Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

What you need to file is a petition for expungement under 1203.4 of the California Penal Code. You must file the petition in the same court where the conviction took place. Generally the court looks to see if you have completed your probation or if you are in compliance with the terms and conditions of your probation.

I suggest you run 1203.4 on the internet. You may find some explanations and instructions that might assist you. The other place to go for help is to the Self-Help center at the Placer County Court House. They have some excellent resources there and they will assist you in filling out forms, even if you are not from Placer County. Get to the court house early because it is first come, first serve and they start lining up around 7:30 am.

Good Luck

Brian McGinity

Many convictions can sometimes be 'expunged' by proper application and Motion 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 crimes, if you completed and finished all terms of probation, and if you have 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 If successful, the conviction would be retroactively withdrawn and the charges dismissed.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. If you�re serious about doing so, and you think you qualify, feel free to contact me for the legal help you'll need.