To get something expunged off your record, you file a petition with the court that handled your case, show you meet your state’s eligibility rules, pay a filing fee, and — if the prosecutor objects or your state requires it — appear at a hearing where a judge decides whether to clear the record. Start to finish, expect several months. Every state writes its own rules, so the forms, fees, waiting periods, and even the name of the remedy (expungement, sealing, set aside, dismissal) depend on where you were convicted.
Confirm You’re Eligible Before You File
Eligibility turns on three things: what you were convicted of, how long ago you finished the sentence, and what the rest of your record looks like.
Offense Type
Most states allow expungement of misdemeanor convictions and many nonviolent felonies. Arrests that never led to a conviction are almost universally eligible and are usually the easiest records to clear. Serious violent felonies, sex offenses involving minors, and offenses requiring sex-offender registration are excluded in nearly every state. Some states exclude any felony; others have expanded eligibility in recent years to cover lower-level felonies after a longer wait.
Waiting Period
Almost every state requires you to wait between completing your sentence — including probation, parole, and payment of fines — and filing. Misdemeanors typically run one to three years. Eligible felonies typically run three to ten. A few states let you petition immediately after probation for certain offenses; others impose eight years or more for serious convictions. Pick up a new charge during the waiting period and you generally lose eligibility.
Other Convictions and Pending Charges
Pending criminal charges will disqualify you in most states. Many states also cap how many convictions you can clear over a lifetime, or restrict relief to people with only one or two convictions. Some states have relaxed those caps recently, but if you have multiple convictions, check the cap before you file.
Check Whether It Happens Automatically
You may not need to file anything. As of 2025, thirteen states and Washington, D.C. have enacted Clean Slate laws that automatically seal or expunge eligible records after a set conviction-free period. Coverage typically includes arrest records, misdemeanor convictions, and in some states at least one category of felony.
Automatic doesn’t mean instant. It can take months or years for the state’s system to identify and clear an eligible record. If you live in a Clean Slate state, check with the court system or the attorney general’s office to see whether your records have already been cleared before spending time and money on a petition.
Gather Your Records
Get a certified copy of your criminal record from the court where the conviction happened. You’ll need it to confirm the exact charges, conviction date, and sentence. Many states also require a copy of your state criminal history from the state police or equivalent agency. Certified copies typically cost $1 to $25 each.
Prepare and File the Petition
The petition is the document asking the court to clear your record. Most state court websites publish the required form. It will ask for your personal information, the details of the conviction, the date you completed your sentence, and a statement about why you qualify. Some states want supporting documents attached: proof of completed probation, proof of paid fines, a statement about your rehabilitation.
File the completed petition with the clerk of the court where the conviction occurred and pay the filing fee. Ask for a stamped copy for your own records. In many states you also have to serve a copy on the prosecutor’s office and sometimes the arresting law enforcement agency and the state police, so they can review the petition and object before the court rules.
What It Costs
Filing fees range from nothing to roughly $450 depending on the state and the type of offense. Some states have eliminated the fee entirely; others charge $50 to $300. Most states offer a fee waiver if you can show financial hardship. Attorney fees for a straightforward case typically run $750 to $5,000, more for complicated ones. Legal aid organizations and law school clinics in many areas handle expungements for free.
The Hearing
Not every petition gets a hearing. In some states, if the prosecutor doesn’t object during the response period, the judge can grant the petition on paperwork alone. If the prosecutor objects, or if your state requires a hearing for every petition, you’ll appear before a judge.
At the hearing, the judge reviews the record, the petition, and any supporting documents. Expect questions about what you’ve done since the conviction: employment, education, community involvement, and whether you’ve stayed out of trouble. The prosecutor may argue that expungement isn’t appropriate given the offense or your overall history. Judges weigh the seriousness of the original crime, the time that has passed, evidence of rehabilitation, and whether granting relief serves the public interest.
An attorney matters most at this stage. Prosecutors who oppose petitions know the statutory factors judges consider, and being unprepared to counter their arguments is where petitions fail. If you’re representing yourself, read your state’s expungement statute closely so you know exactly which criteria the judge will apply.
After the Order: Verify Everything
The court order isn’t the finish line. Once a judge grants your expungement, the court sends an order directing law enforcement and record-keeping agencies to update their files. Those updates don’t happen automatically everywhere, and the follow-up is largely on you.
Contact the state police agency and confirm the expungement is processed in their database. Check with the local police department that made the arrest. If your fingerprints are on file with the FBI, the state agency should forward the order to the FBI, but verify it happened. Keep a certified copy of your expungement order permanently: once the record is expunged, getting a new copy of the order may require another court order.
Clean Up Private Background Check Databases
Private background check companies pull data from public records, court databases, and their own archives, and they don’t always update files promptly. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires consumer reporting agencies to follow reasonable procedures to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of their reports.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681e – Compliance Procedures Reporting an expunged conviction violates that standard. If a background check company reports one, you can dispute it. The company must investigate and correct or remove inaccurate information; if it doesn’t, you may have grounds for an FCRA lawsuit.
To speed things up, send a copy of your expungement order to the major background check companies yourself. The Foundation for Continuing Justice runs an expungement clearinghouse that distributes court orders to more than 500 private background check companies. The service needs a certified copy of the order and typically takes 60 to 120 days. Even then, some records slip through, so run a commercial background check on yourself three to six months after the expungement is granted to confirm everything has updated.
What Expungement Actually Changes
A granted expungement removes your conviction from public view. Standard background checks run by employers, landlords, and schools should no longer show it. In most states, you can legally answer “no” when a job or housing application asks whether you have a criminal record, as long as the question doesn’t specifically ask about expunged or sealed records.
The record isn’t gone from every database, and several categories fall outside the protection. Police, prosecutors, and judges can typically still see expunged records, and if you’re charged with a new offense, the old conviction may factor into sentencing. The FBI’s criminal database may retain expunged records, especially if there was a delay between the conviction and the order. Positions requiring a federal security clearance, law enforcement and corrections jobs, and jobs working with children or vulnerable adults often require you to disclose expunged records, and their applications generally ask directly. State licensing boards for lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, and financial professionals sometimes require disclosure or retain access; some states now prohibit boards from considering expunged convictions, but this varies.
Firearms Rights
Whether expungement restores your right to possess a firearm depends on state and federal law together, and the federal side catches people off guard. Under federal law, anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment is prohibited from possessing firearms.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Federal courts have generally recognized that a conviction expunged or set aside under state law removes this federal disability, but the law is not uniform across federal circuits. If firearms rights matter to you, talk to an attorney who handles both criminal defense and firearms law in your jurisdiction before buying or possessing a weapon on the strength of a state expungement.
Federal Convictions
If your conviction was in federal court, your options are extremely narrow. There is no general federal expungement statute. The one statutory exception is for first-time simple drug possession under 18 U.S.C. § 3607: if you were found guilty of simple possession, had no prior drug convictions, and hadn’t previously received this relief, the court can place you on probation for up to one year without entering a conviction, and successful completion results in dismissal. If you were under 21 at the time of the offense, the court must expunge all records of the arrest and proceedings upon your application.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3607 – Special Probation and Expungement Procedures for Drug Possessors For those 21 and older, the case is dismissed but records are not formally expunged; a nonpublic record is kept to check future eligibility. For all other federal convictions, the only route is a presidential pardon, which forgives the offense but does not erase the record or seal it from background checks.
Immigration
If you are not a U.S. citizen, a state-level expungement almost certainly does not remove your conviction for immigration purposes. Federal immigration law defines “conviction” independently of state law and includes cases where a guilty plea was entered and any punishment imposed, regardless of whether the state later expunged, dismissed, or vacated the record as part of a rehabilitative program.4Cornell Law. 8 U.S. Code 1101(a)(48) – Definition of Conviction USCIS policy is explicit that an expunged record does not remove the underlying conviction in the immigration context. The only exception is when a conviction is vacated because of a genuine defect in the criminal proceeding itself, such as a court’s failure to advise you of immigration consequences before accepting a guilty plea. Vacating a conviction purely for rehabilitative reasons or to avoid immigration consequences doesn’t count.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual Volume 12, Part F, Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors If you are a non-citizen with a record, talk to an immigration attorney before relying on a state expungement to resolve anything at the federal level. The stakes include deportation, denial of naturalization, and permanent inadmissibility.
International Travel
Some countries still consider your criminal history when deciding whether to admit you, even after a domestic expungement. Canadian border officials have access to FBI criminal databases and may flag prior convictions that appear there regardless of state action. Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom also apply strict entry requirements for people with criminal records. If international travel matters, research the destination country’s entry rules and consider consulting an immigration attorney before you go.