[Cal. Penal Code 1203.4 & 1203.4a]
Under Penal Code section 1203.4, a conviction may be set aside and dismissed on your record so that when you apply for most jobs you can legally indicate that you were not covicted of that crime. In order to qualify, you must not be on probation or parole, you were not sentenced to state prison on this case, you are not currently charged for a crime, and your conviction is from Riverside County.
Expungment is the process that allows a person to withdraw his or her guilty plea, enter a plea of not guilty, and have the charges dismissed.
In order to be eligible to request this relief either:
- You received probation for that conviction and:
- You successfully completed probation or terminated early.
- You also have paid all the fines, restitution, and reimbursements ordered by the court as part of your sentence.
- You are not currently serving another sentence or on probation for another offense, AND
- You are not currently charged with another offense.
OR
- You never received probation and:
- Your conviction was a misdemeanor.
- It has been at least one year since the date you were convicted.
- You have complied fully with the sentence of the court.
- You are not currently serving another sentence.
- You are not currently charged with another offense AND
- You have obeyed the law and lived an honest and upright life since the time of your conviction.
You are eligible for an expungment and the court has the discretion (choice) to grant you that relief if:
You received probation but had a minor violation AND:
- You have paid all the fines, restitution and reimbursements, ordered by the court as part of your sentence, AND
- You are not currently charged with, on probation for, or serving a sentence on any other offense.
It is up to the court to decide if your conviction should be expunged, so make sure to give us as much helpful information as possible to convince the court to grant you your request.
Once your expungment request is granted, you can, in most situations, answer "no", to a question on an employment application, asking if you've ever been convicted of a criminal offense.
An expungment does not:
- Seal the conviction record.
- Allow you to own or possess a firearm.
- Prevent the conviction from being alleged as a "prior conviction" in future prosecutions.
- Remove the conviction for immigration purposes.
- Relieve you from the obligation to register as a sex offender.
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