Q: I pleaded nolo contendere to a DUI as part of a Phoenix Docket seven years ago and have been free of arrests and convictions since. Is it possible to get this expunged in PA?
A: You may not be entitled to a full expungement but under the November 14, 2016 changes to the PA Crimes Code, you may be eligible for a limited access order if you have a clean record for 10 years and your DUI was not graded as a misdemeanor 1 or above.
EXPUNGEMENT, DUI, LIMITED ACCESS, MISDEMEANOR
Q: I had a Disorderly Conduct charge 9 years ago. I know it stays on my record, but can I obtain a pistol permit and own a hand gun?
A: A Disorderly Conduct can either be charged as a misdemeanor or a summary. Currently as a misdemeanor, it is graded as a level 3 (M3). I will assume it was graded as such nine years ago. If you either pled guilty or were found guilty of a M3 nine years ago, you should be eligible to possess a firearm in PA. If it was a summary offense you are likewise not barred from possessing a firearm. You should be eligible for an expungement of both.
Q: I was going through the self-checkout line at Walmart and didn’t scan some items a few years ago. This was my first offense and first time EVER getting in trouble with the law. This has since been expunged. Do I have a shot at being a 911 operator and will this show up since it’s expunged? (West Homestead, PA)
A: If your expungement order went through, it should wipe out any trace of your conviction. For example, if you order your criminal history from the PA State Police, it should be clean. However, can anyone promise this? Probably not. It is accepted in Allegheny County that the DA can determine if anyone received ARD on a prior arrest. ARD records are expunged, but somehow the DA keeps this record for presumably for ARD purposes. I would check to see if your expungement was successful by obtaining your criminal history. If it was, apply for the job. If asked about it, be honest. I assume your retail theft was a summary offense for which you were given a citation? You therefore would state that you were issued a citation for retail theft.
Q: I have two summary charges from 2006 for Retail Theft and Disorderly Conduct. Would I be able to have those charges sealed from employers if I got another summery conviction in 2016?
A: Summary non-traffic offenses can be expunged if five years of arrest-free behavior has passed. Based on what you are saying here, it sounds like the 2006 offenses could be expunged. The process takes at least 6 months, often more, to have the records disappear. If they are Allegheny County charges, I would hire a lawyer to get started now. (Pittsburgh, PA)
Q: It was a crazy situation from breaking up with my girlfriend who was 15 and I was 19. Her parents had me charged with statutory rape. Sounds terrible I know and it ruined me from then on. I pleaded no contest and had to do one year probation. Never spent any time in jail either and haven’t even had a parking ticket since then. I want to own a gun to protect my wife and children in our own home. No guns for anyone with any kind of record it seems. Is there a way for me to ever own guns to protect what is mine and keep my family safe?
A: To give you a precise answer, I suggest that you order your criminal history from the PA State Police to determine how the grading of this offense appears in criminal databases. My thought is that 16 years ago it was at least a Misdemeanor 2 and additionally, it would be viewed as a sex crime and/or crime of violence which would make you ineligible for expungement
Q: How can I keep an expungement secret from my family? Expungement of Possession
A: Not enough information to really answer but if you are filing to expunge a previous conviction, no one should know except you, your attorney, some of the employees in the court office who take the filing, the Assistant DA who handles it and employees in the State Police Office. You should not have to go to court. It is not published to the public, or advertised, or listed on the docket. It is a relatively private proceeding. Plus, don’t tell anyone.
Q: Will attending the ASI course in Allegheny County get the charge and fingerprints expunged or just dismissed. What is required to get the first retail theft charge and fingerprints (of a 17 year old) fully expunged? (Marshall Twp, PA)
A: If the District Justice ordered ASI for you, as long as you complete the program, which is a diversionary program, there will be no conviction. However, you will need to have an attorney to expunge the arrest records. As soon as District Justice dismisses the charges, call an attorney to start the expungement process.
Q: My husband was accused of animal neglect but the lawyer made a deal of entering a non guilty plea if he is on unsupervised probation for 90 days and does 40 hrs community service. Then the case will be dismissed totally. The problem is that he applied for a job before this happened and is very close to getting hired. Will this show up when they run a background check. If this is anything wrong in the background check he will not get the job.
A: What your husband’s situation sounds like to me is that he went in front of a District Justice and his attorney negotiated a deal where the case stays at the District Justice level and gets withdrawn or bargained down to a summary if your husband does what is asked. I have no idea whether he was charged with a misdemeanor, felony or summary from what you write. If charged with a misdemeanor or felony and processed when arrested, he has an arrest record for what he has been charged with. Therefore, it is on his criminal history. Once the case is dismissed, he can expunge his record. If he was only charged with a summary offense, there will still be a record of all the paperwork filed at the District Justice level. Anybody with access to the PA State Police record system will be able to find this information. My suggestion is to seek an expungement of all the records once his case is dismissed. You will need an attorney to do this for you.
Q: I have a question about expungement in PA. I was reading a new bill that is going to be voted on in PA that will allow most misdemeanors and felonies to get expunged after five years. My question is what happens if you commit a crime and then commit another crime within the five year window. You then stay clean for 5 years can you have both offenses expunged. Also if you have committed more than one crime at the same time can you have crimes that can’t be expunged along with ones that can. Can you have the crimes that can be expunged removed leaving the ones that cannot for the same offense?
A: The bill that went before the state senate in 2011, proposed allowing misdemeanor 2 and 3 crimes as well as summary offenses, be expunged after 7 years of crime free behavior for the misdemeanors and felonies and 5 years for summaries. The only portion of the bill that passed was the provision applying to summary offenses. Currently expungement of summary convictions after five years of arrest free behavior is the current extent of expungement law. Recently, a bill made it through the PA Senate that will permit the expungement of misdemeanor 2’s. This Senate bill must be confirmed by the house then signed by the Governor. This has not happened yet. There is a lot of misinformation being published about this bill. I would wait until the bill becomes law then consult with an attorney.
Q: My record was expunged from the county courthouse in September 2013 and I contacted courts.org to remove it from there .I contacted them numerous times and still no response, I am very angry with them do I need to get legal representation.
A: I have no idea what courts.org is but I can tell you this. As with any expungement, even if the Court Order to expunge was mailed out by the Clerk of Courts to all law enforcement agencies, there is a chance that one of the law enforcement agencies didn’t do their job by shredding or deleting the subject records. If you can pinpoint which agency that is, you can contact them and send them a copy of the order. If you are unsure of the source, you can ask the Department of Court Records, Clerk of Courts to re-issue the expungement order.