidential retention and later use under §§ 15A-151 and 15A-151.5.

3. FACTS REQUIRED BEFORE ANALYSIS

Obtain:

☐ Certified or reliable dispositions for every charge and conviction.

☐ Exact offense citations, classifications, offense dates, and disposition dates.

☐ Dates when each active sentence, probation term, and post-release supervision ended.

☐ Complete State and national criminal history, pending-case information, warrants,
and prior expunction information.

☐ Restitution orders and civil judgments representing restitution.

☐ Petitioner's age at each offense and whether another targeted statute may apply.

4. § 15A-145.5 CONVICTION ANALYSIS

4.1 Eligible-offense definition

“Nonviolent misdemeanor” and “nonviolent felony” mean offenses outside the exclusion
list in § 15A-145.5(a). Review the exact citation against that list; do not classify by the
offense label alone.

Key exclusions are Class A–G felonies, Class A1 misdemeanors, assault-element offenses,
registration offenses, listed sex-related and stalking offenses, specified Chapter 90
felonies, the citation-specific categories in subdivisions (6)–(8), attempts to commit an
excluded offense, and impaired-driving offenses.

Conclusion for each conviction: [ELIGIBLE / EXCLUDED / REQUIRES FURTHER REVIEW].

4.2 Current timing branches

Computed earliest filing date: [DATE].

4.3 Multiple felonies and counties

Two or three felony offenses must have been committed within the same 24-month period.
When convictions covered by a multiple-conviction petition arose in more than one county,
petitions must be filed in each county within 120 days, absent good cause.

4.4 Required findings

For either branch, petitioner must establish good moral character, no outstanding warrant
or pending criminal case, no disqualifying indictment or probable-cause finding, no
disqualifying pretrial or appellate release status, no outstanding restitution order or civil
restitution judgment, an eligible requested offense, and completion of the applicable wait.

The later-conviction tests differ:

• Misdemeanor route: no other felony or misdemeanor conviction, other than a traffic
  violation, during the applicable waiting period.

• Felony route: no misdemeanor conviction other than a traffic violation during the five
  years before filing and no other felony conviction during the applicable waiting period.

Misdemeanor relief is mandatory when the subsection (c2) findings are made. Felony
relief under subsection (c3) is discretionary even when the listed findings are made.

4.5 Filing components and procedure

Section 15A-145.5 requires the current AOC form, petitioner's affidavit, two unrelated
good-character affidavits, an AOC-approved search authorization, restitution affidavit,
multi-county petition information, and the applicable acknowledgement about using the
shorter single-conviction branch.

The petition is served on the district attorney, who has 30 days to object and may receive
another 30 days for good cause. The district attorney uses best efforts to notify a victim;
on request, the victim may attend and be heard. The ordinary filing fee is $175, with an
indigency exception.

5. § 15A-146 DISMISSAL AND ACQUITTAL ANALYSIS

5.1 Petition routes

• Subsection (a): a sole dismissed charge must be expunged when the court finds that it
  was dismissed.

• Subsection (a1): when all charges were dismissed, the court must order expunction. If
  another charge resulted in a conviction on the dismissal date or remains unresolved,
  the court has discretion to expunge a dismissed charge.

• Subsection (a2): a not-guilty or not-responsible charge must be expunged after all
  related criminal charges reach final disposition.

The court generally may act without a hearing. Identify dismissed charges based on
deferred prosecution or diversion because the fee rule differs from an ordinary dismissal
or acquittal.

5.2 Automatic route

Under subsection (a4), a case is expunged by operation of law 180 to 210 days after final
disposition if all charges were disposed on or after December 1, 2021 and every charge was
dismissed without leave, dismissed by the court, or resulted in a not-guilty or not-responsible
finding. A case with a felony charge dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement is excluded.

Current official reporting states that automated expunctions resumed July 1, 2024.
Nevertheless, verify the actual court record after the statutory window. If it remains public,
use the appropriate current petition form rather than assuming the automated process acted.

An arresting agency may keep investigative records after relief under § 15A-146.

6. EFFECT AND IMPORTANT LIMITS

Under § 15A-153, a recipient generally may omit an expunged arrest, charge, or conviction
when answering inquiries and is protected from perjury or false-statement liability for that
omission, subject to the statute's exceptions. Employers and educational institutions may not
require disclosure of known expunged matters, subject to law-enforcement exceptions.

The government does not destroy every copy. Section 15A-151 requires confidential AOC
and clerk retention and permits limited access. Prosecutors have electronic access under
§ 15A-151.5. A conviction expunged on or after July 1, 2018 may be used for the later-case
purposes specified there, including prior-record calculations, habitual-offense treatment,
offense enhancement, certain conditional-discharge decisions, and permissible evidentiary
uses.

Section 15A-150 directs notice to relevant agencies and forwarding to the FBI for petition-
based orders. Private-source deletion may require separate follow-up, and expunction does
not control federal immigration consequences.

7. CONCLUSION

Recommended route: [STATUTE / AOC FORM].

Eligibility conclusion: [ELIGIBLE / NOT ELIGIBLE / ADDITIONAL FACTS REQUIRED].

Earliest filing date: [DATE / IMMEDIATE / AUTOMATIC WINDOW].

Unresolved issues: [LIST].

OFFICIAL SOURCES

• Current Article 5: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_15A/Article_5.html
• § 15A-145.5: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_15A/GS_15A-145.5.html
• § 15A-146: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_15A/GS_15A-146.html
• § 15A-150: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_15A/GS_15A-150.html
• § 15A-151: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_15A/GS_15A-151.html
• § 15A-151.5: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_15A/GS_15A-151.5.html
• § 15A-153: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_15A/GS_15A-153.html
• Judicial Branch expunction guidance and current forms: https://www.nccourts.gov/help-topics/court-records/expunctions
• 2025 AOC expunction report: https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewDocSiteFile/101052