For information on the Indiana Second Chance Act for the Expungement of Criminal Records, Sealing of Arrest Records, Reduction of Felony to Misdemeanor, and Expungement of Juvenile Adjudication Records; The Law Office of Burt & Dahl, LLC has provided the basic requirements to help the public in determining whether or not they might qualify to have their past offenses expunged, sealed, or erased. Below is a list of some of the options available to individuals and a list of some of their basic requirements need for a successful expungement.
- CRIMINAL RECORD EXPUNGEMENT.
MISDEMEANOR CONVICTIONS:
– (5) five years must have passed from date of last conviction; (some exceptions)
– Payment of all fines, fess, penalties, restitution, and court costs
– No pending criminal charges against you;
D-FELONY & LEVEL 6-FELONY CONVICTIONS:
– (8) eight years must have passed from date of last conviction; (some exceptions)
– Payment of all fines, fess, penalties, restitution, and court costs
– No pending criminal charges against you;
C, B, A Felonies & 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Felonies (felony resulting in bodily injury)
– (8) eight years must have passed from date of last conviction and three years from sentence completion
– Payment of all fines, fess, penalties, restitution, and court costs
– Judicial Discretion Applies
– No pending criminal charges against you;
CRIMES of SERIOUS BODILY INJURY & PUBLIC OFFICE MISCONDUCT
– (10) ten years must have passed from date of last conviction and five years from sentence completion
– Payment of all fines, fess, penalties, restitution, and court costs
– No pending criminal charges against you;
– Written consent of the prosecutor – Judicial Discretion
* It is important to remember, this is not an exhaustive list of requirements and
every case will have a different set of circumstances which may have an impact
on the outcome of a petition for expungement. Additionally, some criminal
offenses are barred from being expunged, such as sexually based convictions.
- ARREST RECORD SEALING OR EXPUNGEMENT.
ARREST – NO CONVICTION or DIVERSION
– Unbeknownst to many people, a criminal background search will reveal both a
record of arrest and the record of conviction. This information is sometimes
available to the public in many formats such as online court record searches,
public police reports, and courthouse records. Additionally, employers doing
background checks often time see this information; even though you may not
have received a conviction, the record of your arrest may still remain.
PRE-TRIAL DIVERSIONS: If you agreed to a diversion, deferral, or deferred prosecution with or without probation and were told that the charges would be dropped after completion of probation or a certain period of time, and no conviction would result; the record of arrest will likely still remain on your record and available to the public but we may be able to remove the arrest from your official record. Typically 1 year from the date of arrest or upon successful completion of an agreement.
– If you have questions regarding this type of situation it is very important to consult with an attorney to help determine your rights.
- FELONY REDUCTION to MISDEMEANOR
A person may qualify to have a D-Felony or Level 6-Felony reduced or converted and entered as an A-Misdemeanor, if certain requirements are met. There is not an exact
science to obtaining this type of relief but some of these requirements include:
– Consent from the Prosecutor;
– Successful completion of parole or probation;
– Not a sex offender, violent offender, nor perjury,
– Hasn’t been convicted of another felony.
– At least 3 years have passed since the completion of a sentence.
In many cases this form of relief may restore the convicted person’s right to vote, possess and/or carry a firearm, or allow the person to hold public office.
- JUVENILE CONVICTION
Even though juvenile conviction records are sealed, there are many reasons which a person may want to have his/her juvenile record expunged such as entry into the military, obtaining a security clearance, and other types of federal employment. The state of Indiana gives Juvenile courts the ability to expunge a juvenile criminal record; however, the law does not provide specific parameters as to the requirements for this type of expungement. Therefore each case is handled differently by the courts and it is extremely important for people seeking for this type of expungement to seek legal advice from an attorney.
Only a small number of offenses are barred from being expunged but most crimes are available for expungement so long as all the requirements are met. If you have a conviction for OWI / DUI, possession of drugs, battery, burglary, minor consumption, robbery, dealing narcotics, neglect, failure to pay child support, theft, resisting law enforcement, and many other different criminal offenses then call us for help.
Please call Attorney Blake N. Dahl of The Law Office of Burt & Dahl, LLC for advice and legal representation in these matters at (765) 416-8389
By: BLAKE N. DAHL – Attorney at Law