Criminal record expungement, which is provided as a legal right in the State of California, is the process of having your criminal record wiped clean.

While record expungement does not relieve one of all of the penalties and disabilities which arise from having a criminal record, it is the most powerful step one can take to make sure that mistakes of the past don't continue to burden the future. 

WHAT IS CRIMINAL RECORD EXPUNGEMENT?

Expungement encompasses a number of processes that provide varying degrees of relief from the adverse effects of an arrest or conviction, including relief from inaccurate or incomplete arrest records or the dissemination and use of arrest records outside the criminal justice system to deny the former arrestee business or professional licensing, employment, or similar opportunities for personal advancement. The relief sought may include a general release from penalties and disabilities resulting from the criminal record, sealing the record from public view, or the actual destruction of the record.

Some statutes governing expungement result in dismissal of the accusatory pleading against the defendant and release him or her from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the criminal record.

 Basically, an expungement results in the dismissal of the qualifying conviction.

DO YOU QUALIFY FOR EXPUNGEMENT?

Under Penal Code Section 1203.4, a person must be released from penalties and disabilities resulting from conviction in any case in which the person has been granted and successfully completed probation, by either fulfilling the conditions of probation for the entire period, which includes specifically the full payment of restitution or fines imposed as a condition of probation, or being discharged before the end of the probation period. The court has discretion to do so in the interests of justice in other probation cases. The court does not have discretion to do so if the defendant served a sentence in prison on a felony conviction, or if the defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

An applicant is not eligible for expungement if he or she is serving a sentence or is on probation for any offense, or if he or she is charged with the commission of a crime. Certain sex offenses, certain misdemeanor provisions of the Vehicle Code, and infractions are exempt from this rule.  The burden is on the applicant to prove that the probation requirements have been fulfilled, unless he or she has previously been relieved from probation restrictions.

PROCEDURE