The expungement process can, in some circumstances, provide a fresh start to accused individuals who have been convicted of a crime and have a criminal record. As such, it is an important process for accused individuals, and their families, to be familiar with.
What is expungement?
The expungement process, also referred to as expunction, is a court-ordered process. The outcome of the process is that the legal record of an accused individual’s arrest or criminal conviction is sealed. This means that the arrest record or criminal record is erased in the eyes of the law and can, of course, be tremendously valuable to accused individuals who have arrest or criminal records. It is important to keep in mind that the existence of the arrest or conviction may not be erased but access to it will be limited as part of this process.
What does expungement do?
Once the accused individual has received an expungement of their criminal record, they will not need to provide it on employment or housing applications as examples. The expungement process can have a significant impact on the accused individual in a variety of different ways, including personally and in regards to their educational, employment and housing opportunities.
Because of this, anyone interested in the benefits of expunction should ensure they understand what is does and what it may be able to do for them. Eligibility for expungement depends on several different factors it is useful for accused individuals to be aware of. Criminal law legal resources also include tools to help accused individuals and includes criminal defense rights accused individuals should be familiar with.