Do you have a past criminal record from years ago that continues to haunt you? Have you ever been turned down for a job because of a drunk driving incident from one wild night out? Are you a one time offender and feel that your limited criminal history is unfairly preventing you from obtaining current and future opportunities? The law of the United States, although heavy-handed at times, does not ignore previous offenders who have lived a clean life since their one offense of the law. An option exists for you - expungement of your criminal record - if you meet certain requirements.
Expungement, or expunction, of criminal records is designed to provide relief to one time offenders of the law who have cleaned up their act since their illegal action. A clean criminal record is an invaluable asset in today’s society, where criminal background checks are used in everything such as new job opportunities, child custody battles in divorce cases, crucial loans at the bank for a new house, child adoptions, and professional licensing. In addition, as society becomes even more regulated, opportunities such as firearms regulations, volunteer sports coach positions, and passport applications could all become limited prospects for those with a past conviction of criminal activity.
To have a criminal record expunged, several requirements must generally be fulfilled. These include a set amount of time since the criminal record in question, no incidents since the first criminal case, the number of prior incidents, the seriousness or type of offense involved in the incident, fulfilling the terms of any sentence, the incident was disposed without a conviction, and probation completed without any problems. Specific requirements vary by state. In Texas, for example, for a misdemeanor charge to be dismissed it must be two years since the charge and there must be no felony charges within the previous five years. In addition, there can be no resulting final conviction or community service unless the charge was for a class C Misdemeanor. For felony dismissals, all misdemeanor requirements must be met. Furthermore, the case must not have been filed with the court or the case was dismissed before the trial or a mistake, false information, or other reason indicating lack of probable cause to believe the person committed offense must be a factor. In contrast, in New Jersey, there is a waiting period of ten years before a criminal record can be expunged. In most states, expunction of juvenile criminal records occurs automatically at a certain age, usually 17 or 18 years of age, to give the youth offender a clean slate in adulthood.
If interested in learning more about criminal record expungement, try this website for information.
Joseph Devine
Tags: criminal history, criminal records, expunction, Texas record expungement, expungement
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