Hiring an Expungement Attorney

Because getting your records sealed can be complicated and the laws vary between states and counties, your best option is to hire an experienced attorney to lead you through the process. This provies you with expert advice for each step of the process and can save you hours of pointless work.

Your attorney will advise if your crimes fit the criteria for expungement. For instance, in your situation, expungement may not be available at all because the state or county in which you were arrested does not allow this process, or it may be possible to expunge your arrest record, but not your conviction record. In that case, you get advice on the benefits of each as they apply to your particular situation.

You may have waited too long to apply for sealing your records, or perhaps you did not realize that your records were automatically sealed if you were a juvenile at the time of your conviction, or, in the opposite situation, that you were actually tried as an adult for all or a portion of your charges.

In some jurisdictions you must be acquitted of your crimes (found innocent or had the charges dismissed) in order to apply for expungement of the arrest record. In New York, for example, a person’s record is cleared automatically if the charges were dismissed or the person is found innocent at trial. However, if a person is convicted of a crime and that conviction is not overturned through appeal or any other process, expungement of that crime is not possible at all.

These complexities and variances between states and counties are the reason that hiring an experienced attorney is the best advice you get.