Alabama Expungement Lawyer

The Alabama legislature recently broadened expungement laws to help more people clear their records. Here are a few questions that can help determine if you’re eligible.

1. Were you convicted of an offense?
   • No — If you weren’t convicted of an offense, you are potentially eligible to have that charge expunged. It doesn’t matter what the underlying charge was, you might be eligible for expungement.
   • Yes — Even if you’ve been convicted of an offense, you might be eligible for expungement. The following questions can help determine if you might be able to clear your record.

    

2. Can I expunge my conviction?
   Alabama law allows for the expungement of many felonies and misdemeanors, including the following offenses:
   • Unlawful possession of a controlled substance
   • Unlawful possession of marijuana, 1st or 2nd degree
   • Unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia
   • Third-degree theft (theft involving values $1,500 > $500)
   • Fourth-degree theft (theft involving values < $500)
   • Receiving stolen property
   • Public intoxication

   Other felony and misdemeanor convictions can be expunged, but expungement is not available for convictions including:

   • Sex offenses found in § 15-20A-5
   • Violent offenses found in § 12-25-32
   • Crimes involving moral turpitude found in 17-3-30.1
   • Serious traffic offenses (such as DUI)
   • If you hold a commercial drivers license (CDL), any offense found in 46 C.F.R. 383.51

    

3. My conviction is eligible for expungement. What happens next?
   If your felony or misdemeanor conviction is eligible for expungement, you still need to meet some requirements to qualify.
   1. My conviction is a felony
      If you’ve been convicted of a felony you also must (1) receive a pardon granting restoration of civil and political rights from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and (2) wait 180 days from the pardon grant to file.
   2. My conviction is a misdemeanor
      If you’ve been convicted of a misdemeanor, you must have (1) completed probation (if probation was imposed), (2) paid all costs (fines, court costs, restitution) associated with your conviction, and (3) wait three years since your conviction.

    

4. Can I apply for expungement more than once?
   Maybe. You can only erase a serious crime record (felonies) once and minor crime records (misdemeanors) twice. If your crime charge was dropped because you finished a special court program (like for DUI, drugs, or mental health), you can only get this done twice. For other cases that the law allows, there’s no limit on how many expungements you can receive.

A petition has to be filed with the circuit court in the location the charge was filed.

A copy of the petition submitted to the circuit court also has to be provided to the district attorney’s office, the law enforcement agency and the clerk of court.

The DA’s office is expected to review the petition and make an effort to notify any victims in the case.

The DA’s office and the victims have 45 days to file a petition opposing the expungement. If the objection is filed, the court is to set a hearing date at least 14 days after the filing. If no one objects, the court can review the petition and rule without a hearing.

The Petition Has to Include:

• A sworn statement that the person meets the expungement requirements;
• A case action summary or certified copy of arrest and disposition;
• A certified copy of the arrest record from the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center;
• Description of the charges to be considered for removal and description of the agencies involved in the arrest and any incarceration;
• The filing fee is $500 plus any court costs;
• All court fees, restitutions, fines and fees have been paid.

“The proceedings regarding the charge shall be deemed never to have occurred,” the act says.

The court is to order the expungement of all records in the custody of the court and any records held by any other agency or official, including law enforcement records, except privileged investigation reports by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles and files of the district attorney.

Arrest records, booking or arrest photos, index references for public records searches and other documents or electronic files concerning the arrest or charge are destroyed.

The related agencies are then to certify to the court within six months that the expungement has been completed.

“The proceedings regarding the charge shall be deemed never to have occurred,” the act says.

The court and other agencies are supposed to reply to any inquiry that “no record exists on the matter,” and the person shall not have to disclose the related facts on job or credit applications and other applications.

The law says a petitioner has the duty to disclose the “fact of the record” to any government, regulatory or licensing agency, any utility or its affiliates or any bank or financial institution.

The related agencies have to send the records to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center which will archive them in a protected file. The records cannot be used for a non-justice purpose and can only be made available when a criminal justice agency provides notice of an investigation of the individual.