If you are eligible under Minnesota’s expungement law to seal your record, then it will generally take at least 4 – 6 months to complete the process. Once you, or your attorney, file and serve your expungement petition and supporting documentation, then the court will not hear your expungement hearing for at least 60 days. At the conclusion of your expungement hearing, the judge often takes the matter under advisement and issues a written ruling at a later date. If the judge rules in your favor, then the agencies have 60 days to comply with the order or appeal the case. If you lose your expungement, then you have 60 days to file an appeal.
Before you, or your lawyer, file the expungement petition, determining your eligibility for expungement is a crucial first step. Determining whether you qualify for a statutory expungement is as follows:
• Misdemeanors and Petty Misdemeanor offenses = at least two years since your probation completed (discharge of sentence) without being convicted of a new crime.
• Gross Misdemeanor offenses = at least four years since your probation completed (discharge of sentence) without being convicted of a new crime.
• Felony offenses = offense must be one of the fifty felonies eligible for expungement plus at least five years since your probation completed (discharge of sentence) without being convicted of a new crime.
If you received a stay of adjudication or completed a diversion program, then you only need to wait one year after since completion without committing a new crime to be eligible for an expungement.
If all the proceedings resolved in your favor, dismissal, acquittal, etc., then there is not a waiting period for a statutory expungement.
The prosecution may also stipulate to an expungement, which will often speed the expungement process up. The agencies served with the expungement petition still need to be served 60 days in advance of a hearing, but the lag time to receive an order in this situation is often much shorter.
There are also expungements granted by the inherent authority of the court, if the person does not qualify for a statutory expungement based on the reasons stated above. Importantly, these expungements often clear judicial records only. Without a full expungement, background checks can still show offenses on a person’s record. Call Ambrose Law for a Free Consultation!