Expungement
A court order restricting or destroying the government's record of a criminal case.
In more detail
Expungement, sealing and set-aside are different mechanisms with different effects, and the terminology varies by state. All of them operate on the government's copy of the record — the court's file and usually the state repository.
Why it matters to you
An expungement order does not reach the private databases background-check companies sell from. They bought the court data in bulk, often years earlier, and will keep reporting the cached version until served with a written dispute and a copy of the order. This is the single most common and least understood problem in this area.
What to do
After the order issues, pull your file from every screening company and dispute the entry with a certified copy attached. The order alone changes nothing commercially.
- Clean Slate law
A state law that seals eligible criminal records automatically, without the person applying.
- FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act)
The federal law governing companies that assemble consumer reports, including background checks.
- Record sealing
Restricting public access to a criminal record without destroying it.