All convictions except for crimes against a child, sex offenses, and certain DUIs, are eligible for sealing after a waiting period ranging from one to 10 years after discharge or release from prison if no convictions during waiting period or pending charges. There is an explicit presumption in favor of sealing except for those dishonorably discharged from probation or parole, whose sealing is discretionary. Sealed convictions may be denied and have no predicate effect. Non-conviction records are presumptively eligible for sealing after the charges are dismissed, declined for prosecution (after the limitations period has run or 10 years), or a person is acquitted. Victims of human trafficking may petition to have any non-violent conviction vacated and the record sealed. Sealing is also available for conduct that was subsequently decriminalized. There is broad authority to defer adjudication leading to sealing, and also authority for drug courts, mental health courts, and veterans courts all also leading to sealing. Pardoned convictions may also be sealed. Most juvenile records are automatically sealed when the person turns 21, except that earlier sealing is available by petition after a three-year waiting period, and certain violent and sexual offenses are not eligible for sealing until the person turns 30.
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Restoration of Rights Project (RRP)
Restoration of Firearm Rights After Conviction: A National Survey and Recommendations for Reform (Dec. 2025)

50-state comparisons
About the Restoration of Rights Project
The Restoration of Rights Project (RRP) is a project of the Collateral Consequences Resource Center in partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Legal Aid & Defender Association, National HIRE Network, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, and Paper Prisons Initiative. Launched in 2017, the RRP is an online resource containing detailed state-by-state analyses of the law and practice in each U.S. jurisdiction relating to restoration of rights and status following arrest or conviction. Jurisdictional “profiles” cover areas such as loss and restoration of civil rights and firearms rights, judicial and executive mechanisms for avoiding or mitigating collateral consequences, and provisions addressing non-discrimination in employment, licensing, and housing. In addition to the jurisdictional profiles, RRP materials include a set of 50-state comparison charts that make it possible to see national patterns in restoration laws and policies. Short “postcard” summaries of the law in each state serve as a gateway to the more detailed information in the profiles, and provide a snapshot of applicable law in each state.
Originally published in 2006 by CCRC Executive Director Margaret Love, the research in the RRP has been kept up to date and substantially expanded over the years, and it is summarized in an appendix to the treatise on collateral consequences published jointly by NACDL and Thompson Reuters (West). It is intended as a resource for practitioners in all phases of the criminal justice system, for courts, for civil practitioners assisting clients whose court-imposed sentence has exposed them to additional civil penalties, for policymakers and advocates interested in reentry and reintegration of convicted persons, and for the millions of Americans with a criminal record who are seeking to put their past behind them.
These resources may be republished as long as appropriate attribution is given to the RRP as its source.




