Pennsylvania Clean Slate eligibility.

Wait periods by offense category

Years required between completion of all sentence requirements and the earliest date relief is available.

Wait periods are counted from the latest of: release from custody, end of probation/parole, or final restitution payment. Statute citation applies. Confirm with a licensed attorney before relying.

Compute your earliest eligible date

Enter your sentence-completion date and offense category to compute the earliest petition date.

Verify your record was actually sealed

1. Pull a personal copy of your state record from Pennsylvania's criminal history repository. Most states charge $15–$30 for an individual review request.
2. Check that the records meeting eligibility are flagged sealed. Automatic sealing is processed in batches. If your record meets the criteria but isn't sealed yet, the most likely reason is that the next batch hasn't run.
3. Run a public background check on yourself. Free options exist (state portal); paid options match what most employers see.
4. If the seal didn't happen and you believe it should have, an expungement attorney can file a motion to correct the record. We can match you with a Pennsylvania expungement attorney →

Recent amendments

Major statutory changes affecting record relief in Pennsylvania.

• 2018

  Act 56 of 2018 (Clean Slate 1.0)

  First-in-the-nation automatic sealing of certain misdemeanors and non-conviction records after 10 conviction-free years.

  Primary source: senatorsharifstreet.com ↗
• 2020

  Act 83 of 2020 (Clean Slate 2.0)

  Allowed sealing even when court fines/costs remain unpaid.

  Primary source: senatorsharifstreet.com ↗
• 2023

  Act 36 of 2023 (Clean Slate 3.0)

  Extended automatic sealing to certain less-serious drug felonies; shortened waiting periods to 7 years for misdemeanors and 5 years for summary offenses.

  Primary source: senatorsharifstreet.com ↗

Pennsylvania-specific carve-outs

Categories the law treats differently in this state.

• Violent and sexual offenses excluded

  Sex offenses, F1/F2 violent felonies, and offenses against family members (some) remain ineligible.

  Source: dauphincounty.gov ↗

Common mistakes to avoid

Reasons Pennsylvania petitions get bounced or sealings fail to land.

• !A new conviction at any point before automatic sealing executes resets the 10-year (or 7-year) clock.
• !Clean Slate seals from public view but does not erase the record — law enforcement and certain licensing boards still see it.

Excluded categories

These categories are typically excluded from automatic sealing in Pennsylvania based on our research. An attorney may still see options.

• Sex offenses

  Excluded from automatic and petition relief in nearly every state. A few narrow carve-outs exist for older non-registerable offenses.

  See state-by-state pages

• Violent felonies

  Generally excluded from automatic Clean Slate sealing; some states allow petition relief after long wait periods.

• DUI / DWI

  Treatment varies widely. Some states (e.g. Michigan, Virginia) carve out DUIs entirely; others treat them as standard misdemeanors.

• Pending cases or unpaid restitution

  Most states require all sentence requirements — including restitution to victims — to be fully discharged before the clock starts.

• Federal convictions

  Federal expungement is functionally non-existent. There is no statutory federal expungement remedy for most offenses.

Related reading

• When the eligibility clock starts

  What 'completion of sentence' really means and why batch sealing can lag the clock.

• What most states leave out

  Categories of offenses excluded from automatic sealing and petition relief.

• Unpaid restitution as a silent block

  How an open balance on the criminal docket blocks an otherwise eligible record.

• Sealing and professional licensing

  Why FBI-fingerprint background checks see records that consumer reports don't.