Criminal records can continue haunting you long after any sentence is complete. Your record could impact access to jobs, housing, school, professional licensing, firearms, voting, and personal endeavors, like dating or getting involved in your kids’ sports. However, not all criminal records remain public forever. The expungement process can help.

For expungement of old marijuana crimes, the process is different.

What does expungement mean?

Expungement means sealing. It removes a court record from public view, and sometimes from other government agencies’ views as well. It does not mean destruction. How sealed the record becomes depends on the type of criminal charge being expunged, and the type of expungement process used.

Determining the effect of expungement, or how private the record will become, can become quite complicated. An experienced attorney can help you decide the types of expungement available to you and whether the expungement would achieve your goal.

How do you get your record expunged?

There are two main ways to get a record expunged: (1) by petitioning the court; and (2) automatically through the “Clean Slate Act”. Both require you to wait a set number of years after your sentence where you are convicted of no new crimes (petty misdemeanor speeding or parking tickets do not count as crimes). Petitioning the court involves filling out paperwork, paying filing fees, presenting evidence, and making arguments.

What is the effect of an expungement?

The effect of an expungement is how private the record becomes. It depends on how you got your record expunged.

The least effective type is called “inherent authority” expungement. It results in the court’s own records becoming private. However, it does not affect any files held by other branches of the government. Most importantly, police reports, the bureau of criminal apprehension records, and other government agency records may still be publicly available. While inherent authority expungement affects less records, it may be available for any type of criminal charge. It requires filing a petition and convincing the Court, with evidence, testimony, and argument, that the benefit of sealing the record to you is more important than the public’s interest in accessing the record and public safety.

The next best type is called “automatic expungement.” This process recently underwent significant changes through the enactment of Minnesota’s “Clean Slate Act” in 2023. Automatic expungement is called automatic because the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is tasked with sealing these records without any initiative or cost to the individual. If you go enough years without having any new convictions, your record is automatically sealed as a reward.

When applicable, automatic expungement seals court records, police records, and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension records from public access. However, the records may be accessed by the Educator Licensing Board and Department of Health and Human Services. Therefore, automatic expungement may not help people who want jobs requiring licenses offered by these agencies, such as nursing and teaching jobs.

The most powerful type is “statutory expungement”. This process is only available for specific types of crimes. It requires presenting evidence and arguments to the court. To succeed, you must convince the court that keeping the record public is harming you in some way and to such an extent that sealing the record is more important than the public’s interest in access and safety. Statutory expungement is the most powerful because it can seal records from the Educator Licensing Board and Department of Health and Human Services.

When can you get your record expunged?

Expungement requires making it through a waiting period. How long you must wait depends on the severity of the crime.

Generally, you must wait:

• Two years to expunge a petty misdemeanor.
• Two years to expunge a misdemeanor.
• Three years to expunge a gross misdemeanor.
• Five years for a felony.

This time starts at the “discharge of the sentence”, meaning after successful completion of any probation. There are certain exceptions to these rules, such as for a stay of adjudication, diversion, dispositional departure, or stay of imposition.

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If you or someone you know continues to be dragged down by a Minnesota criminal record, don’t wait to get the legal help you need. Contact McKinney Defense today by calling (612) 300-1208 or filling out our online form to schedule a FREE consultation. Let me fight for your rights and help you take the first step toward fair representation.

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This blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the current law in Minnesota or your jurisdiction. No information in this post should be construed as legal advice from the individual author or the law firm, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting based on any information included in or accessible through this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country, or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.