The mistakes of our youth should not follow us into adult life. Think about all of the wrong turns you may have made as a child, and how those mistakes would impact you today. Every little white lie you told as a teen, or every bad decision made during college could mean the difference between getting a job, or being passed over for another candidate. This is why it is so important to take steps to expunge your criminal record whenever possible. You can do this trough a legal mechanism called expungement, but there are some limitations.
To get your records expunged you will be required to file a motion asking the Court to enter an order of expungement. If you are successful, these are the three things you can expect for your future:
- Your public record will no longer have any reference to the charges filed against you.
- Police and other governmental agencies may still have access to the information. This becomes important if you are applying for a job with the government, or trying to get into the military.
- An expungement is not the same thing as a dismissal of the charges against you; it is simply a removal of those charges from public viewing. A dismissal is one of the ways to qualify to have the record expunged, but that is a separate legal matter than the expungement itself. Unless you ask for a dismissed case to be expunged, your record will still reflect the case, with the notation that it was dismissed.
When deciding whether to seek expungement, it is important to know what to expect. It is also important to know if you qualify for expungement, so that you make the request only in cases where it is appropriate to do so. The most common types of cases people seek to expunge are DUI and traffic case. This is because those types of cases can remain on your record indefinitely, and can also contribute to the possibility of landing you on the habitual traffic offender list. In both instances, your right to drive can be severely impacted. To learn if expungement is a viable option for you, call us today.
If you have questions about how to keep your record clean, contact an experienced criminal defense attorney in Stuart and the Treasure Coast for answers. Your first visit is a free consultation and we work with you to reach results that fit your needs.