How to Get a Misdemeanor Off Your Record in Mississippi

A misdemeanor conviction in Mississippi stays on your public record permanently — even for a minor offense from years ago. It does not drop off after seven years, and the state has no automatic clearing process. Getting it removed requires filing a petition in the court that entered the conviction.

The filing process is simpler than a felony expungement, but there are specific rules about which misdemeanors qualify, which court handles the petition, and what happens if you have more than one conviction.

First-Offense Misdemeanor: The Standard Track

Under Mississippi Code § 99-19-71(1), a first-time non-traffic misdemeanor conviction can be expunged through the court that handled the case. There is no statutory waiting period beyond the completion of your sentence — once all fines are paid, probation is finished, and any community service is completed, you can file.

One important exclusion: traffic violations are not eligible for misdemeanor expungement under this section. A speeding ticket conviction or other traffic offense cannot be expunged through this track.

The first-offender misdemeanor pathway is generally limited to one conviction per lifetime. If this is your only misdemeanor conviction, this is your route.

Multiple Misdemeanor Convictions

Having more than one misdemeanor does not automatically disqualify you from relief. Mississippi provides a separate mechanism for clearing additional misdemeanor records through the lower courts.

Municipal courts (§ 21-23-7(6)) and justice courts (§ 9-11-15(3)) have discretionary authority to expunge additional misdemeanor convictions. To qualify, you must demonstrate:

• At least two years of good conduct since your last conviction
• Evidence of rehabilitation
• That clearing the record serves the best interest of society

This is a discretionary decision — the judge is not required to grant it even if you meet all three criteria. The standard is more subjective than the first-offender track, which is essentially a checklist.

Which Court Handles Your Petition

This is where people make costly mistakes. The petition must be filed in the exact court that entered the conviction:

Municipal court: If you were convicted of a city ordinance violation or state misdemeanor within city limits, file with the municipal court clerk.

Justice court: If the conviction was for a county-level misdemeanor outside city limits, file with the justice court clerk.

Circuit court: If the misdemeanor was originally charged as a felony and pled down, or if a DUI conviction was entered in circuit court, that is where you file. First-offense DUI expungements follow a completely separate track under § 63-11-30(13) with a five-year waiting period.

Filing in the wrong court means your petition gets dismissed and you lose whatever filing fee you paid. Before filing, pull your criminal history from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Criminal Information Center ($32 for a state background check) and verify the exact court and docket number for each charge.

What You Need to File

Mississippi has no statewide standardized expungement form. You need to prepare:

1. A sworn petition identifying you, the charge, the docket number, the date of conviction, and citing § 99-19-71(1) as the legal basis
2. Certified copies of the original charging document and the disposition or sentencing order from the court clerk
3. A certified account ledger from the clerk showing zero balance on all fines, fees, and court costs
4. A proposed order of expungement drafted for the judge's signature

For a felony petition under § 99-19-71(2)(b), provide at least ten days' written notice to the district attorney before any hearing. For municipal and justice court misdemeanor cases, follow the notice rule required by the court or local rules.

Costs

The baseline filing fee under § 99-19-72 is $150 for petitions under § 99-19-71. However, if the clerk's office requires the petition to be filed as a new civil action rather than within the original criminal case docket, you will owe additional civil filing fees — potentially pushing the total to $287+.

Call the clerk's office before filing to ask how they handle expungement petitions. Requesting that the petition be filed within the original case docket can save you over $100.

After the Order Is Signed

The court clerk is required to forward a certified copy of the expungement order to the Mississippi Criminal Information Center. You should also deliver certified copies to the arresting agency and the local detention facility to ensure their internal databases are updated.

Private background check companies may still report the conviction for weeks or months after the order, because they purchase court data in bulk and do not update in real time. If an expunged record shows up on a commercial screening report, you have the right to dispute it under the Fair Credit Reporting Act — the reporting agency has thirty days to investigate and remove it.

The Mississippi Expungement & Record Sealing Guide includes the full petition-drafting sequence, clerk contact protocols for each court type, and post-expungement audit steps to clear your record from private screening databases.

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