Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

I don't know of a law erecting a barrier to expunging an assault. But Minnesota's expungement statute, Chapter 609A, does not allow expungement for almost all crimes, including assault, where the person plead guilty. The guilty plea is the problem, not the charge.

Thank you for the e-mail.

The question that has to be asked is why you are seeking the expungement and where your record is coming up.

Expungements are only allowed by statute where there has been a determination in your favor. That means, ultimately, the charges must have been dismissed. If that occurred, you may erase any and all court or administrative records.

There are also Judicial expungements. Such an expungement is entirely up to the Judge as to whether it should be granted. This is an important distinction since a Court cannot expunge anything but judicial records with a judicial expungement unless there is an overiding basis that requires the expungement in the interests of justice. The courts have ruled that seeking better employment or promotions would not be a basis to expunge adminstrative records.

Administrative agencies generally are the plces where background checks are performed. Criminal records are also maintained by Administrative Agencies such as the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. This is an executive agency. As a result, the criminal records, if held by the BCA, would never be expunged in a Judicial expungment.

Since you were convicted, a judicial expungement is not possible.