California Penal Code section 1203.4 lets a person who has completed probation ask the court to withdraw a guilty or no-contest plea, enter a not-guilty plea, and dismiss the case. A granted petition releases you from most penalties and disabilities tied to the conviction, which matters most for employment. Before you file anything, check whether you even need to: since October 2024, California grants automatic relief for many qualifying convictions without any petition.
Check Automatic Relief First
Under Penal Code 1203.425, the California Department of Justice reviews statewide criminal databases monthly and automatically grants dismissals for eligible convictions. No petition, no hearing, no filing fee.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.425 You qualify if you are not required to register as a sex offender, have no active probation, parole, or community supervision, are not serving a sentence or facing pending charges, and your conviction occurred on or after January 1, 1973.
The timing depends on the disposition:
- Probation completed without revocation: eligible immediately after probation ends.
- Misdemeanor or infraction with no probation: eligible one year after the date of judgment.
- Felony: eligible four years after completing all incarceration, supervision, and parole, provided you haven’t been convicted of a new felony in that period. Serious felonies, violent felonies, and sex offenses requiring registration are excluded from automatic felony relief.
If you believe you qualify but the record hasn’t been updated, you can still file a petition under PC 1203.4 to force the issue.
Who Can Petition Under PC 1203.4
The core requirement is that you finished probation and are out of the system. You must have completed all conditions of probation, and at the time you apply you cannot be serving a sentence for any offense, on probation for another offense, or facing pending criminal charges.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information
Unpaid restitution will not disqualify you. The statute explicitly says a petition cannot be denied because of an unfulfilled restitution order or restitution fine.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information Other probation conditions, like community service, counseling, and court-ordered classes, do need to be completed.
You don’t need a flawless probation record. The statute gives judges discretion to grant relief to people who were discharged early from probation or who, for other reasons, the court believes deserve dismissal “in the interest of justice.”2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information A violation or even a revocation doesn’t automatically bar you, though the court will weigh your overall rehabilitation.
Convictions That Don’t Qualify
Some offenses are carved out of PC 1203.4 entirely:
- Sex offenses involving minors, including lewd acts with a child (PC 288), continuous sexual abuse of a child (PC 288.5), and child pornography offenses (PC 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.11).
- Specific subdivisions of sodomy (PC 286(c)), oral copulation (PC 287(c)), and sexual penetration (PC 289(j)).
- Misdemeanors under Vehicle Code 42002.1.
- Infractions.
If your conviction is on that list, a Certificate of Rehabilitation may be the alternative path.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information
How to File
You file in the court where your conviction occurred, using form CR-180, the Petition for Dismissal. The form asks for your conviction details and probation history.3California Courts. Petition for Dismissal Filing fees vary widely by county. Some charge nothing; others charge anywhere from $30 to $240. Request a fee waiver if you cannot afford the cost. You can file yourself, through an attorney, or through a probation officer you have authorized in writing.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information
Once you file, the prosecuting attorney’s office has 15 days to review the petition and decide whether to object. Uncontested misdemeanor petitions where probation was fully completed often resolve within 30 to 90 days. Contested petitions or filings in high-volume courts can take four to six months.
Do You Have to Go to Court
It depends. Many misdemeanor petitions filed after probation has ended are handled on the paperwork alone. Felony petitions and cases where you are still on probation typically require a court appearance.4California Courts. Penal Code 1203.4 Dismissal Process If the district attorney objects, the court will schedule a hearing where you can present your case.
Judges have broad discretion, particularly when probation wasn’t completed cleanly. They will look at the nature of the offense, your conduct since the conviction, and whether granting relief serves the interest of justice. An attorney isn’t required, but in contested or discretionary cases the argument for rehabilitation is worth making carefully.
What a Granted Dismissal Actually Changes
When the court grants your petition, it allows you to withdraw your guilty or no-contest plea, enter a not-guilty plea, and then dismisses the case. If you were convicted at trial, the court sets aside the guilty verdict and dismisses the charges. The order releases you from “all penalties and disabilities” resulting from the conviction.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information
The most immediate benefit is in hiring. California Labor Code 432.7 prohibits public and private employers from asking about or using a dismissed conviction in hiring, promotion, or termination decisions, and forbids them from searching for or relying on records of a dismissed conviction from any source. An employer who violates the rule faces actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney’s fees. Intentional violations carry treble damages or $500, whichever is greater, plus a misdemeanor charge with up to a $500 fine.5California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 432.7 – Contracts and Applications for Employment
What It Does Not Change
A PC 1203.4 dismissal is a reclassification, not an erasure. Several consequences survive it, and misunderstanding them causes real problems.
Future Criminal Prosecutions
If you are charged with a new crime, prosecutors can still use the dismissed conviction. It carries the same weight as it would have without the dismissal, which matters for sentencing enhancements, strike allegations, and any charge whose severity depends on priors.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information
Applications That Ask Directly
You must still disclose the conviction when directly asked on applications for public office, state or local professional licenses, and contracts with the California State Lottery Commission.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information Licensing boards typically treat a dismissal as a strong positive factor, but they are allowed to see the underlying conviction.
Firearms Rights
A PC 1203.4 dismissal does not restore your right to own or possess firearms under California law. If your conviction made you a prohibited person, the dismissal alone doesn’t change that. For misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, federal law under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33) generally does not treat an expunged conviction as a conviction unless the expungement expressly bars firearms possession.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 921 – Definitions Because California’s statute explicitly does not restore firearms rights, the federal exception may not help. Talk to a lawyer before assuming anything on the gun question.
Sex Offender Registration
A PC 1203.4 dismissal does not end the obligation to register under Penal Code 290. If you were convicted of a registrable offense, registration continues after the dismissal. A Certificate of Rehabilitation can relieve certain sex offenders of further registration in some cases.
Immigration
Federal immigration law defines “conviction” independently of state law, and a PC 1203.4 dismissal does not remove a conviction for immigration purposes. Under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48), a conviction exists whenever a person has pled guilty or been found guilty and the court has imposed any form of punishment or restraint on liberty.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
The USCIS Policy Manual states that convictions vacated for rehabilitative reasons, as opposed to constitutional or procedural defects in the original case, still count as convictions for deportation and inadmissibility purposes.8USCIS Policy Manual. Adjudicative Factors Because PC 1203.4 is rehabilitative relief, dismissed convictions remain visible to immigration authorities. If you are not a U.S. citizen and have a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude or an aggravated felony, speak with an immigration attorney before relying on a dismissal.
Background Checks After Dismissal
Even after the court grants your petition, commercial background check companies may keep reporting the conviction for a while. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumer reporting agencies must follow “reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” of the information in their reports.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681e – Compliance Procedures Reporting a dismissed conviction as though it still stands does not meet that standard.
In practice, there is often a lag while screeners update their data. If a report shows your conviction without the dismissal, you can dispute it directly with the screening company. Keep a certified copy of your court order (form CR-181) — it is the document that proves the dismissal.
When PC 1203.4 Doesn’t Fit
PC 1203.4 covers probation sentences only. If you were sentenced to state prison before the 2011 Realignment legislation for an offense that would now qualify for a county jail sentence, Penal Code 1203.42 offers essentially the same relief at the court’s discretion, provided at least two years have passed since you completed your sentence and you are not under supervised release or facing new charges. It carries the same limitations, including no restoration of firearms rights and no protection against use in future prosecutions.10California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.42
For convictions that PC 1203.4 excludes, or when you need broader relief, a Certificate of Rehabilitation is a separate route. It requires California residency for at least five continuous years plus an additional rehabilitation period of two to five years depending on the offense, and it serves as an automatic application for a Governor’s pardon for most offenses. Unlike PC 1203.4, it can relieve certain sex offenders of their PC 290 registration obligation, which makes it the meaningful option for that group.