How to Seal Criminal Record

Sealing vs. Expungement: The Practical Difference

Record sealing hides your criminal history from public view — private employers, landlords, and most background screening companies can no longer access it. The record still exists in law enforcement and court databases, but it's restricted from standard searches.

Expungement can remove or restrict a record under the jurisdiction's law; it does not have the same effect everywhere and may not erase the record for law-enforcement, licensing, or immigration purposes. Some jurisdictions use the terms interchangeably, while others draw sharp legal distinctions. Neither remedy guarantees that every commercial database updates immediately.

General Eligibility Requirements

While every state sets its own rules, most sealing statutes require:

• A waiting period set by the jurisdiction — non-convictions may have shorter or no waiting period, while convictions often have longer periods
• No pending charges or new convictions during the waiting period
• Completion of all court-ordered obligations — fines, restitution, probation, community service
• The offense falls within an eligible category; exclusions are jurisdiction-specific and may include violent crimes, sex offenses, or certain drug offenses

Non-conviction records — dismissals, acquittals, and charges dropped by the prosecutor — are generally the easiest to seal and often require shorter waiting periods or no waiting period at all.

The Petition Process

For states that don't have automatic sealing, you'll typically need to:

1. Obtain your records — you need the exact case number, court, charges, and disposition for every case you want sealed. Pull your state repository report and FBI Identity History Summary to make sure you're not missing anything
2. Check eligibility — verify that each case qualifies under your state's statute. Some states have per-person limits (Georgia allows up to two misdemeanor convictions, for instance)
3. File the petition — most states have a standard form. File it with the court that handled the original case, not the court closest to where you live now
4. Pay the filing fee — ranges from $0 to several hundred dollars depending on the state. Many states offer fee waivers for people who can demonstrate financial hardship
5. Attend the hearing — some states seal non-conviction records without a hearing; conviction sealing often requires one. The judge weighs the nature of the offense, your rehabilitation, and whether sealing serves the interest of justice
6. Wait for the order — if granted, the court issues a sealing order that directs the state repository, arresting agency, and prosecutors to restrict the record

Automatic Sealing Under Clean Slate Laws

A growing number of states bypass the petition process entirely for eligible records. As of 2026:

• Minnesota — automated expungements began June 2025, with historical backlog 98%+ cleared by mid-2026
• Virginia — entered implementation on July 1, 2026; automatic sealing remains subject to the state's implementation process
• New York — the Clean Slate Act passed in November 2024, with automated sealing rollout by November 2027 (3-year wait for misdemeanors, 8-year wait for felonies)
• Illinois — signed January 2026, automated sealing scheduled to begin 2029 with historical backlog clearance through 2032

Even in automatic-sealing states, verification is essential. Database synchronization delays mean your record might still appear on commercial background checks months after it was legally sealed at the repository level.

After Sealing: Verify It Actually Worked

This is where people get tripped up. A court order doesn't instantly update every database in the country. Commercial background screeners pull from outdated, scraped data that may take months to refresh. To confirm your record is actually sealed:

1. Request an updated state repository report — the sealed case should no longer appear
2. Pull your FBI Identity History Summary — check whether the entry was transmitted as sealed
3. Request file disclosures from major CRAs (under FCRA Section 609, they must provide your complete file for free if you've received a pre-adverse action notice in the last 60 days, or once per year through AnnualCreditReport.com for credit-reporting CRAs)

If a sealed record still appears on a commercial screening report, you have grounds for an FCRA dispute. The CRA has 30 days (extendable to 45 under certain conditions) to investigate and correct the error.

The Get Your Own Criminal Record toolkit includes the full verification process and dispute templates for each of these scenarios.