Expungements

When you need your record expunged

The Clifford Division does a significant number of Expungements (sometimes called expunctions) each year in which criminal charges are removed from a client’s record. There are several types of Expungements provided for under North Carolina law, including:

Expungements for charges that were dismissed or for which the defendant was found not guilty, including all related charges that occurred within one year. Charges may originate in multiple counties. We handle the Guilford County portion of the expungement and work with attorneys in other counties to get the charges expunged if that is required.
- This expungement includes applying to the court to have DNA records purged from the State DNA Databank if DNA records were part of the case.
Expungements for certain drug charges following successful completion of probation.
Expungements for misdemeanors committed prior to the defendant’s 18th birthday for which he is found guilty followed by a period with no further criminal convictions. There is a court fee of $125 for this in addition to the lawyer's fee.

North Carolina law offers this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to clean up a criminal record for school, employment, housing, or military purposes. This lengthy process may require more than four months to complete. In recent years, the North Carolina legislature has contemplated some attempts to make it easier to get an expungement. To date, this has not been done, but we monitor these efforts to provide accurate information about any changes to our clients.

There is a new expungement law relating to gangs, due to take effect in December 2008. We will post information about this law as it becomes available.

Expungements in other states

Generally, we do not handle Expungements outside of North Carolina. We advise you to contact the lawyer who handled the charge you want expunged. We will work in counties neighboring Guilford County if the client has multiple charges in Guilford and other counties to be expunged.

In the rare cases where defendants do not have an attorney representing them and received a guilty verdict, we will look into whether a motion for appropriate relief is feasible to get a guilty verdict changed to a dismissal or not guilty. This is very rare. If the motion for appropriate relief is successful, then we can proceed with an expungement. In these cases, there is a fee for the motion for appropriate relief and a fee for the expungement.

Expunction Updates

The latest session of the North Carolina General Assembly saw little change in laws regarding expunctions. There were some promising bills offered, but they did not pass. One such bill would have allowed misdemeanors that had been PJCed (Prayer For Judgment Continued) to be expunged. Currently, an MAR (Motion for Appropriate Relief) is necessary to get a judgment (a dismissal) that can then be expunged.

There were bills introduced that would have allowed expunction of certain non-violent felonies after a period of time.

The felonies included:

N.C.G.S. § 14-54 Breaking or Entering Buildings Generally
N.C.G.S. § 14-56 Breaking or entering into or breaking out of railroad cars, motor vehicles, trailers, aircraft, boats, or other watercraft
N.C.G.S. § 14-71.1 Possessing Stolen Goods
N.C.G.S. § 14-100 Obtaining Property By False Pretense Where the thing of value is less than $50,000.00.
N.C.G.S. § 90-95(d)(4) Class I Felony- Possess more than 1 1/2 oz marijuana or 3/20 of an ounce of hashish or any quantity of synthetic tetrahydrocannabinols or tetrahydrocannabinols isolated from the resin of marijuana.

These bills did not pass, but they do represent a movement in the direction of increasing the possibility that these charges may be able to be expunged in the future. These bills included a fee of $200.00, a 10 year waiting period, affidavits of good character, no convictions other than traffic matters, no restitution outstanding,

There were provisions within these bills that would have allowed the confidential expunction file maintained by the Administrative Office of the Courts to be disclosed to the following for limited purposes:

1.) Judges of the General Court of Justice of North Carolina for the purpose of ascertaining whether any person charged with an offense has been previously granted a discharge.
2.) Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies for employment purposes only
3.) North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission for certification purposes only.
4.) North Carolina Sheriffs” Education and Training Standards Commission for certification purposes only.
5.) FDIC institutions for employment purposes only.
6.) North Carolina State Bar and the Board of Legal Examiners for licensing purposes only.
7.) North Carolina State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners for licensing purposes only.
8.) Local Boards of Education for employment purposes only.
9.) Department of Health and Human Services for licensing purposes, employment purposes, and placement purposes if a criminal history check is mandated for the license or placement.
10.) North Carolina Medical Board for licensing purposes only.
11.) North Carolina Real Estate Commission for licensing purposes only.
12.) North Carolina Appraisal Board for licensing purposes only.

As you can see, there were some possible steps forward and perhaps, some possible steps backwards.

Important Information

We handle expunctions in Guilford County only (the charges to be expunged occurred in Guilford County and was adjudicated there). We do sometimes help get charges expunged in other counties where we get another attorney to handle those charges and where that attorney is paid when there are multiple charges that occurred within 1 year and where at least one of the charges occurred in Guilford County. This is a complex process and we can only handle the Guilford County part in Guilford County Court.

We do make every attempt to see that everything that can be expunged is expunged. This requires careful gathering of records and it requires that the client let us know that he/she has charges in more than 1 county in North Carolina during a one year period of time.

The Guilford County Clerk of Court now charges $25.00 for a certified record check. If the client wishes a certified record check at the end of the expunction process, there will be a $25.00 charge for obtaining one. We will provide the client with a PF3 from the AOC database(not certified) showing what his/her criminal record looks like.

All fees that are required for an expunction (for instance 15A-145- expunction of a misdemeanor conviction for a first offender under the age of 18) must be paid to our office before the final order for expunction can be entered. This is in addition to the attorney’s fee.

North Carolina Expunctions

There are not automatic expunctions in North Carolina. An expunction requires a petition for expunction.

Not all states grant expunctions.

Federal Expunctions

Federal law does not have a provision for expunction except in the case of juveniles.

Please note that the federal government does not have to honor an expunction and the person who got the expunction may have to disclose it in an application for public office or on some professional license applications.

Juvenile Expunctions

North Carolina law does allow for a person who is at least 18 years old to file a petition for expunction of juvenile court records relating to an adjudication of delinquency G. S. 7B-3200(a)

An adjudication for an offense other than one that would have been a Class A, B1, B2,C,D or E felony if committed by an adult is eligible for expunction. G. S. 7B-3200(b)(1). The excepted offenses cannot be expunged.

The person applying for this expunction cannot have any convictions other than a traffic offense and may not have subsequently been adjudicated delinquent.

A person who is at least 16 years old may file a petition for expunction of juvenile court records relating to a petition alleging delinquency that was dismissed without an adjudication of delinquency. G.S. 7B-3200(h). It appears that records of a dismissed petition may be expunged even if the person does have other adjudications of delinquency or criminal convictions.

WE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO STAY ABREAST OF ANY CHANGES IN EXPUNCTION LAWS AND WE WILL TRY TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS AREA.