New York Clean Slate Act: effective November 16, 2024.

Wait periods

• Misdemeanors: 3 years after sentence end.
• Felonies: 8 years after release from incarceration.

For misdemeanors, “sentence end” means the completion of any imposed sentence — fine paid, time served, probation discharged. For felonies, the clock starts at release from custody (or from sentencing if no incarceration was imposed).

What gets sealed

Records of conviction become sealed from public-facing background checks. The records are NOT destroyed — sealing is distinct from expungement. Law enforcement, the courts, and certain professional licensing boards retain access. The person can lawfully answer “no” to most employment / housing background-check questions about convictions.

Categorically excluded

• Sex offenses and sexually violent offenses (categorical).
• Class A felonies (non-drug) — including murder, kidnapping, and other most-serious offenses.
• Active supervision bar: a person on probation, parole, or post-release supervision, or with pending charges, is not eligible for sealing.

Class A drug felonies — including some old A-I and A-II possession convictions — ARE eligible after the felony 8-year window. The non-drug Class A exclusion is the categorical bar.

The 3-year implementation window

The Office of Court Administration was given a three-year window from November 2024 to fully roll out automatic sealing across the New York court system. This means:

• The law is in effect — eligibility windows are running.
• Court-system processing is phasing in — not all eligible records will be sealed instantly.
• Full rollout target: November 2027. By that point, the court system should have processed the historical backlog of eligible records and be running monthly forward batches.

If your record meets the criteria but isn't yet sealed, the most likely cause is implementation lag. The OCA recommends waiting 90 days past your eligibility-window anniversary before pursuing alternative remedies.

Petition pathway: CPL § 160.59

For records not eligible under Clean Slate (older records outside the new framework, certain 2024-pre-effective-date cases), New York's petition-based sealing under CPL § 160.59 remains available. Petitions are filed in the court of conviction. There is no filing fee for CPL 160.59 sealing motions.

Common gotchas

• A new conviction restarts the clock entirely. The 3-year (misdemeanor) and 8-year (felony) windows are conviction-free. Any new conviction during the wait period resets the timer to zero.
• Active supervision blocks the clock. Probation, parole, post-release supervision — none of these count as “sentence end” for misdemeanors or “release” for felonies. The clock starts when supervision is fully discharged.
• FBI fingerprint checks still see the conviction. Sealing under Clean Slate does not propagate immediately to the FBI Interstate Identification Index. For licensing- board purposes (nursing, real estate, education, security clearance) the conviction may still be visible. See professional licensing.
• The 3-year window applies to misdemeanors only. People sometimes assume a 3-year wait for any conviction; it's 3 for misdemeanors, 8 for felonies.

Sources

• N.Y. C.P.L. § 160.57 (nysenate.gov) ↗
• NY Assembly — Clean Slate explainer ↗
• NY Courts — Criminal record sealing forms ↗