How Long Does a Felony Stay on Your Record in Michigan?

A felony conviction stays on your record in Michigan for life unless a court sets it aside. The state has no statute of limitations that automatically wipes felonies after a certain number of years, but Michigan’s Clean Slate law created two routes to clear eligible convictions: automatic expungement 10 years after sentencing or release, and a petition you can file as early as five years after you finish your sentence. Which route applies to you depends on the offense, how many convictions you have, and how much time has passed.

Automatic Clearing After 10 Years

Since April 11, 2023, the Michigan State Police have been reviewing their criminal history database and setting aside qualifying convictions on their own, without any paperwork from you.¹

For felonies, the waiting period is 10 years from the later of your sentencing date or your release from prison, and the program will clear up to two felonies this way.² You cannot have any pending charges or new convictions during that waiting period.³

Plenty of felonies are excluded from automatic clearing even after 10 years. The program will not touch assaultive crimes, serious misdemeanors, crimes of dishonesty, offenses punishable by 10 or more years, crimes involving minors or vulnerable adults, offenses resulting in serious injury or death, or human trafficking violations.² If your felony falls into one of those categories, waiting won’t help; a petition is your only option.

Petitioning Earlier: The Five- and Seven-Year Paths

If you don’t want to wait a decade, or your conviction doesn’t qualify for automatic clearing, you can ask the court that convicted you to set the record aside. Under MCL 780.621, you may apply to set aside up to three felonies total, along with an unlimited number of misdemeanors. No more than two of those felonies can be assaultive, and only one felony conviction for the same offense can be cleared if the offense carries more than 10 years of potential imprisonment.⁴

The waiting period runs from whichever came last: your sentencing date, completion of probation, discharge from parole, or release from incarceration.

One felony: 5 years
Multiple felonies: 7 years
One or more serious misdemeanors: 5 years
Non-serious, non-assaultive misdemeanors: 3 years

You cannot have pending charges when you apply, and you must not have picked up new convictions during the waiting period.

The petition goes to the court where you were convicted. The prosecutor is notified and can object. Victims may also be heard. At the hearing, the judge weighs what you have done since the conviction — employment, education, treatment, family stability — against whether clearing the record serves the public welfare, not just your own interest.⁵ Documentation beats testimony. A prosecutor’s objection does not automatically sink your petition, but it does make the hearing adversarial.

Felonies That Stay on Your Record Permanently

Some convictions can never be set aside in Michigan, no matter how many years pass. Under MCL 780.621c, the permanent-record list includes:³

Any felony or attempted felony punishable by life in prison
Most criminal sexual conduct offenses, including fourth-degree CSC if convicted on or after January 12, 2015
Offenses involving minors, including child abuse, child sexually abusive material, and using a computer to commit certain crimes against minors
Human trafficking, both labor and sex
Operating while intoxicated, commercial-vehicle violations by CDL holders, and any traffic offense causing injury or death
Felony domestic violence, if you have a prior misdemeanor domestic violence conviction

If your conviction is on that list, it stays on your record for life. The only remaining route is a gubernatorial pardon, which is a separate process and rarely granted.

What a Set-Aside Actually Changes

Once a conviction is set aside, whether by petition or automatically, you are legally considered not to have been convicted for most purposes. On most job, housing, and background-check questions, you can truthfully answer that you have no conviction, and a standard background check should not surface the offense. Michigan also bars the use of a set-aside conviction as evidence in a negligent-hiring lawsuit against an employer who hires you,⁵ which removes a major reason employers hesitate.

The conviction is not erased from existence, though. The Michigan State Police keep a non-public record accessible only to courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, the Attorney General, the Department of Corrections, and the Governor.⁵ Those entities can see it for specific uses: judicial licensing reviews, law enforcement hiring, sentencing in future cases, and sex offender registration decisions.⁶

Limits That Catch People Off Guard

If you are convicted of a new crime, the court can still treat the set-aside conviction as a prior offense when calculating your sentence.⁵
You still owe any outstanding restitution, and the court can still enforce it.⁵
You cannot recover any fines or costs you already paid.⁵
If the set-aside offense is a registrable sex offense, you remain convicted for purposes of Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act.⁵
A traffic conviction that is set aside will not be removed from the driving record kept by the Secretary of State.⁷
Victims of the original crime can still sue you in civil court.⁵

Where a Michigan Set-Aside Doesn’t Reach

State law can clear your record for state and private purposes. It does not control what the federal government or other countries do with it.

Immigration

Federal immigration law uses its own definition of conviction. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48), a conviction exists for immigration purposes whenever a judge or jury found the person guilty, or the person pleaded guilty, and the court imposed any form of punishment.⁸ A state set-aside does not undo that. If you are not a U.S. citizen, a cleared felony can still support deportation or denial of a visa, green card, or naturalization. Talk to an immigration attorney before relying on a Michigan expungement.

Federal Security Clearances

The Standard Form 86 for federal security clearances requires disclosure of criminal history “regardless of whether the record in your case has been sealed, expunged, or otherwise stricken from the court record, or the charge was dismissed.”⁹ The narrow exception is for Federal Controlled Substances Act convictions expunged under 21 U.S.C. § 844 or 18 U.S.C. § 3607. Omitting a set-aside state conviction from an SF-86 can be treated as deliberate falsification, which usually hurts a clearance decision more than the original offense would.

Crossing Into Canada

Canada can treat you as inadmissible based on a foreign criminal conviction even if your home state has expunged it. Canada offers “deemed rehabilitation” when at least 10 years have passed since you completed your sentence and the equivalent Canadian offense carries a maximum of less than 10 years. You can also apply for individual rehabilitation after five years, or request a temporary resident permit for shorter visits.¹⁰ If you cross the border regularly, handle this before a trip rather than at the port of entry.

1
State of Michigan Attorney General. Automatic Expungements: Michigan Clean Slate
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780.621g
3
Michigan Courts. Michigan Clean Slate Legislation Overview
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780-621 – Application for Order Setting Aside Conviction
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Act 213 of 1965 – Setting Aside Convictions
6
Michigan Legal Help. Overview of Michigan’s Expungement Laws – Section: Who Can See Expunged Convictions
7
Michigan Legal Help. Overview of Michigan’s Expungement Laws – Section: Driving Records
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 8 Section 1101
9
Office of Personnel Management. Standard Form 86 – Questionnaire for National Security Positions
10
Canada.ca. Overcome Criminal Convictions