How to Check if Your Record Has Been Expunged

To check if your record has been expunged, visit the court where your case was held and ask to view the records. If the court no longer holds them, or the clerk tells you they cannot be released, your expungement likely went through. You can also check the court's public website or contact your attorney to confirm.

How do I know if my record is clean?

If you have checked court records and found your record is clean, your expungement or sealing petition was successful. However, the case could still exist in the hands of private data-mining companies that some employers use when running background checks.

Because expungement procedures, forms, and courts differ by state, see our expungement laws by state hub for your state's specific process. For more on what shows up in a records search before expungement, see How to Find Recent Arrest Records: Are Criminal Records Public?

Use public court website

If the court maintains a website, you may check its records for your case. If your information is no longer listed, that may mean the court expunged or sealed your record. To be sure, we still recommend visiting the court in person or calling the clerk's office directly.

How do I get a certificate of actual innocence?

There is no single nationwide certificate of actual innocence. Several states do give a person the courts cleared a way to go further than expungement and obtain a judicial finding of innocence, but the name of the instrument, the standard of proof, and the court that issues it all differ. Finding out what your own state calls the remedy is the first step, because searching for the wrong term will not turn up the right form.

California is one concrete example. Under California Penal Code section 851.8, a person who was arrested but never charged, or who was charged and later cleared, may petition for a finding of factual innocence. If the court grants the petition, the statute directs the issuance of a written declaration that the person is "factually innocent of the charges," seals the arrest records for three years from the date of the arrest and then destroys them, and provides that "the arrest shall be deemed not to have occurred."

The District of Columbia uses a different mechanism entirely. D.C. Code section 22-4135 lets a person file a motion to vacate a conviction or for a new trial "on grounds of actual innocence based on new evidence," and that motion "may be made at any time." That is post-conviction relief rather than a certificate, which is exactly why the terminology matters when you go looking for the right procedure.

Because these remedies are creatures of state law, contact the clerk of the court where your case was heard, or an attorney licensed in your state, to find out which remedy your state offers and what it is called. Our expungement laws by state hub is the place to start for your state's process.

Do expunged records show up on background checks?

Expunged records can still show up on background checks if your case is stored in a private database. It is not illegal for companies to hold criminal records, because most (though not all) court records are public. When a court expunges your record, it removes your case from public court access. The record can still exist on private background-check and data-broker sites that copied it before the expungement, however.

How to remove expunged records from private databases

If you know which company or website is holding your record, send a written request asking it to remove or correct the listing once your case is expunged or sealed. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer reporting agency must "follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy" of the information in the reports it prepares (15 U.S.C. 1681e(b)).

If you dispute an item as inaccurate or incomplete, the agency must conduct a "reasonable reinvestigation" and generally complete it within 30 days of receiving your dispute, a period it may extend by up to 15 days in limited circumstances (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)). Put the dispute in writing and keep a copy of what you sent and when.

If you have not yet completed the underlying expungement, a legal-aid organization may be able to help you file at little or no cost. LawHelp.org, run by the nonprofit Pro Bono Net together with legal-aid and pro bono programs across the country, keeps a state-by-state directory of free legal help. Which cases each program takes, and whether it handles expungements at all, varies by state and by provider, so ask your local office what it covers.

Expungement steps

To begin, make sure your criminal record is actually expunged or sealed. To do that, you should:

• File a motion or petition with the court to expunge or seal your record. An attorney can help you prepare and file it.
• Once the court approves your request, contact the background-check company or website and ask it to delete or take down your record.

Before you apply for expungement or ask a third-party website to remove your record, make sure your case is closed and you have completed your full sentence.

That raises the question:

How do I go about getting my record expunged?

Several factors affect your eligibility for expungement, including:

• The severity and nature of the offense.
• Your overall criminal record.
• The circumstances of the case you are seeking to expunge.
• How much time has passed since the offense.

Some offenses do not qualify for expungement at all, and some records are sealed or destroyed automatically after a set amount of time. For example, several states automatically seal or destroy juvenile records once a teen completes their sentence, while others require a formal application.

Automatic clearing is no longer limited to juvenile records. A growing group of states has adopted clean-slate laws that seal or set aside qualifying adult records with no petition from the person at all. Michigan is one example: under MCL 780.621g, certain misdemeanor convictions are set aside "without the filing of an application" seven years after sentencing, and certain felonies ten years after sentencing or completion of any term of imprisonment, whichever comes last. Lifetime limits apply, including no more than two felonies and no more than four misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more, and a list of offenses is excluded entirely.

Do not assume that applies to you. These laws differ sharply in which offenses they reach, when they take effect, and whether they cover convictions or only non-conviction records, and most states still require a petition. Check the entry for your state in our expungement laws by state hub before you pay a filing fee for relief your state may grant on its own.

The first step in most states is completing probation or parole. Contact your probation office directly to confirm you have satisfied every condition before you file.

What crimes cannot be expunged?

There is no national list. Each state writes its own exclusions into its expungement statute, and the lists differ sharply from one state to the next. Serious sexual offenses and crimes against children are among the most commonly excluded categories, but everything else depends on where you were convicted.

Michigan shows how specific these lists get. The Michigan Attorney General lists convictions that cannot be cleared either automatically or by petition, including:

• Felonies punishable by life imprisonment, and attempts to commit them
• First-, second-, or third-degree criminal sexual conduct, plus fourth-degree if the conviction came on or after January 12, 2015
• Second-degree child abuse and any child sexually abusive activity or material
• Using a computer to commit certain crimes
• Any drunk-driving (OWI) conviction other than a first offense
• Traffic offenses that involved a commercial driver's license or caused serious injury or death
• Felony domestic violence where there is a prior domestic-violence misdemeanor
• Human trafficking, forced labor, or debt bondage

California draws different lines. California Penal Code section 1203.4(b) excludes from the state's main conviction-dismissal remedy a set of serious sex offenses, most of them against children (including Penal Code sections 286(c), 287(c), 288, 288.5, and 289(j)), felony convictions under section 261.5(d), specified Vehicle Code offenses, and infractions.

Also, how long a felony stays on your record varies significantly by state, so you should consult an attorney familiar with your state's rules.

Eligibility rules vary significantly by state. See our Illinois and Massachusetts expungement guides, or find your own state in the expungement laws by state hub, for the exact qualifying offenses, waiting periods, and forms. In nearly every state, you must have completed your full sentence, including probation or parole, before you can petition.

Steps to expunge your criminal record

The process depends on state law. For your state's exact forms, filing fees, and agency, see our expungement laws by state guide. It typically begins with a petition or application for expungement or record sealing.

You can usually find the application at your local courthouse, the clerk of court's website, the prosecutor's office, or your state's law enforcement or bureau of investigation. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you may file on your own or with professional help. We recommend working with an attorney or a legal-aid clinic to improve your odds of a successful petition.

What to remember

• In most states expungement is not automatic, so you must petition the court, though a growing number of states now clear some qualifying records with no filing at all.
• You must usually pay a filing fee.
• State law may require you to formally "serve" your petition on the district attorney, and some states require you to prepare additional legal documents.
• There may be a court hearing, which is one reason it helps to work with a professional.
• Some crimes are not eligible for expungement at all.
• In some states, a court can unseal a previously sealed or expunged record if you are later charged with a new offense.
• Some states require you to disclose sealed or expunged records when applying for a professional license, a military position, or a law-enforcement job.
• Exceptions like these vary widely. Check our expungement laws by state hub for the rules in your state.

What happens after the court expunges your record?

After the court expunges your record, the case record generally comes out of public view. Outside narrow statutory exceptions, access requires a court order.

Depending on state law, the court may delete, destroy, or seal the record.

Your case will not show up in most background checks once that happens. Background-check companies and credit-reporting agencies may still hold copies from before the expungement, though, so you should find any company with your old record and ask it to remove the listing.

Can law enforcement agencies see expunged records?

Usually not, but the answer depends on state law. Law enforcement officers and agencies generally need a court order to see a truly expunged record. If the court or a state agency destroys the record entirely, no one can retrieve it. State law determines exactly who can see sealed or expunged records, and that access varies from state to state.

In most states, police and prosecutors retain some access to sealed records for law-enforcement purposes, even though the public cannot see them. A sealed record is not accessible to the public and does not appear in a standard public-records search. If a copy exists in a private database outside the court system, however, it can still surface in a commercial background check.

Do expunged records show up on FBI background checks?

Screening packages that combine a state criminal-history check with an FBI fingerprint check can still surface the existence of an expunged or sealed record, because state law decides what the state agency discloses to the agencies entitled to screen for jobs and licenses tied to caring for children, older adults, or people with disabilities. Florida's level 2 screening is one well-documented example. Florida Statutes section 435.04 sets the level 2 screening standard, which requires "fingerprinting for statewide criminal history records checks through the Department of Law Enforcement, national criminal history records checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies." The Florida Department of Law Enforcement explains that agencies entitled to see sealed and expunged history still receive notice that such a record exists, even where the underlying details are withheld. Rules like this vary by state and by the type of job or license involved.

Outside those narrow, statutorily defined exceptions, agencies generally need a court order to unseal or view an expunged record. So in most situations, an expunged record will not show up on a standard background check without one.

Is it illegal for private companies to have criminal records?

As mentioned, most criminal records are public records, so it is not illegal for a private company to hold them. First Amendment protections and state public-records and open-court-records law are the authorities that generally allow private databases to maintain and publish criminal records, as long as doing so does not violate a specific privacy law.

The federal Freedom of Information Act is not the operative authority here, despite how often it gets cited in this context. FOIA provides that each agency "shall make available to the public" the information it holds (5 U.S.C. 552), so it governs disclosure by federal government agencies. It does not control what a private company may do with records it has already obtained. Most criminal prosecutions are state or local matters, so state law, not FOIA, usually decides what was public in the first place.

That means a company may legally post accurate court records on a website that has no relationship with the court system.

What if you find your expunged record on a third-party website? Can you sue the site owner?

If the information on the website is accurate, you can request that the site owner take it down, though the owner is not always legally required to comply. If the information is inaccurate, or the website publishes non-public information such as juvenile records, you may have grounds to sue the site owner for defamation or invasion of privacy.

We recommend consulting an attorney to evaluate your specific situation.