Legal Question in Business Law in California

You should contact the licensing agency and ask their opinion on the likelihood they would approve over an expungement. It is their opinion that counts, not mine. Many felony and misdemeanor convictions [not infractions] can sometimes be 'expunged' by proper application and Petition to the court, but only if there was no prison time served or even sentenced, if it was not for certain sex and Domestic Violence crimes, if all terms of sentencing and probation [and at least one year of probation] are completed and finished, and if there are no new charges pending. If successful, the conviction would be retroactively withdrawn and the charges dismissed. That does not 'remove' the conviction, but merely changes the record to show 'conviction reversed and dismissed by expungement'. If expunged, you would be able to say 'no' to conviction on most private employment applications. However, the conviction is still a 'prior' for purposes of repeat offense, and must be disclosed on any application for government and professional licensing, bonding, security clearance, etc. The licensing agency and employer then can decide whether you are barred from licensing and employment because of your conviction. If you�re serious about doing so, and you think you qualify, feel free to contact me for the legal help you'll need.

I worked as a law clerk in a public defender's office for about three years while in law school, and did most of the expungement cases that came through. This was some years ago, but I'm left with this thought: expungement does not mean the criminal conviction is physically removed from the records. Anyone looking for your "priors" will find the conviction information there. They will also see that it was "expunged." To a lot of my clients, that was a big "so what?" The conviction is still there for all to see.