How to Check If Your Connecticut Criminal Record Was Erased

Connecticut's automated Clean Slate system has erased over 150,000 convictions since going live — but the state doesn't send any notification when it processes yours. No letter, no email, no portal alert. If you want to know whether your record has been erased, you have to check it yourself. Here's how.

Step 1: Search the Public Judicial Branch Database

The Connecticut Judicial Branch maintains a free online case look-up database. You can search by defendant name or docket number to see charges, statutes, and disposition dates.

The catch: Cases older than ten years are systematically purged from this public portal. If your case doesn't appear, that doesn't mean it was erased — it may simply have aged out of the public display. An absence from this database is not confirmation of erasure.

This search is useful mainly as a starting point. If your case still appears here and you believe it should have been erased, that's a clear signal something needs attention. But a clean result here means nothing definitive.

Step 2: Order Your Official State Rap Sheet

The only authoritative source is the State Police Bureau of Identification (SPBI), which maintains Connecticut's master criminal history records. To get your official rap sheet:

1. Complete Form DPS-0846-C (Criminal History Record Request)
2. Submit it to SPBI at 1111 Country Club Road, Middletown, CT 06457
3. Pay the currently listed $75 fee for a name-based search; rates are scheduled to change on October 1, 2026, so verify the amount before ordering
4. Optionally add a currently listed $15 fingerprint-based search — recommended to eliminate false matches or data entry errors; verify the current amount before ordering

The fingerprint option is worth the extra cost. Name-based searches can return records for people with similar names, or miss records filed under a different name variant. Fingerprint matching is definitive.

If your eligible conviction no longer appears on the SPBI rap sheet, it has been successfully erased. You're legally deemed never to have been arrested for that matter, and you can state so under oath.

Step 3: If the Record Still Appears — File a DESPP Audit

If your SPBI rap sheet (dated on or after January 1, 2024) shows a conviction that should have been automatically erased — meaning it's a post-2000 eligible misdemeanor or felony, the waiting period has passed, and all sentence terms are complete — you can initiate a formal administrative audit.

1. Obtain your certified SPBI criminal history report (you'll need this as supporting documentation)
2. Complete Form DESPP-0847-C (Hearing for Clean Slate Erasure)
3. Include detailed docket information, charges, and a written explanation of why the offense qualifies
4. Submit to the DESPP Legal Affairs Unit at [email protected] or by mail to their Middletown headquarters

DESPP conducts a manual audit of the case file. If approved, they coordinate with the Judicial Branch to execute the erasure. If denied, you're notified in writing and can request a formal administrative hearing.

Step 4: Check Private Background Screening Databases

State-level erasure doesn't automatically propagate to private consumer reporting agencies (CRAs). Companies like Checkr, Sterling, GoodHire, and others pull from a mix of court records, public databases, and proprietary data aggregators — and those sources frequently lag behind the state's databases.

If you've confirmed that the state has erased your record but it still shows up on a commercial background check (typically run by an employer or landlord), you have the right to dispute it. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the CRA must investigate and resolve the dispute within 30 days. Connecticut law goes further: under Public Act 23-134, reporting an erased record is a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, which carries statutory damages.

The Connecticut Expungement & Record Sealing Guide includes pre-written dispute letter templates for both the FCRA dispute process and the DESPP audit pathway, along with the verification checklist to confirm each step is complete.

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