Who Qualifies For Expungement In Washington Criminal Cases

In this article, you discover:

• How expungement is defined under Washington law
• The benefits of getting your criminal record expunged
• Who qualifies for having their criminal record expunged in Washington

What Is Expungement, And How Is It Defined Under Washington Criminal Law?

Expungement is a statutory-based process where you have a conviction and you’re looking to remove it from your criminal history. You must meet statutory requirements; it’s not discretionary.

If you meet the requirements, the court will order that your record be expunged. If you do not meet the requirements of the statute, there are no grounds for expungement whatsoever.

What Are The Benefits Of Getting A Criminal Record Expunged In Washington State?

Suppose you qualify for expungement under the statute. In that case, you can rent an apartment or undergo a criminal history check for employment and answer “no” to the question whether you’ve ever been convicted of a crime.

Expungement applies to public record searches. If the public views your record, they won’t see the conviction. However, attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and judges can see that there was a conviction that was expunged.

Who Qualifies To Have Their Criminal Record Expunged In Washington?

Expungement is split into two categories. There are requirements for felony convictions and separate requirements for misdemeanor convictions. You can expunge as many felonies as you want, but you’re only entitled to expunge one misdemeanor. Otherwise, conditions for expungement under the statute, whether it’s a misdemeanor or a felony, are similar:

• You must have paid off all of your fines
• You must have done all of your jail time, if there was any
• Depending on the crime, there are statutory waiting periods during which you cannot commit any other criminal law offenses

For misdemeanors, the waiting period is three years. For felonies, depending on whether they’re Class A, B, or C, it can be 5, 10, or 20 years before you’re deemed “rehabilitated” to meet the statutory requirements.

One of the most critical factors for expungement that many people don’t realize is that your conviction must be for a crime that does not involve harm to a person or a risk to public safety.

For example, under the statute, you can never expunge DUIs, assault, rape, or murder convictions because those types of offenses involve harming a third party.

Attorney Diem Chi Nguyen is a skilled lawyer based in Renton, WA, who has helped numerous clients like you navigate the intricacies of criminal law. With years of experience, she is prepared to assist you in determining your eligibility for expunging or vacating your criminal record to protect your future.

Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact DC Nguyen Law today at (425) 276 5216 to schedule an initial consultation.

Does A Prosecutor Have The Discretion To Grant An Expungement, Or Are There Hard And Fast Rules Because It’s Governed By Statute?

The rules for expungement are hard and fast because they are statutory.

If you were convicted of assault, the judge is going to rule that your record cannot be expunged because, according to the statute, you cannot expunge a crime where there was harm to a person. For that reason, a prosecutor can’t argue that the assault was 15 years ago, and the victim wasn’t seriously injured.

What’s The Difference Between Expungement And Vacating A Criminal Record In Washington?

Often, the two terms are used interchangeably. Both serve the same purpose. You want to prevent the general public from seeing any type of conviction.

Expungement involves removing the conviction from your general record, and vacating means removing it from the court record.

To vacate a record, you file a motion with the court to vacate or remove it entirely from your criminal history. When you do the motion to vacate, it goes to the court. If the vacate is granted, you go back and do the expungement.

Expungement and vacating a record are interchangeable because they serve the same purpose: to ensure the public does not have access to see any type of conviction.

For the expungement process, because it’s statutory, you must meet the requirements of the statute to have it removed from the public record. For a motion to vacate, you must meet specific conditions established by the court as a part of your sentencing to move the conviction off the court record.

Do You Need A Criminal Defense Attorney To Help With Expungement In Washington?

For expungements, there’s a simple form you can get from the clerk of the court’s office. You fill it out, gather all the documentation, and file it.

While an attorney isn’t legally required, you go to an attorney for their experience. The benefits of having a criminal defense attorney are that they’re versed in communications with the prosecutor’s office. Your attorney can send the form over for the prosecutor to review, and if there’s agreement and approval, you can obtain a sign-off much faster than if you did it alone.

If you attempted an expungement by yourself, you’d have to find out who the prosecutor is and how to go about getting that expungement through the proper channels.

In criminal court matters, most judges will highly recommend that you have an attorney. Still, with public defender cases, some defendants are not happy with their public defender. They will insist they represent themselves. The judge will heavily insist that they do not. They’ll tell the defendant to take time and get an attorney.

Notes From The Field: What Do You Wish More People Understood About How Expungement Works And Its Limitations?

I wish people would understand that expungement is not automatic; it’s statutory. Because it’s statutory, there’s nothing I can do if you don’t meet the requirements. It’s not a matter that I don’t want to take your case.

Some clients think that attorneys are miracle workers. They believe that because they pay us a lot, we should be able to do precisely what they ask us to do. Unfortunately, the law has many requirements, and we’re not the final decider of everything. Clients need to keep that in mind.

Still Have Questions? Ready To Get Started?

For more information on expungement eligibility in Washington, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (425) 276 5216 today.