Expungements

Do you want to clear your record? Is that past conviction still causing you problems?

Whether it’s for personal satisfaction, peace of mind or employment purposes, there are many advantages to having your criminal conviction cleared from your public record.

With today’s economy and tough job market, any extra advantage you have when applying for employment can help. One major advantage is having a clear criminal record. Many employment positions require that the job applicant have a clean criminal record, or at a minimum, no Felony Convictions. Even if a person has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in Michigan, the person may have it removed from his or her record is the applicant is eligible.

Under MCL 780.621, a person with a criminal felony or misdemeanor conviction may request that it be removed from his or her public record. The technical name of the request to the court is a motion to “Set Aside” the conviction.

Setting aside a conviction removes the criminal conviction from the Public Records kept by the Michigan State Police. This process of setting aside a conviction is more commonly known as an “Expungement.” The expungement process permits a person to formally request that a Judge order the Michigan State Police to remove the conviction from public records. Once the Michigan State Police remove the conviction from public records then no conviction will be displayed when a public check is done.

A person is only eligible to have the conviction expunged if certain circumstances exist. For instance, if the person has only one total conviction on his or her record and the conviction is an eligible offense, then the person may have this conviction “Set Aside” or Expunged off of his or her record.

Another situation where a person could be eligible to have a conviction “Set Aside” or Expunged is when the person has up to two additional “minor offense” convictions which occurred before the applicant turned 21 years old. These two “minor offenses” can be on the person’s record in addition to offense which the applicant is seeking to have removed. Under the law, the “minor offense” is defined as a misdemeanor or ordinance violation for which the maximum penalty is 90 days in jail and a fine up to $1,000.00. (Therefore, technically a person could have up to 3 total convictions on his or her record but 2 of the 3 convictions must be misdemeanor convictions and must have occurred before the person turned 21. With regard to the possible expunged conviction, there is no age requirement or restriction at the time of the offense or conviction.)

A person may apply to have the conviction "Set Aside" or "Expunged" for any misdemeanor or felony except: 1) a conviction of a felony or attempted felony punishable by life imprisonment; 2) a conviction for criminal sexual conduct; or, 3) a traffic offense.

A person becomes eligible for the expungement after 5 years have passed since the date of the sentencing, as long as the person was not imprisoned. If the person was imprisoned for the conviction, then the person must wait 5 years after the date of release from imprisonment to apply for the expungement.

If a person is eligible, the expungement process applies to both juvenile and adult convictions. It is important to keep in mind however, that a person does not have a “Right” to have a conviction expunged off of his or her record. It is not automatic nor is it guaranteed. This process is considered to be a “Privilege” by the State of Michigan and the Judge has a great deal of discretion when deciding on whether or not to grant an expungement request.

The expungement process is tedious and requires that specific court procedures must be followed. Therefore, being fully prepared and filing all of the proper documents are crucial in order to be successful when making this request to the Court. If you would like to have your conviction “Set Aside” or "Expunged" off of your record, please do not hesitate to contact the Office.