When you’ve developed a criminal record for a crime you didn’t commit or for a misdemeanor charge you’ve already served your time for, your natural inclination may be to expunge your record. Expunging your record — or sealing the arrest or conviction from public records — allows you to regain some freedom and privacy, which can improve your job opportunities and search history. However, there are a number of factors to consider when it comes to clearing your record. Not everyone’s record is eligible, so before you can even begin the process, make sure you qualify. It only gets more complicated from there.
1. The law varies depending on where you are
Different states have different policies in place regarding criminal record expungement. Some states like California treat criminal records as generally confidential to begin with, and destroy them within five years, which means getting your record cleared in some manner is much easier. Other states, like Florida, have much more severe laws that really only give slack to juveniles and first-time offenders. You will have to do research into your state’s laws to determine if you are at all eligible to have your records expunged in the first place before continuing.
2. You may need a criminal defense attorney
Expunging your record is not a straightforward process even if you are eligible. If you’re in a state where the process is particularly complex, rather than trying to take on the challenge yourself, you should hire a criminal defense attorney to help you navigate the process and make the best case for your expungement. Other states have a more straightforward process, requiring you only to fill out a form that’s relatively easy to complete.
3. Lots of businesses profit off criminal records
One of the biggest challenges you will face in expunging your records is realizing that expunging records from the courts doesn’t necessarily purge them from the internet. Along with Google’s cache and internet archive trackers, a number of businesses exist that operate entirely on making arrest records public, even if the person behind them is ultimately innocent. These websites are almost always legal and effectively blackmail people into paying exorbitant fees to have mugshots removed, and multiple states are struggling to tackle the problem of sites like Mugshots.com that exist to scam people in this manner.
4. Some job applications will still ask
Depending on what kinds of positions you’re applying for after you have your records expunged, you may still be obligated to disclose your arrests and charges on job applications which you can obtain from free arrest records. For example, six departments in Florida require you to report whether or not you have any records at all, including sealed records, and jobs in schools or law enforcement will more likely than not require disclosure as well. Once again, you will have to do research on your state and industry’s laws in order to determine what your disclosure obligations are. They will pop up occasionally.
5. People are making the process easier
Although the expungement process can sometimes be difficult, onerous or downright impossible to navigate, multiple people are taking steps to make it easier for everyone by digitizing and simplifying the process. Local legal experts are helping to develop apps that can easily tell someone whether they’re eligible for expungement or not, saving them the difficulty of navigating dozens of pages of legalese online in order to figure out whether their particular jurisdiction will allow them to expunge records for their particular charge.
Thousands of people in the United States who are eligible for expungement have not applied to do so because they do not know about the process, that their charges are eligible or even that their charges are still on their record. If you have a criminal record that you feel is holding you down, look into whether you’re eligible for record expungement. If you are, it can open a lot of doors in your life and make a significant difference in your job prospects.
