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Re: Sealing” your record and “expunging” your record are two completely distinct statutory procedure
latinaliciousremoved 793 reads
posted

You are absolutely right.  First of all in Orange County you can only expunge the record, there is no sealing of the record and it's all public information.  Once it's expunged it is supposed to show dismissed, but of course people can find out what you were still arrested for.  So maybe a person should ask themselves first, is it really worth being a hooker?

guybeingaguy2888 reads

The courts had me go thru a program and once successfully completed the charges are "dismissed". It was expired tags and possesion of less than an once of the evil weed :)
I did complete the process around beginning of July, and believe they are "dismissed".
In all the paperwork, they gave a paper instruction to go to this twice monthly, gov't sponsored, free , 2 hour thing where they have a notary public and a fingerprint dude and all the paperwork to start the process.
They stated my county takes about a year for it to be "expunged".

Is there a quicker way ?
Can I seal the record ?
I am getting employment background checks and this thing is killing me !

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mrfisher919 reads

What the legal record says is not the bulk of your problem, but rather whether the information was ever on the internet.

If so, and that could be on a local newspaper's of record police blotter, detective agencies hired by firms to do background checks can find out about the arrest and blackball you based just on that.

It sucks royally, but welcome to the computer age.

I was warned 40 years ago by a very intelligent man that this would happen, and it has.

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aces8913 reads

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guybeingaguy937 reads

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aces8874 reads

Sorry, not the least bit familiar with their procedures.

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corwinofavalon930 reads

The best way to illustrate my point is to punch "background check" into your search engine: I just did and got 340 million results in .17 seconds!  If your jurisdiction's laws are like California's, you are allowed to withdraw your guilty plea and the case is dismissed.  At that point, technically, you longer have a conviction (for most purposes) and can in most instances, honestly answer that question with a negative.  

Unfortunately, these background check companies have uploaded all of the convictions but are doing nothing to update the expungements.  You wouldn't spend the money to do so, either, if you were running one of these companies.  Anyhoo, people are filling out applications saying that they have no criminal convictions, the prospective employer shoots over the $14.95 and the applicant's name and, voila', "whaddya mean ya don't have a criminal conviction?  What about this wife beating thing 5 years ago?!"  

I still recommend the expungement process, it puts you in the best procedural position so if you find yourself in the situation noted above, you can at least explain your answer.  May not make a difference but if the company's that uptight, you were probably screwed either way.

Also, again, if you are are in California or a jurisdiction like ours, don't bother expunging a DUI.  It will be in the DMV databases thousands of years from know for future archeologists to ponder!  Indeed, if you know of some way to get them off you DMV record, please drop me a note, we'll hook up and retire in a year or two!

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marikod827 reads

permits the withdrawal of a guilty plea as part of the expungement process, unless you first go thru the demanding procedure to withdraw any guiilty plea.

    California has separate procedures for expungement of arrest records where no accusatory pleading has been filed and expungement of criminal history records where an accusatory pleading - i.e., an indictment - has been filed but no conviction occurred. In the later case, you have to prove innocence to get those records expunged. So if you plead guilty and do not have grounds to withdraw that guilty plea, I can't imagine you could get any expungement at all.

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corwinofavalon836 reads

And in that regard, you are correct, motions to withdraw your plea in that situation is clearly disfavored by the courts and presents a difficult (but not always insurmountable) burden on the defense.  

That said, an expungement in CA is exactly as I've described. I would refer you to CA Penal Code sec. 1203.4 et. seq.

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marikod891 reads

the statute permits a defendant, after, inter alia, completion of probation,  to “withdraw” a guilty plea as to some offenses without having to prove the plea was not entered knowingly and voluntarily or that he is actually innocent.

       I would quibble with the statute’s use of “withdraw” because the statute makes clear you are still guilty in the eyes of the state, and are still subject to some of the limitations imposed on felons. Very different from the normal meaning of withdrawing a guilty plea on constitutional grounds where the effect is as though you never pled.

     But my quarrel is with the guys who drafted the statute and not with you – you did describe it correctly.

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BigPapasan893 reads

...for a job that requires a state license, e.g, hairdresser, plumber, etc.

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marikod857 reads

Florida under specified circumstances permits both the “expungement” of specified criminal history records and the "sealing" of criminal history records. Some records can only be expunged; some can only be sealed. Regardless, both procedures apply only to the government’s records data base and not to databases kept by private companies.

       But you have to file separate petitions to do both if you qualify. Take a look at 93.0585 and 93.0586 for the crimes which may be expunged and sealed and the procedure to do both, including precisely what must be in your petitions.

       Generally expungement does not apply to “investigative files” anyway- the police always keep those. So you are never able to wipe the slate completely clean with these procedures.

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tristater45880 reads

Have to agree with some of the previous posts on here. Given the shelf-life of most computer data nowadays, an expungement of the record is almost virtually worthless.

In the old "paper record" days, an expungement actually resulted in the physical destruction of the court record, i.e., shredding the file.  Now that most data is stored in various computers, it's nearly impossible to destroy a "criminal record."

Also, it's important to remember that evidence of one's "record" can literally be stored in dozens of databases in a myriad of agencies, e.g., court clerk, jail/corrections, state police, local police, bail bonding and/or pre-trial release agencies, county sheriff, etc, etc. Also, if your state requires STD testing in the wake of a prostitution arrest, local public department records can be involved as well.

A little careful research on this board (or some simple, yet thorough screening) can go a long way towards eliminating future embarassment over a long-ago "indiscretion."

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latinaliciousremoved794 reads

You are absolutely right.  First of all in Orange County you can only expunge the record, there is no sealing of the record and it's all public information.  Once it's expunged it is supposed to show dismissed, but of course people can find out what you were still arrested for.  So maybe a person should ask themselves first, is it really worth being a hooker?

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London Rayne786 reads

Expunged is getting it taken off AFTER it is already on your record and you have been convicted of it. I had to pay 500 bucks when I was 18, but don't let anyone kid you. If someone at the police dept. pulls your name up, it is still on the computer, and they can see it. Now, an employer doing a background check won't be able to see it, so that is what you're paying for, but the cops very well can see it. Nothing you do ever really disappears entirely.

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