Expungement / Record Sealing Petition and Eligibility Memo — Washington

Washington Conviction-Vacation and Record-Relief Memo

Current framework

Washington does not use one general adult “expungement” procedure:

• Felony vacation is governed by RCW 9.94A.640.
• Misdemeanor and gross-misdemeanor vacation is governed by RCW 9.96.060.

• Deletion of nonconviction data from law-enforcement files is governed by
  RCW 10.97.060.

• Sealing a court record requires separate authority and the procedure in
  GR 15.

• Juvenile record relief follows separate statutes and forms.

The right to say that a vacated conviction did not occur comes directly from
RCW 9.94A.640(4) or RCW 9.96.060(8). There is no current RCW 9.96.045.

Quick-reference table

Part A — Eligibility memorandum

TO: [CLIENT NAME]

FROM: [ATTORNEY NAME / FIRM]

DATE: [__/__/____]

RE: Washington conviction vacation and related record relief

1. Record inventory

Pending charges: [_____________________________________________________]

Convictions during the applicable lookback: [__________________________]

Current or recently violated protection/no-contact orders:
[____________________________________________________________]

2. Felony vacation — RCW 9.94A.640

The ordinary felony route requires discharge under RCW 9.94A.637. The current
felony pattern form states that it applies to offenses committed on or after
July 1, 1984.

A. Basic exclusions and exceptions

The current form excludes:

• Class A felonies;

• violent offenses and crimes against persons, subject to the statutory
  exceptions below;

• felony DUI under RCW 46.61.502(6); and

• felony physical control under RCW 46.61.504(6).

Effective April 25, 2025, RCW 9.94A.640 permits vacation of these otherwise
covered offenses when the conviction did not include a firearm, deadly-
weapon, or sexual-motivation enhancement:

• second-degree assault under RCW 9A.36.021;

• third-degree assault under RCW 9A.36.031 when not committed against a law-
  enforcement officer or peace officer; and

• second-degree robbery under RCW 9A.56.210.

The same 2025 amendment created a special mandatory route for a prison-riot
offense under RCW 9.94.010 committed while the person was incarcerated in a
Department of Children, Youth, and Families facility or county juvenile
detention facility.

B. Pending charges, new convictions, and time

☐ No charge is pending in a Washington court, another state's court, or
federal court.

☐ Class B: no new conviction in Washington, another state, or federal court
during the 10 years before filing.

☐ Class C: no new conviction in Washington, another state, or federal court
during the five years before filing.

☐ Class B: 10 years have passed since the latest of community-custody release,
full/partial-confinement release, or sentencing.

☐ Class C: five years have passed since that latest event.

The court “may” vacate under the ordinary route. The current forms request
rehabilitation and mitigation evidence.

3. Certificate of discharge — RCW 9.94A.637

Record:

• Certificate issued: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Effective date: [__/__/____]
• All nonfinancial requirements completed: [__/__/____]
• Financial obligations satisfied: [__/__/____]
• Existing no-contact order: ☐ Yes ☐ No

A no-contact order is not itself a sentence requirement barring discharge.
If it is contained in the judgment and sentence, the statute provides a
procedure for reissuing it separately.

4. Misdemeanor and gross-misdemeanor vacation — RCW 9.96.060

A. Ordinary eligibility

☐ All sentence terms are complete, including financial obligations.

☐ No charge is pending in a Washington, other-state, federal, or tribal court.

☐ The offense is not a violent offense or attempt.

☐ The offense is not DUI, physical control, intoxicated railroad operation,
or a disqualifying “prior offense” under RCW 46.61.5055.

☐ The offense is not an excluded chapter 9.68, 9.68A, or 9A.44 offense, except
failure to register under RCW 9A.44.132.

☐ Three years have passed since the latest of release from supervision or
probation, release from total and partial confinement, or sentencing.

☐ No new state, other-state, federal, or tribal conviction occurred during
the three years before filing.

☐ No current listed restraining order exists, and no violation of a listed
order was found during the five years before filing.

B. Domestic-violence matter

☐ Written notice of the petition was provided to the prosecuting attorney and
filed with the court.

☐ There are not two or more domestic-violence convictions from different
incidents.

☐ No false prior-conviction affidavit described in § 9.96.060(2)(f)(iii)
exists.

☐ Five years have passed since completion of the original sentence
conditions, including treatment but excluding financial obligations.

The ordinary financial-obligation, pending-charge, three-year new-conviction,
and restraining-order requirements also apply.

C. Specialized mandatory routes

Separate statutory routes may require vacation for:

• a qualifying misdemeanor cannabis offense committed when the person was at
  least 21 years old;

• specified controlled-substance convictions after the treatment, assessment,
  substantial-compliance, and recovery showing in § 9.96.060(6); and

• prostitution relief sought by a homicide victim's family under subsection
  (7).

Victims of specified crimes may have separate relief under RCW 9.96.080.
Do not force those matters into the ordinary eligibility checklist.

5. Nonconviction-data deletion — RCW 10.97.060

This remedy concerns criminal-history data held by criminal-justice agencies,
not the court file.

The data becomes subject to deletion when:

☐ The file consists only of nonconviction data.

☐ At least two years have passed since a favorable disposition made the
record nonconviction data; or at least three years have passed since arrest,
citation, or warrant without a conviction, unless the person is a fugitive or
the case remains under active prosecution.

Upon the person's request, the agency may still refuse deletion if:

• the disposition was a deferred prosecution or similar diversion;
• the person has a prior felony or gross-misdemeanor conviction; or
• the person was arrested or charged with another crime during the
  intervening period.

Make a separate request to the Washington State Patrol and each local agency
whose files are to be changed.

6. Court-record sealing — GR 15

Vacation and sealing are different. Under GR 15:

• the court must hold the required hearing and enter written findings;

• identified compelling privacy or safety concerns must outweigh public
  access;

• a vacated conviction may support sealing, but agreement of the parties alone
  is insufficient;

• redaction must be used when it adequately resolves the concern; and

• destruction requires express statutory authority.

If a criminal conviction is both vacated and sealed, GR 15(d) limits the
public index to the case number, case type with a domestic-violence notation
when applicable, the person's name, and “vacated.”

7. Effect of vacation

Under the applicable statute, vacation withdraws the guilty plea or sets aside
the guilty verdict, dismisses the charging document, and releases the person
from specified penalties and disabilities. The person may state, for the
purposes described in the statute, that the person was not convicted of the
vacated crime.

Limitations include:

• authorized later-criminal-prosecution and recidivist uses remain;
• vacation does not itself restore firearm rights; and
• the court file remains publicly accessible unless separately sealed.

8. Conclusion

☐ File CR 08.0900 under RCW 9.94A.640.

☐ First obtain or confirm the RCW 9.94A.637 certificate of discharge.

☐ File CrRLJ 09.0100 under RCW 9.96.060.

☐ Use the specialized cannabis forms.

☐ Submit agency requests under RCW 10.97.060.

☐ Seek separate GR 15 sealing based on: [_______________________________].

☐ No current relief identified because: [_______________________________].

Part B — Form-preparation worksheet

1. Filing data

• Sentencing court: [___________________________________________________]
• Cause number: [_______________________________________________________]
• Defendant name: [____________________________________________________]
• Date of birth: [__/__/____]
• SID / PCN, if known: [________________________________________________]
• Count, offense, degree, and RCW: [____________________________________]
• Offense date: [__/__/____]
• Sentencing date: [__/__/____]

2. Attachments

For a felony motion:

☐ Judgment and sentence.

☐ Certificate of discharge or other statutory completion proof.

☐ Current criminal history.

For either route:

☐ Supporting rehabilitation and mitigation evidence, if appropriate.

☐ Written domestic-violence notice and filing proof, if applicable.

☐ Any documents required by local rule.

3. Filing and hearing

☐ Use a fresh copy of the current motion or petition and proposed order.

☐ File under the original cause number in the sentencing court.

☐ Obtain a hearing date and complete the required notice.

☐ Serve the prosecuting attorney's office that prosecuted the case.

☐ Attend the hearing unless the court orders otherwise.

☐ Obtain a certified copy of the signed order.

The current pattern orders direct the clerk to transmit the order to the
Washington State Patrol and identified local law-enforcement agency. Do not
replace that clerk action with an unsupported private-service deadline.

Sources and References

• RCW 9.94A.640
• RCW 9.94A.637
• RCW 9.96.060
• RCW 10.97.030
• RCW 10.97.060
• GR 15
• Washington Courts — Vacating/Sealing Records Forms
• Washington Courts record-relief publication