Record relief: All but the most serious felonies are eligible for sealing after graduated waiting periods: one year after completion of sentence for petty offenses, three years for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies, and five years for other eligible felonies. All court-ordered fees must have been paid. If a person has multiple convictions, records may only be sealed if all offenses are eligible (the DA or court can authorize sealing for otherwise ineligible misdemeanors). Minor drug felonies may be vacated and reduced to misdemeanors, making many of them eligible for sealing. Victims of human trafficking may petition to seal any misdemeanor resulting from trafficking. In these cases, the court must apply a balancing test to determine whether sealing is warranted. For more serious felonies, the court must hold a hearing; for other offenses, the court need not hold a hearing unless the prosecutor or victim objects. Decriminalized marijuana misdemeanors must be sealed upon petition, and municipal offenses may also be sealed on petition. Consumer reporting agencies must exclude sealed or expunged records from their reports and the state court administrator must report annually to the House Judiciary Committee on statistics of sealed/objected records.
Clean slate sealing: Legislation in 2022 authorized automatic sealing after a waiting period of most offenses currently eligible for petition-based sealing, including records involved in diversion agreements and records associated with status as victim of human trafficking, excluding violent crimes. Payment of outstanding fees or fines is not required. The district attorney has 45 days to object, and the defendant has the right to a hearing. Uncharged arrests must be sealed automatically after one year, and most non-convictions are sealed automatically at disposition. Expungement is mandatory for records of juvenile adjudications for petty offenses and misdemeanors or where no adjudication results; expungement is discretionary for low-level felonies after an eligibility waiting period, which is extended for people with repeat offenses.
Judicial certificates: At the time of conviction or at any time thereafter, upon the request of the defendant or upon the court’s own motion, a court may enter an “order of collateral relief” in the criminal case to override specific collateral consequences as identified by the defendant, including employment, housing and licensing bars. The law contains no standards to guide subsequent discretionary decision-making. All but violent offenses and offenses requiring registration are eligible. Juvenile adjudications are also eligible. An order of collateral relief may be enlarged at any time upon petition.
