EXPUNGEMENT
Clearing your Record
What is an Expungement?

An Expungement essentially clears your record, by having your conviction set aside and the case dismissed. An expungement is better than a pardon; it is a complete reversal of a conviction. To use an analogy, an Expungement is to a Conviction as an Annulment is to a Marriage. So whereas a Divorce acknowledges a prior Marriage’s existence and dissolves it, an Annulment reverses the Marriage, by declaring that the Marriage never validly occurred. Likewise, an Expungement reverses a conviction and declares that the conviction never occurred. The upshot of this is that when asked if you have ever been convicted of a crime, you can honestly answer No!

Why do you want your record cleared? The most frequent case is when you are in the process of filling out a job application and eventually come across the dreaded question; “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Perhaps a few years back, in your past life, you did something that was against the law during a temporary lapse in better judgment. Whatever the mistake, it resulted in a criminal conviction, a mis­demeanor or even worse, a felony. Going back to the dreaded question, you must decide whether to answer that statement truthfully (which you should always do) or not. You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If you answer truthfully, you may be denied the job. If you lie and the prospective employer dis­covers the conviction, you definitely will not get the job. Even worse, if the application has lan­guage to the effect of “signed under the penalty of perjury”, you could face potential criminal perjury charges.

Wouldn’t it be nice to answer that same question “NO?” If you have your conviction expunged, you can. Most criminal convictions can be expunged. The exceptions are some serious and/or violent felonies. In order to qual­ify for an Expungement, the applicant must have been granted probation and successfully completed the Proba­tion term, including having paid all fines, and completing any community service, or court-ordered counseling, etc. Sometimes, you can even end Probation early. After you have completed one half your term of Probation, you can make an application to the court for an Early Termination of Probation by showing special factors why further Probation is not warranted. If your Probation is terminated, you may immediately apply for an Expungement.

The primary benefit of having a conviction expunged is for the job application scenario presented above. However, there are situations where you are still required to disclose even “expunged” convictions. These situations include, applying for a government job at a state, federal or local agency or applications for a state or federal licenses such as a doctor, attorney, accountant, etc. Even though the conviction must still be reported in these circum­stances, it still looks much better that the conviction has been expunged, rather than having done nothing. Most people desire an expungement for employment purposes, where it will almost always be of some benefit. When in doubt, go for the expungement of your conviction, and give yourself a clean slate.