A criminal record can severely impact your daily life. Landlords, employers, and professional licensing boards all run criminal background checks that could uncover prior arrests and convictions. Some colleges and universities will also ask about your criminal history and may discipline you if they discover that you lied on your application.
Expungement and sealing help you avoid these collateral consequences of your past offenses. These remedies can block the public from seeing your police and court records, giving you a clean slate to move forward from your past mistakes.
Expungement and Sealing in Illinois
The two primary processes for blocking public access to criminal records are expungement and sealing. Expungement is a judicial remedy that wipes out the records of a person’s past offenses. After expungement, only in limited scenarios may law enforcement agencies, federal agencies, and immigration authorities, access the records.
Sealing is also a judicial remedy. Rather than eliminating the records; however, sealing blocks them from public access. Only the police, the courts, and employers required to conduct fingerprint-based background checks can access sealed records.
One of the key differences between expungement and sealing is the level of access that remains after your petition is granted.
The effect is the same for most purposes — the majority of people can’t see your record after expungement or sealing. However, certain employers, like healthcare providers or daycare services, can access sealed records, though expunged records should generally remain off-limits.
Another notable difference is the eligibility criteria. Since the effects are so distinct, expungement has much higher eligibility standards than sealing.
Eligibility for Expungement
Expungement may apply in three broad situations.
First, you can have records expunged if you were never charged with a crime, or the charges never resulted in a conviction. Thus, your arrest records can be expunged if you were released without charges. This is also true if your criminal defense lawyer succeeded in getting your charges dismissed or if you were found not guilty.
Second, court records can be expunged if you were convicted, but the conviction was later vacated, reversed, or pardoned. For example, your records would be expunged after a pardon from the Governor and the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, even if you admitted your guilt in court.
Third, you may have your records expunged if the terms of your punishment included expungement upon successful completion. This condition is often the incentive to participate in a diversion program like drug court.
Finally, the state has made some convictions expungable simply out of fairness. For example, convictions for felony prostitution and certain minor marijuana offenses can be expunged. You can also seek to expunge certain convictions if you’re an honorably discharged veteran.
Eligibility for Sealing
In Illinois, sealing is available for all convictions except the following:
- Sex offenses
- Criminal sexual assault
- Felony public indecency
- Domestic battery
- Violation of a protective or no-contact order
- Battery of an unborn child
- Animal cruelty
- Dog fighting
- Misdemeanor and felony DUI
- Reckless driving for drivers 25 or older at sentencing
- Minor traffic violations
Additionally, sealing doesn’t apply to any conviction that currently requires you to register as a sex offender, arsonist, or violent offender against youth. However, once your registration term ends, you may be eligible to file a petition to seal your records.
Seeking Expungement or Sealing of Your Records
The path to expungement starts by determining your eligibility. Expungement is more powerful than sealing, so you should petition for this remedy, if you qualify.
If you fall into any of the categories eligible for expungement, you can file a petition with the court, which will review the request and determine whether to erase your record. If you have multiple police or court cases, the court will only expunge those contained in the petition that are eligible for expungement.
The one exception to this process involves minor marijuana convictions. These crimes are eligible for automatic expungement under the state’s cannabis decriminalization laws.
You don’t need to petition for expungement of marijuana-related records. However, you should check your record to verify that the state has expunged them and consult a lawyer if the state has overlooked your case.
If you don’t fall into any of the categories eligible for expungement, you can petition to have your record sealed. You must wait at least three years to seal most convictions, although the waiting period may differ for certain offenses.
Learn More About Your Eligibility for Expungement or Sealing From The Law Offices of Glenn & West, LLC
Having the records of your arrest or conviction expunged or sealed can free you from the collateral consequences of a past mistake. Contact us to discuss your criminal history and how we can help you move forward with your life.
