Are You Eligible for an Expungement?

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Any person who has been arrested or convicted of a crime may want to have their Indianapolis criminal record expunged. Often, having a criminal record can cause difficulty in obtaining employment, housing, or certain types of licenses. There are a wide variety of reasons to seek expungement. Here at Banks and Brower, we help a lot of people expunge records, but your eligibility may vary depending on the nature of your criminal history. Not everyone is eligible for expungement under Indiana law.

In the event your case was dismissed or did not result in a conviction for any reason, you can still have the record of your arrest expunged.

  • If you are in a diversion program, you must have completed the diversion and your case must already be dismissed.
  • You also must not have other criminal charges currently pending.
  • At least one year after the date of your arrest or charge (whichever is later) you may petition to have the record of your arrest expunged.
  • In fact, so long as your filing meets the necessary requirements (which we can help you with), the statute requires the Court to grant your petition for expungement.
  • Even though your case did not result in a conviction, sometimes just having an arrest record can cause employers pause when considering a candidate.
  • You may want to consider having an arrest record expunged.

Misdemeanor convictions are the most common type of record people seek to have expunged.

  • If the record you’re interested in expunging is a misdemeanor conviction (including a Level 6 or Class D felony that was reduced to a misdemeanor), then the waiting period is 5 years.
  • You can apply earlier than 5 years after your conviction, but you will need the consent of the prosecuting attorney for the county in which you are filing your petition.
  • The likelihood of obtaining prosecutor consent depends on an array of factors including your overall criminal history, nature of your offense, and how close you are to the 5-year period.
  • You may not seek to have your misdemeanor conviction expunged if you have 2 separate felony convictions that involved the unlawful use of a deadly weapon.

The next category of conviction someone may want to have expunged is certain lower-level felonies.

  • For a Level 6 (or Class D), you need to wait 8 years after the date of your conviction, unless the prosecutor agrees to early expungement.
  • If it is any other level of felony, unless excluded below, you must wait 8 years from the date of your conviction, or 3 years from the completion of your sentence, whichever is later.
  • You are not eligible for expungement in this category if you are
    • an elected official convicted of an offense while in office
    • a sex or violent offender
    • a person convicted of a felony that resulted in bodily injury to another person
    • a person convicted of perjury or misconduct
    • a person convicted of murder (including lesser manslaughters) sex trafficking offense, or other sex offenses including rape and child molesting
    • a person convicted of two separate felonies involving the unlawful use of a deadly weapon.
  • if you want to have your felony conviction expunged and you are either an elected official who was convicted while serving in office, or a person convicted of a felony that resulted in serious bodily injury to another person, you must wait 10 years from the date of your conviction, or 5 years from the completion of your sentence, whichever is later.

This does leave us with the remaining individuals who are not eligible for expungement in Indiana.

  • designated a sex or violent offender
  • a person convicted of official misconduct
  • a person convicted of murder (including lesser manslaughters) a sex trafficking offense, or other sex offenses including rape and child molesting
  • a person convicted of two or more separate felonies that involved the unlawful use of a deadly weapon.

If you or someone you know need an expungement or want to know if their eligible contact the experienced attorneys at Banks and Brower anytime at 317-526-4630 or by emailing at info@banksbrower.com.