Record sealing and expungement

Many people carry an old conviction for years without realizing they could have it dismissed. It comes up on a job application, a rental application or a background check, and it can feel like the case never really ended.

California law offers several ways to move past an old case, from a dismissal after probation to sealing an arrest that never led to a conviction. Marcus E. DeBose has helped San Diego clients since 2001. He can review your record, explain which options may apply, and handle the petition for you. This page walks through the main forms of relief, what they can and cannot do, and how the process generally works.

What "expungement" means in California

People use the word "expungement" for many different things, and California law does not use it as a formal term. In most conversations, it refers to a dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4, where the court sets aside a conviction and dismisses the case. But there are several distinct forms of relief, and the right one depends on how your case ended:

• Dismissal of a conviction. The conviction stays in the record but is set aside and the case is dismissed. This is what most people mean by expungement.
• Sealing an arrest. When an arrest did not lead to a conviction, the arrest record itself may be sealed.
• Reducing a felony. Some felonies can be reduced to misdemeanors, which can then be dismissed as well.
• Automatic relief. For some records, California now grants relief without a petition.
• Certificate of rehabilitation. A court order for some people with felony convictions who have lived law-abiding lives for a period after their sentence.

None of these makes a case vanish. Court files are generally not destroyed, and certain agencies can still see the history. What relief does is change how the case is reported, who may consider it, and how you may answer questions about it. For many people, that difference is significant.

Who often benefits

The people who come in to clear a record are rarely the people the word "criminal" brings to mind. They are job seekers who keep losing offers after the background check, nurses and contractors renewing a license, parents who want to volunteer at their child's school, people applying for a rental, and people who simply want an old mistake to stop following them. Many have not been in trouble for years. For them, relief is less about the past than about the next application they fill out.

Dismissal after probation: Penal Code 1203.4

Penal Code section 1203.4 is the most common path. If you were granted probation for a misdemeanor or felony and you have completed it, or the court ended it early, you can generally ask the court to withdraw your plea of guilty or no contest (or set aside a guilty verdict), enter a plea of not guilty, and dismiss the case.

Who is generally eligible

• You were granted probation as part of the sentence, whether formal (felony) probation or informal (summary) probation.
• Probation is complete, or the court terminated it early.
• You are not currently serving a sentence for any offense, on probation for any offense, or charged with a new offense.

A small number of offenses are excluded by law, and some driving offenses are treated differently. For most misdemeanors and many felonies where probation was granted, though, a 1203.4 dismissal is available.

When the court must grant it, and when it may

If you completed probation without violations, or the court released you early, the law generally entitles you to the dismissal. If there were violations along the way, such as a late payment, a missed class or a new minor case, the court can still grant relief in its discretion when it finds that doing so is in the interests of justice. In those cases, the petition usually works better when it explains what happened and what your life looks like now: work, family, treatment, school or community involvement.

How a dismissal appears on your record

After a 1203.4 dismissal, the court record and your state criminal history are updated to show that the conviction was set aside and the case dismissed under that section. The original arrest and conviction entries generally remain, but anyone reading the record can see that relief was granted. That is why the order itself is worth keeping: a certified copy can answer questions quickly if an old background report has not caught up.

Ending probation early

If you are still on probation, Penal Code section 1203.3 allows the court to modify or end it early in appropriate cases. A request for early termination is often paired with a request for dismissal, so that both can be decided together. Courts generally look at how long you have been on probation, whether you have complied with its terms, and why early termination makes sense.

If you have an open warrant or a probation problem

A dismissal petition generally cannot move forward while a warrant is outstanding or a probation violation is pending. Those issues usually need to be addressed first. See probation violations and warrants for how that process can work.

Cases without probation and county jail sentences

Misdemeanors and infractions without probation: PC 1203.4a

Not every case ends with probation. Some misdemeanors end with a fine, a short jail sentence or another sentence without a probation grant. Penal Code section 1203.4a generally allows people convicted of a misdemeanor or an infraction who were not granted probation to ask for a similar dismissal once a year has passed since sentencing. In general, you must have completed the sentence, not be serving a sentence or facing a new charge, and have lived a law-abiding life since the conviction. When those conditions are not fully met, the court may still have discretion to grant relief.

Certain county jail felony sentences: PC 1203.41

Since California's 2011 realignment, many lower-level felonies are served in county jail rather than state prison, sometimes followed by a period of mandatory supervision. Penal Code section 1203.41 allows people sentenced this way to petition for a dismissal after a waiting period that begins once the sentence is complete. Unlike a standard 1203.4 petition after successful probation, relief under 1203.41 is up to the court's discretion, so the petition should explain why relief is in the interests of justice.

Other felony records

California has expanded relief for felony records in recent years, including some options for people who served a state prison sentence. These changes come with significant exclusions and conditions. If you have an older felony record and assumed nothing could be done, it is worth having it reviewed under current law.

Sealing an arrest record

An arrest can appear on a background check even when no charges were filed or the case was dismissed. California has separate laws for these situations.

Arrests that did not lead to a conviction: PC 851.91

Penal Code section 851.91 allows a person to petition to seal an arrest record when the arrest did not result in a conviction. That can include situations where:

• No charges were filed and the time to file has passed
• Charges were filed but later dismissed
• You were found not guilty at trial
• A conviction was later vacated or reversed on appeal

For most arrests, sealing is generally available as a matter of right once eligibility is shown, although there are exceptions, and for some offenses the court has discretion. Once an arrest is sealed, it is generally treated as if it did not occur, and you may generally answer questions about it accordingly, with some exceptions such as certain law enforcement job applications and certain government uses.

Why seal an arrest if the case was already dismissed?

A dismissal ends the case, but the arrest itself can remain on your state criminal history and appear in some background checks. Many people are surprised to learn that a case that went nowhere is still visible years later. Sealing the arrest addresses that remaining entry.

Arrests after diversion: PC 851.87 and related sections

When a case is dismissed after a person completes a diversion program, Penal Code section 851.87 and related sections can allow the arrest record to be sealed as well. Many diversion laws, such as drug diversion under Penal Code section 1000 and military diversion under section 1001.80, also provide that the arrest is generally deemed not to have occurred once the program is completed. Confirming that the records were actually updated is a sensible last step.

Automatic arrest relief

California also provides automatic relief for some eligible arrests that did not lead to a conviction. As with automatic conviction relief, it does not reach every record, so a petition can still be the right step.

Automatic relief under the Clean Slate laws

Under Penal Code section 1203.425 and related laws, often called the Clean Slate laws, the California Department of Justice reviews its records and identifies some convictions that qualify for automatic relief. For an eligible conviction, relief is generally granted without a petition, and the court and state records are updated.

What automatic relief generally covers

In general terms, automatic relief is aimed at people who completed probation without it being revoked, or who completed a sentence without probation, and who have not had new cases for a period of time. Later changes extended automatic relief to some felony convictions, with exclusions for serious, violent and certain other offenses.

Why it may not be enough

• It does not cover every conviction or every person. Someone whose probation was revoked at any point, for example, may need to file a petition instead.
• It depends on the state's records being complete and accurate, which is not true in every case.
• It has many of the same limits as a petition-based dismissal, and it can have its own exceptions.
• It does not address felony reductions, early termination of probation or other relief you may also want.

If you are not sure whether relief was granted automatically, it is worth checking your record rather than assuming. You can request a copy of your own California criminal history from the Department of Justice, and court records can show whether relief was entered.

Reducing a felony to a misdemeanor

Wobblers: Penal Code 17(b)

Many California offenses are "wobblers," which can be charged and sentenced as either a felony or a misdemeanor. If you were convicted of a wobbler as a felony and granted probation rather than a state prison sentence, Penal Code section 17(b) generally allows the court to declare the offense a misdemeanor. Reductions are discretionary, and they are often requested together with a 1203.4 dismissal, so the record ends up showing a misdemeanor that has been dismissed. Some felonies are not wobblers and cannot be reduced this way.

A reduction can matter on its own. Many job applications, rental applications and licensing forms ask specifically about felony convictions, and a felony that has been reduced is generally treated as a misdemeanor for most purposes.

Proposition 47

Proposition 47, passed in 2014, made many drug possession and lower-value theft offenses misdemeanors for most people. Under Penal Code section 1170.18, people with older felony convictions for those offenses may be able to have them reclassified as misdemeanors. See drug crimes and theft crimes for more about those charges.

Cannabis convictions and older diversion pleas

Proposition 64 created a process under Health and Safety Code section 11361.8 to reduce or dismiss many older cannabis convictions, and the state later directed that many eligible records be updated automatically. Separately, Penal Code section 1203.43 gives some people who completed the older drug "deferred entry of judgment" program a way to withdraw the guilty plea they entered at the time, which can matter a great deal for non-citizens.

Certificate of rehabilitation

A certificate of rehabilitation is a court order declaring that a person convicted of a felony has been rehabilitated. It is generally available to people who completed their sentence and then lived in California for a period of time with good conduct. It is a more involved process than a dismissal and has its own eligibility rules and waiting periods.

A certificate does not erase a conviction, but it can carry real weight with employers and licensing boards, and in many cases it is also forwarded to the Governor as an application for a pardon. For people with felony records who are not eligible for a dismissal, or who want relief beyond what a dismissal provides, it can be worth exploring.

What a dismissal does and does not do

A dismissal is a meaningful fresh start, and it is also important to understand its limits before you rely on it.

What a dismissal generally does

• Releases you from most penalties and disabilities resulting from the conviction.
• Lets you answer many private employers that you have not been convicted, with exceptions.
• Prevents most private employers from considering the conviction in hiring decisions.
• Shows anyone who reviews the court record that the case was dismissed.

What a dismissal does not do

• DUI prior. A dismissed DUI can still count as a prior offense if there is a new DUI within 10 years.
• Later cases. A dismissed conviction can generally still be used as a prior conviction in a later criminal case.
• Disclosure duties. You generally must still disclose the conviction when applying for public office, for a license from a state or local agency, or for contracting with the California State Lottery. Applications for law enforcement jobs also generally require disclosure.
• DMV record. A dismissal does not undo a license suspension or revocation, and it does not change the DMV's own record.
• Other rights. It does not restore firearm rights lost because of the conviction.
• Immigration. It generally does not remove the immigration effect of a conviction.

A note for non-citizens

Federal immigration law generally does not recognize state dismissals like 1203.4. A different remedy, a motion to vacate a conviction under Penal Code section 1473.7, may be available in some cases where a person did not understand the immigration consequences of a plea. Because immigration law is complex, anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should get advice from an immigration attorney about how a record affects them.

Military enlistment and security clearances

Military recruiters and federal security clearance forms often ask about arrests and charges in broad terms, sometimes including cases that were dismissed or sealed. A state dismissal does not change those federal questions. Read each question carefully, answer accurately, and get advice if you are unsure how a dismissed or sealed case should be reported. Service members and veterans facing a new misdemeanor may also want to read about military diversion.

Professional licenses

Applications for state licenses generally ask about convictions even after a dismissal, and the answer needs to be accurate. A dismissal does not hide the case from a licensing board, but it can still help: it shows the court has set the conviction aside, and it often supports the explanation you give. Many boards also look at rehabilitation, time since the offense and how it relates to the work.

Clearing a DUI conviction

Many misdemeanor DUI convictions can be dismissed under 1203.4 once probation is complete. Because DUI probation often lasts several years, some people first ask the court to end probation early. Others simply file once probation ends.

The limits matter more for DUI than for most offenses. The conviction can still count as a prior if there is a new DUI within 10 years, and the DMV's record and any license action are not changed by the dismissal. Even so, a dismissal can make a real difference for employment and for how the record reads.

Age is not a barrier. A DUI from many years ago that was never dismissed can often still be addressed today, as long as probation is over and there is no open case. Timing can still matter, though: if you are planning a job search or a license application, it helps to start the petition well before you need it, so the record is updated by the time someone looks. Learn more in Can a DUI be expunged in California?, or see DUI defense and second and third DUI if you are facing a new case.

Employers and the California Fair Chance Act

California's Fair Chance Act, often called the "ban the box" law, generally applies to employers with five or more employees. In general terms:

• Employers may not ask about conviction history on a job application or before making a conditional offer of employment.
• Employers generally may not consider arrests that did not lead to a conviction, participation in diversion, or convictions that have been dismissed, sealed or expunged.
• If an employer wants to withdraw an offer because of a conviction, it generally must assess the conviction individually, notify you in writing, and give you a chance to respond with information such as evidence of rehabilitation, before making a final decision.

There are exceptions, including some jobs where state or federal law requires a background check and positions with criminal justice agencies. Separate California laws also limit what employers can ask about arrests and dismissed convictions.

Background check reports

Private background check companies collect records from courts and other sources, and their information is not always current. A report may still show a conviction without noting that it was dismissed, or may list an arrest that was sealed. If that happens, you can generally dispute the inaccurate information with the company that produced the report, and a copy of the court's order usually settles the question. It is worth checking a report on yourself before a job search, so there are no surprises.

Housing and other uses

Criminal history can also come up in rental applications, volunteer screening and school applications. California rules limit how some housing providers may use criminal history, including dismissed convictions, though the details depend on the situation. A dismissal often makes these conversations easier, even where it does not end them.

The practical point is that a dismissal can change what you may be asked and what can be held against you in many hiring decisions. It is one of the most common reasons people come in to clear an old record, especially before a job search or a career change.

The process in San Diego Superior Court

For a case from San Diego County, the petition is filed with the San Diego Superior Court, generally in connection with the original case. The details vary with the type of relief, but the process usually follows a similar pattern.

1. Gathering the record. The first step is confirming exactly what is on your record: the case number, the charges, the sentence, whether probation was completed, and whether any relief has already been granted. Court records, your own paperwork and a copy of your state criminal history can all help.
2. Choosing the relief. Many people qualify for more than one form of relief at the same time, such as a felony reduction together with a dismissal, or early termination of probation followed by a dismissal.
3. Preparing the petition. Judicial Council forms are commonly used for dismissal petitions, and a declaration or supporting documents can be added when the court has discretion, such as when there were probation violations.
4. Notice to the prosecutor. The prosecution generally receives notice and has an opportunity to respond or object.
5. The court's decision. Depending on the case and the court's practices, the judge may rule on the papers or set a hearing. When you have an attorney, you often do not need to appear in person.
6. Updating records. After relief is granted, the court's records are updated and the information is reported to the state. It can take some time for those changes to appear everywhere, including in private background check reports.

How long it takes

Timelines vary. A straightforward petition is often decided within a few weeks to a few months of filing, while petitions that need more support, or that the prosecution opposes, can take longer. Waiting periods for some forms of relief also mean that timing your filing matters. If you need relief before a specific job start date or licensing deadline, tell your attorney early so the request can be planned around it.

What to bring to a consultation

• Any court paperwork you still have, such as a plea form, sentencing minutes or a probation order
• The case number, if you know it, and the courthouse where the case was handled
• Proof of completed classes, programs, community service or payments
• A copy of a background report that shows the case, if one prompted your call
• Anything that shows your life since the case: work history, education, treatment, volunteering or letters of support

Missing documents are common, especially for older cases, and they are not a reason to wait. Court and state records can usually fill in the gaps.

Unpaid fines or fees

If fines, fees or restitution remain unpaid, ask how that affects your petition before you file. The answer depends on the form of relief and the circumstances, and it should not be assumed either way.

Cases from other counties and older records

Relief is generally requested from the court in the county where the case was handled. If you have convictions in more than one county, each one is generally handled by its own court, even if you now live in San Diego. Marcus handles petitions throughout San Diego County, including the Central Courthouse downtown and the regional courthouses in El Cajon, Chula Vista and Vista, and at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta for southwest Riverside County. If your case was somewhere else in California, ask him how to proceed.

If you have moved away from San Diego since the case, you may still be able to seek relief here. Depending on the court and the form of relief, an attorney can often handle much of the process without you traveling back, and Zoom makes it possible to work through the details from wherever you live now.

California relief applies only to California convictions. Convictions from other states, and federal convictions, are governed by their own rules and generally cannot be dismissed by a California court.

Older records can raise their own issues. Files may be archived, records may be incomplete, and the law may have changed since the case ended, sometimes in your favor. An older conviction that was not eligible for relief when it happened may be eligible now.

Working with Marcus on your record

When you work with Marcus, you work with Marcus directly. The first conversation is a long one: what happened in the original case, what has happened in your life since, and why clearing the record matters to you now. Whether you are applying for a job, a license or a home, or you simply want the case behind you, that background helps shape which relief to request and how to present it.

Marcus has defended clients in San Diego courts since 2001, and he understands how both the court and the prosecution tend to look at these petitions. When the court has discretion, he tells your story clearly, focusing on the person you are today. He speaks English and Spanish. Many of his clients have never been in trouble before, or have stayed out of trouble for years since one bad night, and he understands that an old case can still weigh on a person long after the sentence ended. You can read more about Marcus.

If you are ready to put an old case behind you, book a free consultation. Meet Marcus at the Mission Valley office, or talk by phone or Zoom. Hablamos español.

This page is general information about California law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.