DC Expungement vs Sealing: What's the Difference and Which Do You Need?

They're Not the Same Thing

DC law defines expungement and sealing as two distinct legal remedies, and the distinction has practical consequences for employment applications, background checks, and professional licensing.

Expungement restores you, in the eyes of the law, to the exact status you held before the arrest or charge ever occurred. Physical and electronic public references to the record must be eliminated. Law enforcement and court agencies can keep a restricted, non-public file, but the record is treated as though it never happened. You cannot be held guilty of perjury or false statement for failing to disclose an expunged matter for any purpose.

Sealing removes the record from public view — commercial background screening companies, landlords, and standard employers cannot access it. But the record is not destroyed. Courts, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, licensed schools, child-care facilities, and professional licensing boards retain restricted access when the offense directly relates to a licensing qualification.

When Each One Applies

You don't get to choose between them. DC law assigns the remedy based on your case type:

Expungement applies to:

• Decriminalized or legalized offenses (most commonly pre-2015 simple marijuana possession) under the automatic expungement route in D.C. Code § 16-802
• Cases where you can prove actual innocence under D.C. Code § 16-803

Sealing applies to:

• Non-conviction cases (dismissals, acquittals, nolle prosequi, successful diversions)
• Eligible misdemeanor convictions (5-year wait after sentence completion)
• Eligible Failure to Appear felony convictions (8-year wait after sentence completion)

If your case falls into the sealing category, you cannot petition for expungement — and vice versa.

What This Means in Practice

On job applications: With either remedy, you can legally answer "no" to questions about arrests or convictions on standard civilian employment applications. The key difference is scope: expungement eliminates the record's existence entirely, while sealing only shields it from public access.

On background checks: Both remedies should remove the record from commercial screening reports. If a background check company reports a sealed or expunged record, you can dispute it under the Fair Credit Reporting Act — the CRA generally has 30 days to verify and correct, extendable to 45 days if new information is submitted. You can also file a complaint with DC's Office of Human Rights.

For professional licensing: Sealed records remain visible to licensing boards that are classified as "restricted access entities" under D.C. Code § 16-801. Medical, nursing, education, real estate, and legal licensing boards can inspect sealed court records when evaluating your character and fitness. Expunged records, by contrast, are legally treated as if they never occurred.

For security clearances: Neither remedy binds the federal government. If you're applying for a position requiring an SF-86, you must disclose all arrests and convictions — sealed or expunged — regardless of what a DC court has ordered.

A Common Misconception

Many people use "expungement" as a catch-all term for any form of record clearing. In everyday conversation, that's fine. In DC's legal system, it's a specific remedy with specific eligibility criteria. When you're researching your options, searching for "DC expungement" might lead you to information about sealing — and vice versa. The practical question is always: what was the outcome of your case, and what remedy does the statute assign to that outcome?

For most people with eligible records in DC — particularly those with non-conviction records or old misdemeanor convictions — the available remedy is sealing, not expungement. And for the majority of real-world situations (jobs, apartments, commercial background checks), sealing provides the protection you actually need.

The District of Columbia Expungement & Record Sealing Guide explains which remedy applies to each case on your record and what level of protection you can realistically expect.

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