How Long Does a Felony Stay on Your Record in Ohio: Sealing Options

A felony conviction in Ohio stays on your criminal record permanently. There is no automatic expiration, and nothing drops off on its own after a set number of years. So the real question behind “how long does a felony stay on your record in Ohio” is whether you can have it removed, and the only route for that is petitioning the court to seal the record under Ohio’s eligibility rules.

Until a court seals it, the conviction is visible to employers, landlords, licensing boards, and anyone else running a background check, no matter how long ago it happened.

Who Can Seal a Felony Conviction

Ohio law sorts applicants into two “eligible offender” categories, and the category you fall into controls how many convictions you can seal.

The first category covers people whose entire criminal history is made up of fourth-degree and fifth-degree felonies or misdemeanors, with none of them being a crime of violence or a felony sex offense. There is no numerical cap in this category.¹

The second category applies to everyone else who still qualifies. Under this track you can seal up to two felony convictions and up to four misdemeanor convictions. If you have exactly two felonies, you can have no more than two misdemeanors on top of them. Convictions arising from the same act or criminal episode generally count as a single conviction.¹

Felonies That Cannot Be Sealed

Some convictions are permanently excluded from sealing, no matter how long you wait or how clean your record has been since:

First-degree and second-degree felonies, including offenses like murder, rape, and major drug trafficking.²
Felony offenses of violence, such as felonious assault, arson, and kidnapping.
Any felony that requires sex offender registration.
Most felonies with a victim under 18, with limited exceptions.
OVI and most felony traffic violations.
Soliciting improper compensation under ORC 2921.43, which follows a separate and longer sealing track.

How Long You Have to Wait Before Applying

Even when a felony is eligible, you cannot apply right away. The waiting clock starts at “final discharge,” meaning you have finished every piece of your sentence: prison, probation, community control, post-release control, and all court-ordered restitution and fines. If any part of that is still open, the clock has not started.

From final discharge, the waiting period depends on the severity of the conviction:

Fourth- or fifth-degree felony: one year, as long as none of the offenses is a crime of violence or a violation of ORC 2921.43.³
Third-degree felony: three years.³
Soliciting improper compensation (ORC 2921.43): seven years.³
Offenses with sex offender registration: five years after those registration requirements end or are terminated.³

You also cannot have any pending criminal charges when you file. If charges are open, the court will deny the application regardless of how much time has passed.²

Filing the Application and the Hearing

You file with the clerk of courts in the court that handled the conviction. Before filing, pull together the case number, the name and location of the court, the date of conviction, the specific offense, and the date of your final discharge for every conviction you want sealed. The form also asks for your full name and Social Security number.

Filing costs include a $50 state application fee and a possible local court fee of up to $50, regardless of how many records you are trying to seal. If you cannot afford it, you can submit a poverty affidavit asking the court to waive the fee.³

The court sets a hearing between 45 and 90 days after filing. The prosecutor is notified at least 60 days before the hearing and has until 30 days before it to file a written objection. The prosecutor also has to notify the victim of the offense about the application and the hearing date.³

At the hearing the judge weighs your interest in sealing against any legitimate government interest in keeping the record public. Judges have broad discretion here, and a prosecutor who shows up with a strong objection can sink an otherwise clean application. Evidence of rehabilitation, steady employment, and community involvement helps.

You are not required to hire an attorney. Many people do. Fees for a standard felony sealing case typically run $500 to $1,500, depending on the complexity of your record, the number of convictions, and whether the prosecutor objects. Some Ohio legal aid organizations handle sealing cases free of charge for people who qualify by income.

What Sealing Actually Changes

If the judge grants the application, the court orders all official records in the case sealed, and the proceedings are legally “deemed not to have occurred.”⁴ For most everyday purposes, including routine job and housing applications, you can lawfully answer “no” when asked whether you have been convicted of a crime.

Sealing is not destruction, though. The record moves behind restricted access, and several groups keep it. Law enforcement and prosecutors still see it, which means a sealed conviction can resurface if you are charged with a new offense, and a prosecutor can reference it at sentencing. Certain professional licensing boards also retain access, so fields like healthcare, education, and law may still see the conviction when you apply for a license.²

On commercial background checks, there is no federal time limit for how long a conviction can be reported. The Fair Credit Reporting Act caps most negative information at seven years but specifically exempts criminal convictions.⁵ A private background check company can report an unsealed Ohio felony from 20 or 30 years ago without breaking any federal rule. Once a record is sealed, it should drop off standard commercial reports, but some private databases are slow to update. If a sealed conviction shows up, you have grounds to dispute it with the reporting agency.

What Sealing Does Not Reach

Two limits are worth knowing before you count on sealing to fix everything.

Federal immigration authorities do not recognize Ohio’s sealing process. USCIS treats a sealed conviction the same as an active one for deportation, visa, and naturalization purposes, and its policy manual says explicitly that a state action to expunge or dismiss a conviction through a rehabilitative statute does not remove the conviction for immigration purposes.⁶ USCIS can even move a court to obtain sealed records and may require applicants to produce them. International travel can be affected too: Canada maintains access to the FBI’s criminal database and treats a sealed U.S. record like an active one.

Federal firearm law is the other wall. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison is barred from possessing firearms or ammunition.⁷ Ohio has its own process for relief from the state firearm disability under ORC 2923.14, which requires a completed sentence, no other firearms prohibitions, and evidence of law-abiding conduct.² A state sealing does not lift the federal bar. Getting this wrong can trigger a new felony, so check with an attorney before buying or possessing a firearm.

If Your Felony Cannot Be Sealed

Two options remain when sealing is off the table.

Certificate of Qualification for Employment

A CQE does not hide the record, but it removes the automatic bars that keep licensing boards and certain employers from considering you. A licensing board that would otherwise reject you outright has to evaluate your situation individually, and the certificate creates a legal presumption that your convictions alone are not enough to call you unfit for a job or license. It also gives employers who hire you protection against negligent-hiring claims tied to your criminal history.⁸ You can apply one year after release from incarceration and completion of all supervision, or six months after completing all court sanctions if you were never incarcerated.⁹

Gubernatorial Pardon

A pardon is not a declaration of innocence. It is an official recognition that you have accepted responsibility and shown good conduct for a substantial period after completing your sentence. Applications go through the Ohio Parole Board, which schedules a hearing after a mandatory 60-day notice period and then recommends an outcome to the Governor, who has final authority. The standard process typically runs one to two years; the Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project compresses that to a few months for qualifying applicants.¹⁰ An unconditional pardon relieves all disabilities arising from the conviction, including restoring the right to purchase and possess firearms under Ohio law, and the Governor may also order the pardoned conviction sealed.²

1
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 2953.31 – Sealing of Record Definitions
2
Ohio Supreme Court Sentencing Commission. Adult Rights Restoration and Record Sealing
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2953.32 – Sealing or Expungement of Record
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2953.33 – Restoration of Rights and Privileges
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements on Consumer Reporting Agencies
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
8
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2953.25 – Certificate of Qualification for Employment
9
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Certificate of Qualification for Employment
10
Ohio Governor. Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project