Expungement / Sealing of Records / Governors Pardon / Executive Clemency

Your Arrest Record Kept

The police keep a record of all arrests and convictions, even if your arrest occurred 25 or 35 years prior. Your arrest record could potentially be open to anyone, including employers, licensing boards, schools and credit agencies. Many states allow anybody to request a persons criminal record from the police, and even arrests where you may have been found not guilty.

Arrest Record Erased

Allowing access to your old criminal arrest record tends to open the door for discrimination against you even though you are now a productive, respected, and law abiding citizen. As a result, under certain circumstances, you may be able to have old arrests or convictions erased from public and police records. This procedure is called expunging your record or expungement of your criminal history. It involves the sealing or erasure of police and court records of your criminal conviction and arrest from public inspection in the eyes of the law.

Once Expunged

Once your record has been expunged, you can legally state for the purpose of potential employment, education or professional licensure that you were never convicted of a crime and you may also be able to state that you have never been arrested. The conviction will not even show up when a government agency conducts a background search of your public records because the records are off limits to everyone except law enforcement personnel.

The laws pertaining to expungements and the procedures differ greatly from state to state. To find out if you qualify for an expungement of your arrest / criminal record, it would be in your best interest to contact and discuss your options with an aggressive lawyer that handles these types of cases on a daily basis.

Laws and Procedures Vary

While the laws and procedures for expungements vary from state to state, there are certain things that are generally true across many state borders:

* Arrest and conviction records are not automatically expunged or sealed after a certain period of time.

* Although a conviction has been expunged, in certain circumstances it can still be used against you to increase the severity of a sentence if you are convicted again for a crime.

* Convictions cannot be expunged, on the average, until about a year after they occur, and then only if you have completed serving the sentence and you are not facing any new charges.

* Not all convictions are eligible for an expungement. In many states you cannot expunge a felony conviction, a conviction involving a prison term or convictions involving sex offenses. Juvenile and misdemeanor convictions are most often, but not guaranteed, successfully expunged.

* If you are found not guilty of a crime or are otherwise acquitted, you may be able to have your arrest record and the charge sealed immediately.

* Disqualifying factors for an expungement generally include: having had a previous expungement, having a previous conviction for a misdemeanor or felony and having pending criminal charges.

Expungements are NOT available in all states, and most states have their own rules as whether or not an expungement can be performed. Other options may include an Executive Clemency or Governors Pardon.

Executive Clemency

If you qualify for an expungement, you need to act quickly. Contact an aggressive lawyer who knows the system and handles these types of cases on a daily basis. Even if you do not qualify for expungement, you may have other options that may help you.

The Governor, assisted by the Governors Board for Executive Clemency, is granted the constitutional power to grant a pardon or commutation of sentence following a criminal conviction or juvenile adjudication. This power is called Executive Clemency, sometimes known as a governors pardon. A pardon forgives an individual for the crime. A commutation is a reduction in sentence for currently incarcerated prisoners that can be granted for an entire sentence or any part of it. The Executive Clemency procedure is governed by state rules, so it varies from state to state.