What most states leave out.

Why these categories are excluded

The legislative reasoning is consistent across jurisdictions: the state is willing to seal records the public no longer needs to know about, but reserves the right to keep a public record where the conviction speaks to ongoing public-safety concern. Sex offense registries operate on a separate track and are essentially never touched by Clean Slate or expungement statutes. Violent felonies carry the same heightened-scrutiny logic.

DUI is the most varied category state-to-state. Michigan and Virginia exclude DUIs from automatic sealing entirely. California and New Jersey include them after the standard wait period. Texas allows DUI expungement only after a specific path (deferred adjudication, dismissal). Read your state page for the specifics.

The narrow carve-outs to know

• Older non-registerable sex offenses — a small number of states allow petition relief for sex offenses that predate the modern registry, on a case-by-case basis. Vanishingly narrow.
• Sentence reduction or set-aside — convictions reduced from felony to misdemeanor (e.g. California's Prop 47) sometimes become eligible.
• Conditional discharge or deferred adjudication — successful completion sometimes permits sealing where a normal conviction would not.
• Pardons — a gubernatorial or executive pardon does not always trigger automatic sealing, but it changes the eligibility analysis enough to be worth re-running.

If your category is excluded

The quiz returning “likely excluded” is not the end of the analysis. Specific facts — the exact charge, the disposition (conviction vs. deferred), the date, sentence reductions, pardons — can move a case across the eligibility line. An expungement attorney who handles your state's record relief work routinely can spot options the quiz can't.