Legal Question in Criminal Law in Arkansas

Re: Law on Misdemeanors

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor charge, the conviction will show up on background checks. The Washington legislature does have a law that permits the vacating or sealing of some (but not all) misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor convictions. If you want to have a conviction vacated, you must file a motion with the sentencing court and ask the court to vacate or seal the old conviction. Depending on your particular circumstances, the court then has the discretion of vacating your conviction. However, to qualify you must not have any criminal charges pending against you; you must not have been convicted of a new crime since the date you were sentenced and you must not be currently restrained and have not been restrained within 5 years by a domestic violence protection order, a no-contact order, an antiharassment protection order or a civil restraining order. In addition, the conviction you are seeking to vacate must be one the law allows to be vacated. For example, the court will never vacate a DUI conviction and other offenses, specifically outlined in the vacation statute. Also, to be eligible, at least three years must have elapsed starting from the date you successfully completed the terms of your sentence, including financial obligations and successful completion of any treatment ordered. If the conviction, involved domestic violence, then the time period is 5 years since the successful completion of your sentence, etc.