If the Commonwealth’s Attorney objects to the expungement petition, then you and your lawyer will be required to attend a court hearing and establish how retaining the criminal charge on your record is a manifest injustice to you.
If you are eligible to have your record expunged, you may file a petition for expungement. You must file the petition in the circuit court of the county or city in which your case was handled. (Virginia Statutes § 19.2-392.2 (2018).) You can find the petition forms on the website of the Virginia Judicial System.
In 2021, the Virginia General Assembly passed a new law that will greatly expand eligibility for record sealing. Non-convictions, many misdemeanor convictions, and some felony convictions will be eligible for sealing, and some of these records will be automatically sealed instead of the typical court process.
To have your record expunged, a petition must be filed in the Circuit Court of the jurisdiction where you were originally charged. You will need to be fingerprinted, and there is a waiting period. During that waiting period, the Commonwealth's Attorney receives a copy of the petition, and has an opportunity to object.
Expungements in Virginia will erase an arrest record in any case resulting in a finding of not guilty or a dismissal. Expungements are a statutory remedy under Virginia Code § 19.2-392.2. Moreover, when a judge grants the petition, the order serves to erase all public information about the arrest.
In Virginia, the expungement process often takes about six (6) months to complete and can take longer in some jurisdictions.Jul 24, 2020
Do you qualify for expungement? You may apply for expungement if: - The offence was committed when you were under 18 years of age. - Five years have lapsed after the date of conviction in the case of a Schedule 1 offence.
The most straight-forward answer is: forever. Regardless of whether you are only convicted of a first-time offense, such as possession of marijuana or reckless driving, these convictions will stay on your record forever. Virginia law makes no distinction between misdemeanors or felonies in this respect.May 18, 2017
CRIMINAL RECORDS DO NOT LAST FOREVER This means it will be as if you never had the conviction to begin with. “If you're found guilty or plead guilty to an offence, the magistrate may decide not to record a conviction.Jan 26, 2018
In Virginia, felony crimes have no statutes of limitations—meaning a felony criminal case can be filed at any time. Most misdemeanors must be charged by the prosecutor within one year of the crime unless the law provides an exception, of which there are several (see below).
All criminal cases are public record. Even those cases that did not result in a conviction remain publicly accessible.
In Virginia, misdemeanors normally stay on your criminal record and are made permanently available to the general public unless the record is sealed, or "expunged."Jul 21, 2017
A nolle prosequi (also referred to as a "nolle prosse") is actually a dismissal without prejudice – this means that the charge can be brought back at a later date.