Louisiana Expungement: How Record Sealing Actually Works in 2026

What Louisiana Expungement Does — and What It Doesn't

Under Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 972, an expungement removes your arrest, conviction, photographs, fingerprints, and disposition records from public access. Standard commercial background checks, landlords, and private employers will no longer see the record.

But the physical and electronic files are not destroyed. They remain confidential and fully intact, accessible to law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and certain state licensing boards under Article 973. This dual structure is important to understand before you file: an expungement is a legal shield, not a paper shredder.

Once your record is expunged, you are legally authorized to state under oath on standard job applications that the arrest or conviction never occurred. That protection is real, even though the underlying files still exist in confidential repositories.

The Three Eligibility Pathways

Louisiana's expungement framework separates into three distinct statutory tracks based on how your case ended.

Non-Conviction Arrests (Article 976)

If your case was dismissed, the DA refused charges, a motion to quash was sustained, or you were acquitted at trial, you can file for expungement immediately. There is no waiting period. You can pursue this even if you have subsequent convictions on your record.

One exception: if the DA simply declined to prosecute without entering a formal dismissal, you must wait until the statutory prescriptive period expires — six months for traffic infractions, two years for misdemeanors, four years for general felonies, and six years for felonies punishable by hard labor.

DWI arrests resolved through pretrial diversion carry a mandatory five-year waiting period from the date of arrest, even though the disposition is technically a dismissal.

Misdemeanor Convictions (Article 977)

Two paths exist for misdemeanor convictions:

Standard track: Five years must pass after completing your sentence, probation, or parole. You must have no felony convictions during that five-year window and no pending felony charges. The DA must certify these facts.

Article 894(B) deferred track: If you entered a guilty plea under deferred sentencing and completed probation, the court can set aside the conviction and dismiss the prosecution. That dismissal operates as an acquittal, letting you bypass the five-year wait and file immediately.

Categorical exclusions exist for domestic abuse battery, stalking, and misdemeanor sex offenses — these cannot be expunged under any circumstances.

First-offense marijuana possession convictions qualify for a reduced 90-day waiting period under Act 342, with total fees capped at $300 instead of the standard $550.

Felony Convictions (Article 978)

Standard track: Ten years must pass after completing your sentence, probation, or parole. No criminal convictions during that period and no pending charges.

Article 893(E) deferred track: If your felony plea was entered under deferred sentencing and probation was completed, the conviction can be set aside immediately — no ten-year wait.

First Offender Pardon track: If you qualify for an automatic First Offender Pardon under the Louisiana Constitution, you can expunge immediately with no waiting period, provided you have no subsequent convictions.

Since August 2024, Act 580 (SB 116) allows multiple felony expungements within a single ten-year period, provided each felony independently meets eligibility requirements. Before this change, Louisiana limited individuals to a single felony expungement per lifetime.

Felony expungements are categorically prohibited for crimes of violence under R.S. 14:2(B), sex offenses, felony domestic abuse battery, and drug trafficking offenses carrying a potential sentence exceeding five years.

The Clean Slate Act Is Still Unfunded

The Louisiana Clean Slate Act, passed in 2023 as Act 454, was supposed to launch automated record sealing by January 1, 2025. The law contained a contingency clause making implementation dependent on technology funding in the FY 2025-2026 executive budget. The legislature never appropriated that funding.

As of August 2026, the automated system remains at a complete standstill. Every eligible person must still petition individually, pay the standard fees, and navigate the conventional multi-agency filing process. There is no automatic record clearing happening in Louisiana.

What the Filing Process Looks Like

The manual petition process runs through seven stages:

1. Record acquisition. Get a fingerprint-based "Right to Review" background check through the Louisiana Applicant Processing System (LAPS). Cost: $26 processing fee plus $10 fingerprinting fee at LSP headquarters in Baton Rouge. Simultaneously, obtain certified court minutes and the bill of information from the Clerk of Court in the parish where you were arrested.

2. Set-aside filing (if applicable). If you were sentenced under Article 893 or 894 deferred provisions, you must first file a Motion to Set Aside Conviction and Dismiss Prosecution. The judge must sign this order before you can file for expungement.

3. Packet preparation. Complete the standardized Louisiana Supreme Court uniform expungement forms — the Motion for Expungement, the Order of Expungement, the Affidavit of Response, and any supplemental sheets. Attach your certified background check (dated within 60 days) and certified court minutes.

4. Filing and service. Submit the packet to the Clerk of Court in the parish of arrest. Pay the $550 filing fee (or present an In Forma Pauperis affidavit or DA fee waiver). The Clerk serves the DA, the arresting agency, and LSP.

5. 60-day objection window. The three served agencies have 60 days to file a formal objection. If none objects, the judge signs the order without a hearing. If an agency objects, you attend a contradictory hearing.

6. Sealing execution. After the judge signs the Order of Expungement, the Clerk serves it to all agencies. LSP modifies the state rap sheet and sends you a Certificate of Compliance.

7. Private database cleanup. Mail a certified copy of your signed court order via certified mail to commercial background check companies. Under Article 974, once notified, they are legally prohibited from disclosing the expunged record.

What It Costs

The standard filing fee is capped at $550 under Article 983, split across four agencies: $250 to Louisiana State Police, $200 to the Parish Clerk of Court, $50 to the District Attorney, and $50 to the arresting agency.

Additional costs include the Right to Review background check ($26-$50 depending on parish), certified court minutes ($20-$60), money orders ($1.30 each), certified mail postage, and notary fees. A realistic total ranges from $600 to $700 for a standard filing.

Fee waivers are available. Individuals receiving SNAP, SSI, or Medicaid — or those below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines — can submit an In Forma Pauperis affidavit to have court costs waived. The DA can also issue a Certificate of Fee Waiver for cases that ended in acquittal, dismissal, or refusal (but not diversion completions).

How Long It Takes

From start to finish, expect three to six months for an uncontested expungement. The breakdown: two to four weeks gathering records and fingerprints, 30-90 days from filing through the 60-day objection window, and another 30-60 days for LSP to process the order and issue a Certificate of Compliance. If an agency objects and you go to a contradictory hearing, the timeline can stretch to a year or longer.

Private background check databases may take months to update even after LSP processes the order. Proactively mailing certified copies of the court order to major screening companies accelerates this considerably.

When You Should Not Try This Alone

Some situations genuinely require a lawyer. If your charges involved a crime of violence, a sex offense, or felony domestic abuse battery, standard self-filing will not work — these cases require formal contradictory hearings with evidentiary arguments. If you have arrests across multiple parishes, each parish requires a separate filing with its own $550 fee, and the sequence matters because a conviction in one parish can reset the waiting period in another.

If you are a non-citizen, state-level expungements have no effect on federal immigration proceedings. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, any plea of guilty or no-contest remains a permanent conviction for immigration purposes, regardless of what Louisiana does with the state record. Get specialized immigration counsel before filing anything.

For straightforward non-conviction or single-parish misdemeanor cases, self-filing is entirely realistic. The Louisiana Expungement & Record Sealing Guide walks you through the entire multi-agency process, from record acquisition through post-order database enforcement, so your $550 filing fee doesn't get lost to a preventable paperwork error.

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