Expungement/Record Sealing

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HAVING YOUR CRIMINAL RECORD SEALED?

Having a criminal record can make it harder to find housing and employment. You may be able to seal your record (remove it from the public record) and Legal Aid may be able to help.

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SEAL YOUR DC CRIMINAL RECORD IF:

• You want to seal records that show up in your name by mistake even though they actually belong to someone else.
• You want to seal records for a crime that has since been legalized, like possession of small amounts of marijuana.
• You want to seal records for crimes that you were not convicted of committing. Note: there are waiting periods before you can seal certain records, even if you weren’t convicted.
• You want to seal a conviction for a misdemeanor and at least eight (8) years have passed since your last interaction with the criminal justice system on that case.
• You want to seal a conviction that occurred when you were 24 years old or younger.
• You can prove that you are actually innocent.
• You want to seal records that are a direct result of being a survivor of trafficking.

If you would like to learn whether your record can be sealed and if we can help, please call 202-628-1161.