Louisiana Felony Expungement: Eligibility, Act 580, and the Filing Process

Three Tracks to Felony Expungement

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 978 provides three distinct pathways for expunging a felony conviction. Which one applies to your case depends on how you were sentenced and whether you qualify for a First Offender Pardon.

The Standard Track (10-Year Wait)

More than ten years must have elapsed since you completed your sentence, deferred adjudication, probation, or parole. During that entire ten-year window, you must not have been convicted of any criminal offense — felony or misdemeanor — and you must have no pending criminal charges at the time of filing.

The ten-year clock starts on the last day of your supervised release, not the date of your conviction or sentencing. If you served five years followed by three years of parole, the clock starts when parole ended.

The Article 893(E) Deferred Track (Immediate)

If your felony plea was entered under the deferred sentencing provisions of Article 893(E) and you successfully completed probation, the court can set aside the conviction immediately. This removes the ten-year waiting period entirely.

You must file a separate Motion to Set Aside Conviction and Dismiss Prosecution before you file the Motion for Expungement. The set-aside converts your conviction into a non-conviction — legally an acquittal — which then lets you file for expungement with no timing barrier.

The First Offender Pardon Track (Immediate)

Under Article IV, Section 5(E)(1) of the Louisiana Constitution, individuals eligible for an automatic First Offender Pardon can expunge the underlying felony immediately. The pardon is granted automatically upon completion of sentence without a separate application — you obtain a First Offender Pardon letter from the Division of Probation and Parole, then file the expungement motion.

This track requires that you have no subsequent convictions. It completely bypasses the standard ten-year wait.

Act 580 Changed the Multiple-Felony Rule

Before August 1, 2024, Louisiana law strictly limited individuals to a single felony expungement in their lifetime. That changed with Senate Bill 116, enacted as Act 580.

The new law permits an individual to have more than one felony conviction expunged within a ten-year period, provided that each felony independently meets all statutory eligibility requirements. You can file multiple eligible felony expungements in a single consolidated motion if all the targeted offenses are older than ten years.

The broader statutory framework still maintains a lifetime limit of one felony expungement every fifteen years for the standard track. But Act 580 enables the simultaneous filing of multiple eligible felonies that all independently qualify, a significant expansion for people with multiple old convictions.

What Cannot Be Expunged

Louisiana categorically prohibits felony expungement for:

• Crimes of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) — though specific exceptions exist under Article 978(E) for offenses like second-degree battery and simple robbery, which require a mandatory contradictory hearing
• Sex offenses requiring registration under R.S. 15:541
• Felony domestic abuse battery
• Drug trafficking offenses carrying a potential sentence exceeding five years
• Offenses against minors defined under R.S. 15:541

If your conviction falls into one of these categories, the statutory bar is absolute. No amount of time, rehabilitation, or judicial discretion can override these exclusions.

For offenses that are eligible under the Article 978(E) contradictory hearing provision (second-degree battery, simple robbery, and a handful of others), you must present formal evidence of rehabilitation in open court against potential objections from the DA and arresting agency. These cases functionally require an attorney.

The Habitual Offender Complication

If you were sentenced as a habitual offender under Louisiana's multiple offender statute, your expungement eligibility becomes considerably more complex. The underlying conviction's eligibility must be assessed independently of the habitual offender enhancement, but prosecutors routinely object to expungement of convictions that served as predicates for habitual offender proceedings.

Filing the Felony Expungement

The filing process follows the same seven-stage sequence as any Louisiana expungement: Right to Review background check, set-aside motion (if applicable), packet preparation with the uniform court forms, filing and payment of the $550 fee, the 60-day objection window, judicial order, and post-order enforcement with background check companies.

For felony expungements, the DA certification requirement is stricter. The DA must verify that the ten-year clean period has elapsed (or that you qualify under a deferred or First Offender Pardon track), that you have no subsequent convictions, and that you have no pending charges in any jurisdiction.

The Louisiana Expungement & Record Sealing Guide covers the complete felony expungement filing sequence, including the Act 580 multi-felony procedure, the set-aside motion for Article 893 cases, and the First Offender Pardon track.

See more Louisiana guides →