Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Although an expunged record allows you to omit references to prior arrests from the general public such as private employers, it usually does not allow you to deny them for jobs within the public sector. For your own good, when applying for a job with a public entity such as a Sheriff, or other government position, the rule of thumb is to admit to your past digressions whether or not they were expunged. Admit and explain. Show that you've grown up. Do not put that you were never arrested or charged and convicted. Admit it and explain, because, usually the investigators looking into your background are allowed to see expunged records. Yours will show up and if you denied being arrested, they'll reject you. Good luck.

You were supposed to have learned in the process that Expungement does not �clear�, 'remove' or �erase� the conviction, but merely changes the record to show 'conviction reversed and dismissed by expungement'. When applying for a job in the private sector, you generally do not have to disclose a conviction if it was expunged. However, the conviction is still a 'prior' or 'strike' for purposes of repeat offense, and must be disclosed on any application for government and professional employment and licensing, bonding, security clearance, etc. The licensing agency and employer then can decide whether you are barred from licensing or employment because of the conviction.