What is an Expungement?

Expungement is a legal process in which you can apply for your criminal record on a specific case to be “cleared.”  Cleared doesn’t mean that your criminal record vanishes, it simply means that certain agencies and employers can’t see it.  Expungement will allow you to obtain better employment in certain fields of employment.  There are certain requirements that must be met before a case is expunged and many courthouse have their own internal rules that may make the expungement process very difficult if not time consuming.

 If your criminal record is expunged, then the conviction is set aside and the case is dismissed from the defendant’s record. The defendant then has the legal right to say that he has not been convicted of any crime, even when applying for a job (subject to certain exceptions, such as applying for a job with the county, state, etc.).

If a defendant is sent to state prison, and thereafter paroled, the process is more complicated and generally requires the parolee to get a “certificate of rehabilitation”.

Expungement is a remedy available for most felonies and misdemeanors, although not all.

Call the Law Offices of Errol Cook for a free consultation – (562) 209-1114.