Family Violence Education Program (CT): Eligibility and Erasure

Connecticut’s Family Violence Education Program, often shortened to FVEP, is a court-approved diversion program that lets eligible defendants complete a nine-week educational course instead of standing trial on a family violence charge. If you finish the program and comply with every condition the court imposes, the judge must dismiss your charges, and the arrest is erased from official records automatically. The program is governed by Connecticut General Statutes 46b-38c(h), and the eligibility rules are narrower than most defendants expect.¹

Who Qualifies

The court decides whether to grant FVEP, but it can only do so if you meet all four statutory conditions. You cannot have a prior conviction for a family violence crime occurring on or after October 1, 1986. You cannot have been assigned to FVEP before. You cannot have previously used accelerated rehabilitation for a family violence crime since that same date. And the current charge cannot be a Class A, B, or C felony, or an unclassified felony carrying more than ten years in prison.¹

Charges at the Class D felony level, unclassified offenses carrying more than five years, and offenses involving serious physical injury are presumptively excluded, but a judge may still grant FVEP for these if you show good cause.¹ Most participants face misdemeanor-level charges such as third-degree assault or disorderly conduct, but the statute does not impose a blanket misdemeanor-only rule.

The court can require you to answer questions under oath to confirm eligibility, and lying carries perjury penalties.¹

How to Apply

You start the process by filing an application with the court. There is a nonrefundable $100 application fee, and if the court grants your request, a nonrefundable $300 program fee.²³

If you cannot afford these fees, you have options. The application form includes a checkbox to request a waiver of the $300 program fee. You can also file an Affidavit of Indigency (form JD-AP-48) with the clerk to waive the $100 application fee. Defendants represented by or eligible for a Public Defender have both fees waived automatically.²

Once the application is filed, the court must notify the victim that you have requested FVEP, and where possible the victim gets an opportunity to be heard. The judge considers that input but the victim does not have veto power.¹ The court may refer you to the family violence intervention unit for evaluation before making a final decision.

What You Waive by Entering

Accepting placement in FVEP comes with two legal trade-offs. You agree to toll any statute of limitations on the charges against you, and you waive your right to a speedy trial.¹ These waivers protect the state’s ability to prosecute if you fail the program, so you cannot run out the clock during the supervision period and then claim the case took too long.

What the Program Requires

FVEP is a nine-week course that meets once a week for an hour and a half. The curriculum covers the basic elements of family violence law and the penalties that apply. Sessions run at court-approved locations with trained facilitators. The court can impose additional conditions such as protective orders, substance abuse evaluations, or mental health counseling.¹

The classroom portion is only nine weeks, but the overall supervision period can last up to two years. During that entire window you remain under the custody of the family violence intervention unit and must follow every condition the court set. Those conditions commonly include staying away from the victim, avoiding new arrests, and complying with any protective orders in place.¹

Attendance is tracked. Absences need documentation such as medical records or employer verification. Unexcused absences can lead to removal, and facilitators also assess whether you are genuinely engaging with the material rather than just occupying a seat.

Dismissal and Record Erasure

When the supervision period ends, you apply for dismissal. If the court finds you complied with all conditions, the statute says the judge “shall” dismiss the charges, meaning the court has no discretion to deny dismissal once you have satisfied every requirement.¹ No conviction goes on your record.

Connecticut does not use the word “expungement.” The process is called “erasure,” and for dismissed charges it is automatic. Under Connecticut General Statutes 54-142a(a), when a criminal charge is dismissed, all police records, court records, and prosecutor records tied to that charge are erased by operation of law once the time to appeal expires.⁴ You do not need to file a separate petition.

The complication is practical rather than legal. Government databases update on their own schedule, and private background-check companies can take longer still. Third-party databases that scraped your arrest record before erasure may keep displaying it for months or even years unless you take steps to notify them. If a job or housing application pulls an old arrest, you may have to contact the screening company directly and provide proof of erasure.

What Happens If You Fail

If you refuse the program’s conditions, or accept them and then violate them, the statute is blunt: your case goes to trial.¹ The original charges come back, and because you waived your speedy-trial rights and tolled the statute of limitations when you entered, the prosecution picks up exactly where it left off.

Removal is not always immediate. Facilitators report compliance issues to the judge, and the court has discretion in how to respond. A single documented absence with a good explanation may draw a warning or a makeup session. Repeated violations, a pattern of disengagement, or a new arrest for a family violence offense typically ends participation. New criminal charges during supervision are especially damaging because they suggest the program is not working.

Before the court terminates your participation, you are entitled to a hearing and the chance to explain the circumstances. That is where having an attorney matters most. The difference between a warning and expulsion often comes down to how the situation is presented and whether credible documentation backs your explanation.

Firearms, Immigration, and Licensing

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” from possessing firearms or ammunition.⁵ That prohibition turns on a conviction. The federal definition also treats a person as not convicted if the conviction was expunged, set aside, or pardoned.⁶ Because FVEP ends in dismissal, completion should not trigger the federal ban. If you already own firearms, be aware the court may impose conditions during the supervision period that restrict your access to weapons, and violating those conditions can end your participation.

Non-citizens should talk to an immigration attorney before applying or making any statements in court. A domestic violence conviction is an independent ground for deportation under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Because FVEP produces a dismissal rather than a conviction, completing the program avoids that trigger in most cases. The arrest itself can still create issues: your biometric data is shared with the Department of Homeland Security at booking, so immigration authorities may become aware of the charge regardless of how the criminal case resolves. If any step in the process required an admission of guilt on the record, immigration authorities could treat that admission as a conviction for immigration purposes even after dismissal. Connecticut’s FVEP application form does not require a guilty plea, which is favorable, but the details matter and warrant case-specific review.

For employment, dismissal plus automatic erasure resolves the issue for most private-sector jobs once the erasure takes effect. Federal security clearances work differently: adjudicators evaluate the underlying conduct under a “whole-person” assessment, not just the legal outcome, so the incident will likely come up during a background investigation. State professional licensing boards vary. Some applications ask about arrests rather than only convictions. Erasure generally prohibits disclosure under Connecticut law, but you should verify with your specific board how it treats an erased record and FVEP completion.

1
Justia. Connecticut Code 46b-38c – Family Violence Prevention and Response
2
Connecticut Judicial Branch. Family Violence Education Program Application, Orders and Disposition
3
Connecticut Judicial Branch. Family Violence Education Program
4
Justia. Connecticut Code 54-142a – Erasure of Criminal Records
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
6
Legal Information Institute. Definition: Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence From 18 USC 921(a)(33)