Anyone who has a criminal record understands the consequences and can affect even a normal family household. If you have any jail records indicating that you have spent time in the system, have a misdemeanor or felony on your record, you have a reduced chance of getting a good job. In addition, loans are often denied and some licenses are not available to you. That’s why you may be interested in having the record of your offense or time spent in jail expunged from your record. While the process is always time consuming, the results are well worth the effort if you are successful.
Expunction basics – Most states allow the courts to expunge information about convictions on some criminal charges from the official record. When a conviction is dismissed, the Department of Justice must remove the information from your record. When this is done, it will no longer be available when companies do a criminal background check on you.
Why have an offense expunged from your record? – There are many different reasons to have your criminal and jail records removed from the system through this process. One of the single biggest reasons is that you will have better luck getting a well paying job. People with previous criminal offenses, found when a background check is done on them, are often rejected from employment opportunities that pay well. Not only will you pass the background check when these records are removed, but you will no longer have to provide information about the conviction on your job application. Leaving this information out is a legal act by you and your prospective employer is legally prohibited from asking any questions about it when they make a determination about whether or not they want to hire you.
In addition to having more employment opportunities, you can also successfully apply for licenses to sell real estate, become a contractor, a driving position, even run for a public office if you wish. Even if you are required to list any convictions, even if expunged, the fact that you had the conviction expunged from your record is often sufficient to get the license. Loan officers, for example, look more favorably on people who don’t have a jail record. Once your record is clean, you can even go for grants and student loans even with minor offenses or misdemeanors in your background history data.
Finally, a benefit of having a clean criminal record that many people don’t think of is the peace of mind that comes from knowing that a background search on you won’t produce anything bad. In this day when everyone has access to personal information on the Internet, it is good to know that your past problems won’t continue to haunt you.
Which offenses can be expunged?
Other than motor vehicle infractions, most cases will qualify for removal. This includes; even felonies for which a sentence was imposed and that was served. However, if you are actively in a probationary period, then the probation must be terminated prior to the court granting an expunction for that offense. There are some cases that will never be considered by the courts for this purpose. These include any case involving sexual offenses and felonies in which alcohol played a part, the obvious one being DUI convictions. In other words, you will never be able to clean up your driving record if convicted of an alcohol related offense.
The process of clearing your previous convictions and jail records is a lengthy one and generally requires the services of a skilled attorney. Once completed, you have a clean slate and can move on with your life since your past will, at that point, not look so daunting and you will be more able to secure a firm position and stable outlook in your life.
