Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

Vacating & Sealing

Expunge means total destruction of all records. It is not possible to expunge convictions in Washington state.

You may be eligible to vacate and/or seal the conviction. You can find a summary of the eligibility requirements at www.washrecord.com .

If more than five years have passed since the entry of a Certificate of Discharge and you have not subsequently been convicted of ANY crime, you can file a motion to vacate the conviction. Forms and instructions can be found at www.courts.wa.gov .

Vacating the conviction permits you to state that you have not been convicted of the offense and law enforcement agencies are prohibited from disseminating the information. However, the court file is still available to the public (hard copy and online info).

You may also be able to seal the court file. This would prevent anyone from obtaining information from court records without an order granting access to the file. Information on sealing is also avaialable at www.courts.wa.gov .

Re: Criminal Law

Yes