How to Clear an Arrest from Your Record | Can I Clear An Arrest From My Record?

Remove Arrest From Your Record Online

So, you want to know if you can remove an arrest. The good news is, you can have certain arrests or convictions cleared from your permanent record. This is known as having the arrest or conviction expunged. We all know, past mistakes can destroy future opportunities. Expungement restores your name and allows you to pass employment background screenings without embarrassment. If you have arrests on your criminal record, you can seal or remove arrest from your record online so that people won’t be able to see them? With corresponding good behavior, minor offenses can be removed from your arrest record.

Can I Clear My Criminal Record?

Four major factors come into play:

The Nature of the offense
Time
Criminal History
Legality of the Arrest

First, consider the nature of the crime. There is a time when the court decides eligibility for expungement. Petty offenses, bad behavior, even DUI’s may be expunged. However, more serious crimes, felonies, especially those that involve sexual violence or the underage, cannot.

Next, time is a factor. Juvenile offenses can’t be expunged until the offender reaches the age of 18. For others, after five years, minor offenses, misdemeanors and DUI’s may be expunged. Following a period of good behavior, a judge may order the removal of an arrest or conviction.

In addition, criminal history is taken into account. The court considers the nature of other offenses as well as the timeline of the offending behavior. The court will consider recent wrongdoings. Good behavior is crucial to successfully having your record expunged.

Finally, was the arrest legal? If not, then you have a great chance to remove an arrest. You may even have a civil case. All the same, our courts are largely fair and if an arrest can be demonstrated to have been illegal, then you should argue the same to the court. But first, contact competent legal representation. Remove Arrest From Your Record Online

Dismissals, Expunctions & Records Sealing

All arrests and tickets create criminal records that indicate the date of incident, any crimes you were accused of, and the outcome. If your case is dismissed and you take no further steps, the record of your arrest or citation, a criminal charge, and ultimate dismissal will be a public record that anyone in the world can access and read. You cannot deny being arrested. If you want to have the records erased from public records (known as an expunction), you must spend money and ask for your records to be erased. To be eligible for an expunction, you cannot have been convicted of any crime related to the arrest, and you cannot have served formal probation.

Dismissal

If you are arrested or charged with a crime, the best possible outcome is to have the case dismissed from the court. Getting a case dismissed is similar to putting the court’s paperwork in a trash can. The record is not destroyed and can be easily found by anyone looking through the trash. Even if the court dismisses the case, the police still have a copy of the ticket, DPS has a record of it, it can show up on a background check, the Sheriff still has your mugshot and booking documents. You have to go through a formal expunction process for the case to be erased.

Expunction

After your charges are dismissed from the court and the statute of limitations has expired for your case, you can ask the court to expunge the arrest record and court files. Getting a case expunged is like taking the trash can containing the dismissed case outside and burning it. All official records are destroyed.

Record Sealing

If you were not convicted but did serve formal probation (ex: deferred adjudication), you may be eligible to have the record sealed (formally an Order of Nondisclosure) from public disclosure. Getting a record sealed is like putting a lid on the trash can. Like prosecutors or police departments, people with authority can still open the can and look inside, but ordinary employers and people cannot.

Criminal Records

Criminal records are written logs about penal code crimes that you’ve been arrested for, charges filed against you, and the outcomes in the court of the arrests and charges. Criminal records are public, which means that anyone in the world can pay a small fee to find out if you have been in trouble. Your criminal records can be used to deny you employment, housing, and financial loans. Criminal records last forever unless you request and are granted an expunction.

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