Expungement Petition - Preparation Worksheet - Louisiana

PREPARATION GUIDE — DO NOT FILE IN PLACE OF THE STATUTORY FORM

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 986 requires use of the forms enacted
in Articles 987-995 and 998. Use Article 989 for a motion to expunge an arrest or
conviction and Article 994 for an interim motion. A supplemental form must follow
Article 993.

Louisiana Motion for Expungement Preparation Guide

1. Select the Statutory Route

An interim expungement is separate from expungement of the misdemeanor conviction.
Article 985.1 does not impose the five- or ten-year waits and does not limit the number
of interim expungements.

2. Mover and Case Information

3. Eligibility Checklist

A. Arrest Did Not Result in Conviction — Article 976

☐ Prosecution was barred by the applicable time limitation.

☐ The district attorney declined prosecution, including after successful completion of
a pretrial diversion program.

☐ The proceeding ended in dismissal, a sustained motion to quash, or acquittal.

☐ The mover was found factually innocent and entitled to wrongful-conviction
compensation under R.S. 15:572.8.

For a DWI arrest resolved through pretrial diversion, five years must pass from the
arrest date before expungement.

B. Misdemeanor Conviction — Article 977

Select one:

☐ The conviction was set aside and prosecution dismissed under Article 894(B).

☐ More than five years have passed since completion of any sentence, deferred
adjudication, or probation or parole; the mover had no felony conviction during that
five-year period and has no pending felony charge.

For the five-year route, obtain the district attorney certification required by Article
977(A)(2).

Confirm that the conviction did not arise from a sex-offense arrest and was not for
domestic abuse battery or stalking. Article 977 contains a separate 90-day route for a
first conviction for possession of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or chemical
derivatives.

C. Felony Conviction — Article 978

Select one:

☐ The conviction was set aside and prosecution dismissed under Article 893(E).

☐ More than ten years have passed since completion of the sentence, deferred
adjudication, or probation or parole; the mover had no criminal conviction during the
ten years before filing and has no pending criminal charge.

☐ The mover is entitled to a first-offender pardon and the offense is neither a crime of
violence nor a sex offense.

For the ten-year route, attach the district attorney certification required by Article
978(A)(2).

Screen Article 978(B) for excluded crimes of violence, sex offenses or offenses against
a minor, controlled-dangerous-substance offenses outside the listed exceptions, and
domestic abuse battery. Article 978(E) permits a contradictory-hearing route for six
specified violent offenses when its ten-year and criminal-history conditions are met.

4. Required Attachments

Article 989 identifies the documents applicable to the selected route.

☐ Criminal background check from Louisiana State Police or the parish sheriff dated
within the past 60 days

☐ Bill of information, if any

☐ Minute entry showing final disposition, if any

☐ District attorney certification for the five- or ten-year conviction route

☐ District attorney certification supporting an Article 983 fee exemption, if applicable

☐ District attorney certification of refusal or nonparticipation in diversion, if applicable

☐ First-offender pardon, if applicable

☐ Order waiving sex-offender registration requirements, if applicable

☐ Factual-innocence and compensation order, if applicable

☐ Article 993 supplemental sheet if additional arrests or convictions must be listed

5. Fees and Exemptions — Article 983

The total processing cost may not exceed $550. The clerk collects applicable
nonrefundable processing fees when the motion is filed.

A qualifying arrest-only mover pays no fee when a district attorney certification shows
no felony convictions and no pending felony charges and confirms one of the Article
983(F) grounds, including acquittal, qualifying dismissal or refusal without diversion,
expiration of prosecution limits without diversion, or specified identity-related
victimization.

Other statutory exemptions include eligible expedited expungement, factual innocence,
a qualifying pardon other than an automatic first-offender pardon, and a certified
human-trafficking-victim application. Article 983 also permits qualifying applicants
outside specified exemptions to seek in forma pauperis status.

☐ Filing fee or exemption basis confirmed with the clerk.

6. Filing, Service, and Objections

File the statutory motion in the criminal case. Under Article 979, the clerk serves notice
by United States mail or electronically on:

• The district attorney of the parish of conviction
• The Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information
• The arresting law-enforcement agency

Do not replace the clerk's statutory service with a mover-drafted certificate stating that
the mover served those agencies.

An objecting agency ordinarily has 60 days after service to file an affidavit stating its
grounds. The court may allow an extension of no more than 30 days. A timely objection
requires a contradictory hearing, and the objecting agency must show by a preponderance
of the evidence why relief should be denied.

If no agency objects, the mover may waive the contradictory hearing. The court must
grant the motion if it determines that the mover is legally entitled to expungement.

7. Effect and Follow-Up

Expungement removes the record from public access but does not destroy it. The record
remains confidentially available to the persons and entities listed in Article 973 and may
still be used as a predicate offense or for other authorized criminal-justice purposes.

Except as Article 973 permits, a person whose arrest or conviction was expunged is not
required to disclose the arrest, conviction, or expungement.

The clerk serves the judgment on the district attorney, the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal
Identification and Information, the parish sheriff, and the arresting agency. A judgment
does not affect an agency that was not served with the motion and judgment.

☐ Obtain a certified copy of the signed Article 992 order.

☐ Confirm that every record custodian was identified and served.

☐ If notifying a private criminal-history publisher under Article 974, send the certified
order by certified or registered mail with return receipt requested.

Official Sources

• Article 971 — Legislative findings
• Article 973 — Effect of expungement
• Article 976 — Arrest without conviction
• Article 977 — Misdemeanor conviction
• Article 978 — Felony conviction
• Article 979 — Clerk service
• Article 980 — Objections and hearing
• Article 983 — Costs and exemptions
• Article 985.1 — Interim expungement
• Article 986 — Required forms
• Article 989 — Motion for Expungement form
• Article 994 — Interim motion form