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California law allows a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor to have that conviction expunged. A California misdemeanor expungement is a legal process that petitions the Court to review a misdemeanor conviction to determine if the petitioner is eligible to withdraw their plea or finding of guilt, enter a not guilty plea, and order the case dismissed. The decision to expunge a misdemeanor is sometimes at the discretion of the judge and the decision may be opposed by the the local District Attorney’s (DA) office for the relevant county. If the misdemeanor expungement is opposed, a court hearing is typically scheduled to hear the merits of the case. We attend this hearing, present your case to the court and address the opposing agency’s arguments.
Once granted, a misdemeanor expungement changes and updates the disposition of the case to reflect a dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4. This means that the court file, the California Department of Justice, and the FBI update their files to reflect that a plea of not guilty has been entered and that the case has been ordered dismissed and set aside by the court.
After your misdemeanor is expunged, you will be eligible for our Criminal Record Database Update service and we can update your criminal record with over 600 different private background check companies. This will greatly increase the likelihood of passing future employment background checks.
California Penal Code Section 1203.4 provides in part:
“Petitioner shall be permitted by the court to withdraw his or her plea of guilty or plea of nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty; or, if he or she has been convicted after a plea of not guilty, the court shall set aside the verdict of guilty; and, in either case, the court shall thereupon dismiss the accusations or information against the defendant and except as noted below, he or she shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense of which he or she has been convicted.”
*Prices do not include court filing fees. Fees vary from county to county and range from $0 – $150. For more information on filing fees for this service, please visit our Filing Fees page. Additionally, If you violated any of the terms of your probation there is an additional charge of $200.
Practically speaking, what does a California Expungement actually do?
Once you have your California criminal record expunged, you can truthfully and lawfully tell most potential employers that you have NEVER been convicted of a crime. It’s that simple. Because of California disclosure laws, once expunged, it should no longer show up on criminal background checks.
Lastly, after your misdemeanor is expunged, you will be eligible for our Criminal Record Database Update service and we can update your criminal record with over 600 different private background check companies. This will greatly increase the likelihood of passing future private employment background checks.
* Note that because each case is unique and there are some procedural differences for each county in California your case may not follow our process outline exactly.
If your case is denied, our attorneys will evaluate the purpose for the denial and determine the best way to proceed. If our attorneys determine that refiling is the best course of action then we will do so at no extra cost to you. If not, then you will receive your money back through our money back guarantee.
After the expungement is complete the court will change the disposition of the case to reflect a dismissal under 1203.4 of the Penal Code. The California Department of Justice and the FBI will then update their files to reflect a new plea of “not guilty” being entered and that the case has been ordered dismissed by the court. However, general commercial background searches, like most private employers conduct, will show no criminal record. At this point our office will send you a court order signed by a judge indicating that your record was expunged. We will also notify you of your eligiblity for our Criminal Record Database Update service, which we provide at a discounted rate for QikLaw clients.
The judge’s signed order will be sent to the Department of Justice so they may update their records. All background check companies and agencies get their criminal history information from the court or Department of Justice.
An expungement is a necessary part of the process to end registration, but an expungement alone will not relieve you of the requirement to register. After getting your misdemeanor expunged, to obtain relief you will need to obtain a Certificate of Rehabilitation, which is a service our law firm offers. Please see our information page on Certificate of Rehabilitation or contact our office to speak with an attorney about obtaining a certification of rehabilitation.
The court will usually update their records within 48 hours and the Dept. of Justice will update its file within 30 days.
While you will still need to disclose the case on any immigration applications, immigration attorneys have informed us that petitioners will have a better chance for a favorable immigration result if you have a clean criminal background. If you have additional questions about immigration issues, it is recommended that you speak with an immigration attorney.
In California there are certain violent misdemeanors that require the State of California to take away your right to possess a firearm for ten years. The ten-year ban begins on the date of your conviction and obtaining an expungement does not restore this right. You must wait until the 10-year ban is over to have your rights restored. Additionally, there is a lifetime prohibition on firearm ownership for those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence as defined by federal law. See The Lautenberg Amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (provide links to both documents).
Having your record expunged will not remove a strike from your record, but having your conviction reduced to a misdemeanor prior to expungement may reduce the severity of a future sentence if you were to be convicted again.
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Our client has 3 drug related cases from the 1990’s, two of them with felony conviction, one with a misdemeanor conviction. The probation department recommended that the petitions be denied because there was no proof that fines and fees had ever been paid. Our firm submitted a response to the objection and succeeded in reducing all felonies to misdemeanors and expunging each of the open convictions.
Service:
Client was convicted of grand theft in 2000. He complied everything that was required of him by the court and was never found in violation of his probation. Our petition was filed in December, 2012 and the judge granted the expungement in January, 2013, just 30 days after we filed the petition.
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Our client had previously tried to expunge his misdemeanor DUI conviction himself, but his petition had been objected to by the District Attorney’s office and denied by the judge. We took the case and in less than 3 weeks we were able to get the judge to reconsider his previous ruling and grant the petition.
