Expungement/Seal Records

People make mistakes, but a mistake you’ve made in the past shouldn’t prevent you from getting a job, a loan, or housing that you are seeking to obtain, now or in the future.  If you’ve been convicted of a crime and have already faced the consequences, it may be possible to remove those charges from your criminal record (and from criminal background check databases) through a legal process called expungement.

 

An expungement proceeding is a type of lawsuit in which a first-time offender of a prior criminal conviction seeks that the records of that earlier process be sealed, making the records unavailable through the state or Federal repositories. If successful, the records are said to be "expunged".  While expungement deals with an underlying criminal record, it is a civil action in which the subject is the petitioner or plaintiff asking a court to declare that the records be expunged.

 

An expungement is not a pardon. When an expungement is granted, the person whose record is expunged may, for most purposes, treat the event as if it never occurred. A pardon does not "erase" the event; rather, it constitutes forgiveness.

 

You may also wish to remove from general review the records pertaining to a court case.  This is referred to as record sealing.

 

If actions you are pursuing in your life, such as trying to get a job, a loan, or housing, and a past criminal action is preventing you from moving forward, contact Meehling Law for a consultation and assistance.  We can assist you in with expungements or the sealing of records, freeing you to start anew with a clean slate.