Pennsylvania Expungement Process

Posted in Criminal Records/Expungement,Expungement on March 28, 2017

Criminal records are often reviewed by employers and landlords, so such records can prevent people from getting jobs and apartments. People want to get rid of criminal records through the expungement process or record sealing, which is called limited access in Pennsylvania. With an expungement, ALL records are destroyed. With limited access, the records still exist, but only a limited group of people, primarily cops, proseuctors, and judges, have access to the information. Employers and landlords would not have access to limited access records.

An expungement is obviously better than limited access becuase it results in the destruction of records. The problem is that Pennsylvania law limits when expungements are available. Pennsylvania law is a bit more liberal in allowing limited access when compared to expungements.

Fortunately, in some cases, Pennsylvania law provides the possibility of expungement. Getting a record expunged makes it unavailable for public view; only law enforcement personnel will be able to access it.

Expungement Eligiblity

If a person was not convicted, meaning if the charges were withdrawn, nolle prossed, or dismissed, then the person is eligible to seek expungement of the non-conviction information. For example, completion of the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program results in a dismissal of the charges, and the person can then go through the expungement process to have the records destroyed.

With regard to expungement of summary offenses, such as Underage Drinking, Carrying a Fake ID, Retail Theft, or Public Drunkenness, a conviction can be expunged if the person has stayed out of trouble for five years following the date of conviction.

For misdemeanor and felony convictions, the expungement law is terrible. Expungement is only available if: 1) the person is dead for 3 years; OR 2) the person is over 70 years old and has not been arrested for at least 10 years. Therefore, the only people that can expunge a misdemeanor or felony conviction are either dead or so old that the expungement is not needed.

Limited Access Eligiblity

Limited Access, is similar to what many states call a “sealing” of the record.  If a criminal record were subject to an Order for Limited Access, it means that the record should not appear on future background searches. For more information about limited access, including eligiblity, click here.

Expungement Process

Obtaining an Order for Limited Access or expunging a record is not normally an automatic process, meaning the government does not do it for a person. Recent Clean Slate laws have moved some cases to limited access automatically, but many charges requires the filing of paperwork to faciliate expungement or limited access.

To start these processes, a person must often file paperwork withthe Clerk of Courts in the county in which the cases were handled. The district attorney may agree to have tehepetition granted, or the district attorney may request a hearing to challenge or oppose the request. The process varies from county to county, so it is very important that you hire an attorney with experience in handling expungement cases in the particular county in which the case was filed. Experience matters.

Experienced Expungement Attorney

For a free case review, contact experienced expungement attorney Jason S. Dunkle of JD Law.  He has been filing expungements for Penn State students, alums, and visitors since 2004, so a ton of experience.  Email him today.