How Long Does a Felony Stay on Your Record? (2026)

A felony conviction remains on your criminal record permanently in every state; no state automatically removes it after a set number of years. The only ways to clear a felony are expungement, record sealing, a pardon, or automatic Clean Slate relief, and eligibility, waiting periods, and qualifying offenses vary by state.

A felony conviction stays on your criminal record permanently. Unlike arrests or minor offenses, there is no statute of limitations that causes a felony to disappear from your record after a certain number of years. Without taking legal action to expunge, seal, or obtain a pardon, the conviction remains visible on background checks indefinitely.

Many states now offer paths to clear felony records through expungement, record sealing, or automatic Clean Slate laws. This guide covers how long a felony stays on your record, which states allow expungement, what rights a felony costs you, and how those rights come back.

The Short Answer: Permanently

A felony conviction does not expire. The Fair Credit Reporting Act sets a seven-year reporting limit at 15 U.S.C. 1681c, but that limit does not reach convictions. Subsection (a)(5) excludes "[a]ny other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years." The carve-out is the operative language: convictions are exempt from the clock.

The seven-year rule that people usually have in mind is subsection (a)(2), which covers civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest. An arrest that never became a conviction ages off. A conviction does not.

The only ways to remove a felony from your record are:

• Expungement or record sealing, available in many states with significant restrictions
• Governor pardon, which restores rights and adds a notation rather than deleting the conviction
• Presidential pardon, for federal felonies only
• Automatic Clean Slate clearing, in the states where the system is actually operating

States That Allow Felony Expungement

Most states now offer some path to felony expungement, though eligibility varies dramatically. Violent felonies, sex offenses, and crimes against children are almost universally excluded.

The table below is seven states, not fifty. It covers only the states whose current rules we re-checked against the statute itself for this update.

Every other state is covered on its own page in our state-by-state expungement guide, which runs to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We keep the table here short on purpose. Waiting periods and eligible-offense lists in this area change often enough that a number we cannot stand behind is worse than no number, and this update found several widely repeated figures to be wrong. Before you count on a specific timeline, confirm it with the court that handled your case or your state's judiciary self-help pages.

States That Do Not Expunge Felony Convictions

• Florida: expunction under Fla. Stat. 943.0585 is available only to a person who has "never ... been adjudicated guilty in this state of a criminal offense." A felony conviction disqualifies you. Florida's remedy reaches arrests and charges that did not end in an adjudication of guilt.
• Arizona: no general expungement of felony convictions. Relief runs through a set-aside under ARS 13-905 and record sealing under ARS 13-911, which took effect January 1, 2023 and carries its own waits: five years after completion of the sentence for a class 4, 5, or 6 felony and ten years for a class 2 or 3 felony. Marijuana convictions have a separate true-expungement route under ARS 36-2862.

Watch the labels here. Several states use "sealing" or "nondisclosure" rather than "expungement" for relief that does much the same job, and a few states that appear to offer nothing under the word expungement do offer something under a different name. Search for what relief your state actually provides, not for the word.

What Cannot Be Expunged in Most States

• Violent felonies such as murder, robbery, and serious assault
• Sex offenses and any offense carrying a registration requirement
• Crimes against children
• The most serious felony class in most states, for example Class A felonies in New York, though New York carves the article 220 controlled-substance offenses back in
• Domestic violence felonies
• DUI and OWI in many states, covered in our DUI expungement guide

Clean Slate Laws: Automatic Record Clearing

Clean Slate laws clear eligible records automatically, without the person filing a petition. Fourteen states plus the District of Columbia have passed one, according to the Clean Slate Initiative's tracker.

Passing a Clean Slate law and running one are different things, and the gap between them is often measured in years. Illinois shows the pattern: the legislature passed HB 1836 during the 2025 session, Governor Pritzker signed it on January 16, 2026 as Public Act 104-0459, and it took effect June 1, 2026, with automatic sealing phasing in on a later schedule set by the Act.

Until a state's automatic system is actually clearing records, the petition route is the one that works. Find out where your state sits in that rollout before assuming your record has cleared itself, and pull your own record to confirm rather than trusting the date a law took effect.

Federal Felonies

Federal felony convictions generally cannot be expunged. There is no general federal expungement statute.

The provision people point to, 18 U.S.C. 3607, is narrower than its reputation. It covers first-offense simple possession of a controlled substance, and it operates before judgment: the court places the person on probation "without entering a judgment of conviction" and may dismiss the proceedings at the end of the term. Because no conviction is entered, section 3607 is a diversion route. It is not a way to undo a federal felony conviction you already carry.

Section 3607(c) does authorize an expungement order, but only where "the person was less than twenty-one years old at the time of the offense."

A presidential pardon is the other federal route, applied for through the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney. A pardon restores civil rights, and under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) a pardoned conviction is not counted as a conviction for federal firearms purposes unless the pardon says otherwise. It does not by itself delete the underlying conviction from the record.

How a Felony Affects Your Life

Employment

The EEOC's enforcement guidance on arrest and conviction records is more limited than it is usually described. It states that Title VII "does not necessarily require individualized assessment in all circumstances." It sets out two ways an employer can show a criminal-records screen is job related and consistent with business necessity: validate the screen under the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, or build a targeted screen around the nature and gravity of the offense, the time elapsed, and the nature of the job, then give excluded applicants a chance at individualized assessment.

So individualized assessment is the route the EEOC says helps employers avoid liability, not a right an applicant can demand on the spot. A blanket ban on hiring anyone with a felony record is still exposed to a disparate-impact claim under Title VII, but that is a claim someone has to bring.

Many states and cities have also enacted Ban the Box laws that keep criminal-history questions off the initial job application and push the inquiry later into the hiring process. Coverage differs sharply between public and private employers, so check your own state and city rather than assuming a national rule protects you.

Housing

HUD's Office of General Counsel issued guidance on April 4, 2016 applying Fair Housing Act standards to the use of criminal records by housing providers. It does not prohibit criminal-history screening. It says a provider who imposes "a blanket prohibition on any person with any conviction record no matter when the conviction occurred, what the underlying conduct entailed, or what the convicted person has done since then" will be unable to prove that policy is necessary to serve a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest.

The guidance treats individualized assessment as a less discriminatory alternative rather than a flat requirement, and names the evidence that carries weight: the circumstances of the offense, the person's age at the time, tenant history before and after the conviction, and evidence of rehabilitation. It also notes that an arrest which did not lead to a conviction does not establish that criminal conduct occurred.

Voting Rights

Voting rights restoration varies sharply by state. The National Conference of State Legislatures groups the jurisdictions as follows.

That fourth category is the one worth reading closely. It does not mean everyone with a felony in those ten states loses the vote forever; it means the state keeps a class of offenses, or a discretionary process, that can block restoration. If you live in one of them, confirm your own status with your state election office before you assume either way.

Gun Rights

Federal law at 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) makes it a crime for anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison to possess a firearm or ammunition. That is the general rule.

The rule has a statutory exception that most summaries leave out. 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) provides:

"Any conviction which has been expunged, or set aside or for which a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored shall not be considered a conviction for purposes of this chapter, unless such pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms."

A state expungement, set-aside, pardon, or restoration of civil rights can therefore lift the federal bar on a state conviction. Whether it does depends on the wording of the specific relief you received. Where the state order or the state statute expressly preserves the firearms restriction, the federal prohibition survives the expungement.

The same paragraph limits how far that reaches. The sentence immediately preceding the one quoted above provides that "[w]hat constitutes a conviction of such a crime shall be determined in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held." State relief therefore reaches a state conviction only. No state's expungement and no governor's pardon touches a federal felony conviction; the only route there is federal relief, which in practice means a presidential pardon.

Watch out: getting this wrong is itself a federal felony, and the answer turns on the exact text of your state's relief and how the federal courts in your circuit read it. Do not rely on a general article, this one included, before possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. Have a lawyer licensed in your state read the actual order.

Professional Licensing

Licensing boards write their own rules, board by board and state by state. Some exclude applicants with particular convictions outright, others weigh the offense against the license sought, and many have adopted a preliminary-determination process that lets you ask about your record before you spend money on training or an exam.

Because no single federal rule governs this, check the specific board's regulations and published criteria for your state rather than relying on a general figure about how many barriers exist nationwide.

Background Checks

Under 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(5), consumer reporting agencies may not report adverse items older than seven years, but the subsection expressly carves out "records of convictions of crimes." As a matter of federal law, a felony conviction can appear on a background check indefinitely.

Two qualifications matter. First, 15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)(3) lifts the seven-year limits entirely where the report is used for employment at an annual salary that equals or may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000 or more. Second, several states impose their own reporting limits that are stricter than the federal floor. Those state rules differ and change, so check your state's consumer-reporting statute rather than assuming the federal rule is the whole picture.

After an expungement or sealing, the conviction should stop appearing on standard commercial background checks. Law enforcement, the courts, and some licensing and government agencies can often still reach sealed or expunged records, so treat "expunged" as "hidden from most employers," not "gone."

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a felony stay on your record?

A felony stays on your record permanently unless you take legal action to have it expunged, sealed, or pardoned. There is no automatic expiration in any state. Many states allow expungement after a waiting period, commonly 3 to 10 years, and fourteen states plus D.C. have passed Clean Slate laws for automatic clearing, though not all of those systems are operating yet.

Can a felony be expunged?

In many states, yes. Eligibility depends on the state, the class of felony, and how much time has passed since you completed your sentence. Non-violent felonies are the most commonly eligible. Violent felonies, sex offenses, and crimes against children are excluded almost everywhere, and a few states, Florida among them, do not expunge convictions at all.

Does a felony show up on a background check after 7 years?

Yes. The seven-year limit in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681c, applies to arrests and civil judgments. Subsection (a)(5) expressly carves out records of convictions, so a felony conviction can be reported indefinitely under federal law. Some states set stricter limits of their own, so check your state's consumer-reporting statute.

Can a federal felony be expunged?

Generally no. There is no general federal expungement statute. Section 18 U.S.C. 3607 is often cited, but it applies to first-offense simple drug possession and works before judgment, placing the person on probation without entering a conviction. Its expungement order under subsection (c) is limited to people who were under 21 at the time of the offense, so it does not help someone who already has a federal felony conviction.

What is a Clean Slate law?

Clean Slate laws clear eligible criminal records automatically, without the person filing a petition. Fourteen states plus D.C. have passed one, according to the Clean Slate Initiative. Pennsylvania was first in 2018 and Missouri the most recent in 2026. Passing a law is not the same as running one; Illinois signed its Clean Slate Act in January 2026 with automatic sealing phasing in later, so the petition route still applies in the meantime.

Can I vote with a felony?

It depends on the state. In the District of Columbia, Maine, and Vermont you never lose the right, even while incarcerated. In 23 states rights are restored automatically on release from prison, and in 15 more after parole or probation. Ten states keep an indefinite loss for some offenses or require a governor's pardon: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming.

Can I own a gun with a felony?

The general rule under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) is no. But 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) provides that a conviction which has been expunged, set aside, pardoned, or for which civil rights have been restored is not counted as a conviction for federal firearms purposes, unless that relief expressly says the person may not possess firearms. So the answer depends on the exact wording of your state relief. The same paragraph also provides that what counts as a conviction is decided by the law of the jurisdiction that heard the case, so state relief clears a state conviction only; a federal conviction takes federal relief, in practice a presidential pardon. Because a mistake here is a federal felony, have a lawyer licensed in your state read the actual order before you rely on it.