Question 1

What's the difference between expungement and sealing?

Accepted Answer

Practically, they often refer to the same outcome — a record is hidden from public-facing background checks. Legally, expungement usually means the record is destroyed (rare, narrow availability), while sealing means the record is hidden from public view but retained by law enforcement and certain licensing boards. Most state Clean Slate laws and petition statutes seal rather than expunge, even when the statute uses 'expungement' as a term of art.

Question 2

Will a sealed record show up on a background check?

Accepted Answer

Sealed records do not appear on most consumer background checks (employer pre-employment checks, landlord screening, most volunteer screenings). They typically still appear on FBI fingerprint checks used for professional licensing (nursing, real estate, CDL, financial services), federal employment, and security clearances.

Question 3

How long does the wait period start counting from?

Accepted Answer

The latest of: release from custody (if incarcerated), end of probation/parole or any other supervision, or final restitution payment. If any of those are still pending, the eligibility clock has not started yet — even if the conviction date itself was years ago.

Question 4

Does unpaid restitution block sealing?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in most states. Outstanding criminal restitution shown on the court docket typically blocks both automatic Clean Slate sealing and petition-based relief. The civil-judgment side of restitution is a separate proceeding — paying the civil judgment doesn't always satisfy the criminal docket. The fix is procedural: motion the criminal court to enter an order of satisfaction.

Question 5

Can federal convictions be expunged?

Accepted Answer

There is no general federal expungement statute. A small number of federal first-offender drug convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 3607 may qualify for narrow statutory expungement; otherwise the strongest federal remedy is a presidential pardon, which is multi-year and low-success-rate. State Clean Slate and petition statutes apply only to state convictions.

Question 6

What if I have convictions in multiple states?

Accepted Answer

Each state controls its own records. Sealing in one state has no effect on another state's record. You'll need to run the eligibility analysis state by state. The supporting documents (certified record copies, restitution-paid letters) often overlap, which makes parallel filings cheaper than sequential ones.

Question 7

Are sex offenses ever eligible for sealing?

Accepted Answer

Almost never. Sex offenses are excluded from automatic Clean Slate sealing in every state and from petition-based relief in nearly every state. A small number of states allow narrow petition relief for older non-registerable offenses — vanishingly narrow availability and case-by-case.

Question 8

Can violent felonies be expunged?

Accepted Answer

Generally no. Violent felonies are categorically excluded from automatic Clean Slate sealing. Some states allow petition relief for non-violent felonies after long wait periods, and a few states have narrow carve-outs for set-aside or pardoned violent offenses, but the default is exclusion.

Question 9

Do I need a lawyer to file an expungement petition?

Accepted Answer

Not always. Many uncontested petitions in states with clear forms (FL, OH, MI petition track, IL, GA) can be self-filed if the petitioner assembles the right documents. The most common reason petitions get bounced is missing items in the packet — a 30-minute attorney review often catches the missing form. The lawyer-match path is the right call when records span multiple states, when the offense is in a category with carve-outs, or when a prior petition was denied.

Question 10

How much does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Filing fees vary by state and county. Common ranges: $0-$50 in states with waivable fees (CA, MA, NJ, WI), $100-$200 in mid-tier states (FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, NV), and $250-$550 in higher-fee states (LA, OR, TX, TN, KY). Most states have fee-waiver applications for low-income petitioners. Each state page lists the verified filing fee.

Question 11

How long does the process take?

Accepted Answer

Automatic Clean Slate processes run on a state schedule (monthly or quarterly batches in most states). Petition-based filings range from 2-6 months from filing to ruling, depending on county clerk backlog and whether the prosecution contests. NC and OH typical timelines are 3-4 months; CA can be 6+ months in busy counties.

Question 12

What if my Clean Slate record didn't get sealed automatically?

Accepted Answer

The most common reason is restitution still showing as owed on the criminal docket, even if you've paid it. Pull a personal copy of your state criminal history record, check if records that should be sealed are flagged, and if not, an expungement attorney can file a motion to correct the record. The state pages list each state's verification path.

Question 13

Will an expungement help me get a job?

Accepted Answer

Usually yes — for jobs that run consumer background checks (most private-sector jobs, most retail and warehouse jobs). It will not always clear the path for jobs that run FBI fingerprint checks (healthcare, education, real estate, financial services, government). For licensing-board-regulated professions, certificates of rehabilitation or pardons are sometimes the better path.

Question 14

Does CleanSlateCheck.us provide legal advice?

Accepted Answer

No. We're an information hub, not a law firm. The eligibility quiz and state pages reflect statute research as of the last-verified date on each page. Specific facts in your case can move the eligibility analysis in either direction — always confirm with a licensed attorney in your state of conviction before relying on any output.

Question 15

Do you log my quiz answers?

Accepted Answer

No specific identifying detail. We log only aggregate state and outcome counts (e.g. 'someone in California got an automatic-eligible result') for product analytics. We never log offense category combined with year and supervision in a way that could identify you. The audience here is sensitive to surveillance, and we treat that as a hard design constraint.

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