A criminal record is basically a report that has all of the charges and convictions that someone has received in the past. When people say that someone “has a criminal record,” they usually mean that the person was convicted of some kind of crime and the record shows up when you do a public records search. Background checks can pull up this information right away.
These records include felony offenses, misdemeanor crimes, arrests, convictions, sentences or dismissals, and parole violations.
Even small offenses from years and years ago will still show up on these records.
If you have a criminal record, it can really affect your life in some pretty big ways. The effects of a criminal record can stop you from finding a job, renting an apartment, winning custody of your children, or doing other major stuff. That’s why plenty of people try to get their criminal records cleared.
When you fill out job applications, you have to decide what to tell employers about your past. It gets harder to find a place to live because a lot of landlords won’t rent to people with criminal histories. If you’re trying to get custody of your children, the court will look at your past convictions when they decide if you’re a fit parent.
There are two ways you can clean up a criminal record. You can either have the record sealed, or you can get the crimes expunged. The difference is that when a record is sealed, the public can’t see it anymore. Different job applications will treat sealed and expunged records differently.
Can Everything Be Cleared From My Criminal Record?
Each state has its own set of laws and requirements that determine if a person’s criminal record can be cleared. So you’ll need to do a bit of research before you get started. Since each state is different, most of the procedures and laws will be different depending on where you live.
There are some things, though, that stay the same in most states. In many states, you’ll need to finish an assigned rehabilitation program or pay any fines before you can apply to remove your record.
The courts want to see that you’ve really turned things around through real actions you’ve taken. These basic requirements that every state has help show that you’ve dealt with the problems that got you into trouble in the first place. Once you finish these steps, it gives the court confidence that you’re ready to start fresh.
There are also other things a court will look at when they determine if you can clear your record. They’ll want to know if this was your first offense or if you’ve been convicted before. They’ll also look at how much time has passed since you were convicted. Different judges will weigh these things differently depending on your particular case.
You need to know that not every crime can be cleared from your record. In most cases, the more serious the crime was, the harder it will be to get it cleared.
Some convictions will stay on your record no matter how much time goes by or how much you’ve changed. The legal system has strict laws for some crimes that are too serious to ever be erased. These convictions can make it harder for you to get a job, find a place to live, or get professional licenses.
Felonies are much harder to remove than misdemeanors. They can usually only be removed if they count as a lesser type of felony. And some types of felonies almost never get cleared from your record.
In general, the following felonies are normally not eligible for expungement: violent felonies (such as weapons charges or first-degree murder); child pornography; sex crimes (e.g., sexual assault and battery, rape, etc.); and felonies committed against a person who is a minor (i.e., usually a person who is younger than 18 years old).
How Do You Clear Your Criminal Record?
If you can remove a criminal record mostly depends on your state’s laws and what crime you were charged with. The laws change completely when you cross state lines. So a crime you can remove from your record in one state might be stuck on your record forever in another state.
Your record’s fate depends completely on where you live and what you did. Each state writes its own laws about removing records, which means you might have a chance in some places but no options at all in others. The first thing you’ll want to do is look up your state’s laws to find out which crimes can be removed and what requirements you need to meet.
If it looks like you qualify, then you can ask the court to remove your record. You’ll need to file the right paperwork and follow all of the steps your state needs. Getting all of the information right on these forms matters.
Once the court gets your files, they’ll look into your criminal history to double-check that you actually qualify to have your record removed. The court might also schedule a hearing to talk about what they found. Even if they don’t need you to be there, you should really go to the hearing. Your presence shows that you take this process seriously. Sometimes the court will actually need you to show up.
At the hearing, the court will usually tell you if they’re going to remove your record or turn down your request.
Here’s something you really need to know, even if the court agrees to remove your record, that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. There are times when you’ll still have to tell people about your criminal record even after it’s been removed. Graduate school applications might ask about it or government agencies might need to know.
Getting your record removed helps a lot. But it doesn’t make everything disappear completely. When you apply for professional licenses, government jobs, or graduate programs, they’ll usually want to know everything about your past and court orders don’t matter to them. So your removed record might still come up when you don’t expect it.
Find My Lawyer Now!
Is Sealing Your Record the Same as Clearing Your Record?
Most people don’t know that sealing a record is different from erasing your criminal record. This difference can actually matter for your future. When your record is only sealed, it means that the record is still out there and some people can still see it, such as parole officers or prosecutors. Even if these people don’t have direct access immediately they can always ask a judge to let them look at it.
The advantage of having a record sealed is that everyday people won’t be able to see it anymore. So, when you apply for a job, your employer won’t find the record when they do a basic public record search.
Job applications get much easier when your records don’t show up in public databases. Most hiring managers just run basic searches that won’t find sealed files. You’ll have an easier time landing the job you want since lots of employers automatically turn down anyone with a visible criminal record.
Record sealing also helps out when someone gets charged with a crime as a kid. Most states will seal a young person’s criminal files when they turn eighteen. But there are usually some requirements, such as staying out of trouble and staying away from any new legal problems.
When you get a criminal record expunged, though, it means that the record gets deleted completely, like it never happened at all. The record gets taken out of all public record searches and nobody from the public can see it. You can legally say you were never convicted of that crime.
When your record gets expunged, every single trace of the conviction disappears from the official records. You can say “no” when job applications or other forms ask if you’ve been convicted of a crime. You can apply for professional licenses, rent apartments, and even volunteer somewhere without having to explain what happened in the past.
Different states have different laws. But the types of crimes that can usually be expunged from your record include nonviolent crimes and misdemeanors, some of the less serious felonies, first-time offenses, and cases where you were convicted by mistake. The requirements for who can get their record expunged are very different depending on where you live.
How Do You Know If Your Criminal Record was Cleared?
One great way to check if a criminal record was actually erased is doing a quick online search. This way, you won’t have to guess about it. When criminal records have been expunged, they shouldn’t show up in a public records search anymore. You can also check to see if your record still shows up on a court’s website. Or you can ask a private company that does background checks to run one for you (just remember that this will probably cost you some money).
Like I said earlier, most states follow the law that says a juvenile’s record can be sealed when they turn eighteen. How juvenile records get sealed is very different from state to state. Some states will seal these records on their own, while other states make you fill out formal paperwork to ask for it. Whether you can get a job will usually depend on if your state automatically seals records or if you have to go through the whole petition process yourself.
The issue is that not all states follow this law and when a record is sealed (instead of expunged), it means the record is still there and some people can still see it. This difference is more important than you might think. So while this might not mean that the record was completely erased, when a juvenile record gets sealed, it’s just another way to keep most people from seeing it. Plus, in the states that do follow the law, you can be pretty confident that your record was sealed because that’s what the law calls for in those places.
It is also important to know that felonies and misdemeanors will usually stay on a criminal record until you ask the court to take them off and the court says yes. When you get convicted of a crime, it creates permanent paperwork that stays with you forever. The courts keep these records no matter how much time goes by. You have to ask for them to be removed, and whether they say yes or no depends on what your state’s expungement laws say and what the judge decides.
But some information might get harder to find as time goes by. Plenty of people don’t know that some background check companies have time limits on what they’ll report. There are also a few states (like California, Colorado, Washington, and some others) that won’t let people see criminal record information if it’s more than 7 years old and doesn’t have any felony convictions in it.
Do I Need to Hire a Lawyer If I Want to Clear My Criminal Record?
While you don’t have to hire a lawyer to get your criminal record expunged, it might still make sense to get one.
Your choice here is going to affect how long everything takes and if you’ll succeed. Most people don’t know just how detailed these expungement applications need to be. If you get denied, you’ll have to start all over again from scratch, and you’ll usually have to wait even longer before you can try again.
An experienced expungement attorney can check if your record can actually be expunged, help you fill out the paperwork you need before you file, and answer any questions you have about how everything works. They can also help you follow the local laws in your area. Every area has its own laws and deadlines, and it’s easy to miss something that matters. LegalMatch can connect you with an expungement lawyer who can assist with your legal issues.
You should think about hiring a local expungement attorney if your case involves a more serious criminal charge. While you could manage the process yourself, if you’re trying to remove an old misdemeanor, felonies are much harder to get removed from your record. Just the paperwork by itself can be dozens of pages long.
Judges and prosecutors look at felony expungements much more closely. The courts go through these cases with a fine-tooth comb, and they’ll usually want to see extra paperwork about how you’ve turned your life around and what you’re doing now. In plenty of states, there are only a limited number of expungements they’ll approve, so your application has to be better than the others.
If you’re trying to remove a bigger misdemeanor or a lesser felony from your criminal record, you’ll probably want to find a lawyer who has handled these kinds of cases before. They’ll know which laws apply to your situation and can do the research to find the best way to get records removed in your state.
Finally, depending on your exact situation, you might need a lawyer to go to court with you no matter what and take care of any other problems that come up before your record can be expunged.