Record relief: Courts’ authority to dismiss charges and set aside convictions has been steadily extended over the past decade, with authority to seal the record added in 2019, so that by virtue of a 2022 law almost all felony convictions may be set aside and sealed after completion of sentence, after a conviction-free waiting period of between one and four years. In some cases, sealing is automatic, and in others relief is petition-based. Effective November 18, 2019, the state repository may not disclose such records for most inquiries relating to employment or licensing; and, effective Aug. 1, 2022, courts may not disclose such records except to criminal justice agencies. Nonetheless, a conviction that has been dismissed or set aside may be used as a predicate offense and must be disclosed in certain contexts, and does not result in relief from firearms dispossession. A victim of human trafficking may seek to have arrests and convictions for any non-violent offense vacated and sealed. In successive laws enacted between 2016 and 2022, steps were taken to enact various relief measures for marijuana offenses, including but not limited to convictions for conduct made legal in 2016.
Most non-conviction records are sealed upon disposition, and uncharged arrests are sealed when the limitations period has run. Juvenile records are generally unavailable to the public except for those related to certain more serious offenses; most juvenile adjudications may be sealed after five years (if found to be rehabilitated and no subsequent convictions of felony or crime of moral turpitude); juvenile records not resulting in adjudication are eligible for sealing upon disposition.
Judicial certificates: Certificates of Rehabilitation (COR) are available to people with state offenses from courts in the county of their residence or the court of conviction after conviction-free waiting period of 7-10 years, and satisfaction of other statutory criteria. A COR relieves certain licensing restrictions and serves as a first step in the pardon process.
