A misdemeanor conviction stays on your Missouri record forever unless you take legal action to remove it. Missouri sets no automatic expiration date for criminal records, so a shoplifting charge from twenty years ago turns up in background checks the same way a recent one does. The only way to clear an eligible misdemeanor is to file a petition for expungement under Section 610.140, and the earliest you can do that is three years after you finish your sentence.
Why Missouri Records Never Expire on Their Own
The Missouri State Highway Patrol maintains a central repository of criminal history that includes every arrest, filed charge, and disposition. Fingerprint-based background checks pull from this repository for decades after the fact.1Missouri State Highway Patrol. Criminal Record Check Employers, landlords, and licensing boards access these records routinely. A minor misdemeanor can still block housing, jobs, and professional licenses long after the sentence is served.
Missouri’s legislature has considered a “Clean Slate Act” that would make expungement automatic for certain nonviolent offenses, but as of early 2026 that bill remains pending in committee and is not law.2BillTrack50. MO HB2047 Until that changes, nothing clears your record unless you ask a court to clear it.
The Three-Year Waiting Period
Section 610.140 lets you petition for expungement of a misdemeanor conviction once every one of these conditions is met:
- At least three years have passed since you completed your entire sentence. The clock runs from the end of probation, jail time, community service, fines, and restitution, not from the date of conviction.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
- You have no new misdemeanor or felony findings of guilt during that three-year window. Minor traffic violations under chapters 304 and 307 don’t count against you.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
- Every fine, cost, and condition tied to the sentence is fully satisfied before you file.
- You haven’t exhausted your lifetime cap. Missouri allows up to three misdemeanor and two felony expungements per person. Offenses from a single course of conduct count as one offense at the highest level for this cap.4Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
Misdemeanors That Can Never Be Expunged
Some misdemeanors are permanently ineligible regardless of how much time passes. The exclusions most likely to matter to someone with a misdemeanor record:
- Domestic assault, misdemeanor or felony.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
- DWI and other intoxication-related traffic or boating offenses as defined in Section 577.001, including first offenses. A separate statute, Section 577.054, may provide a different path for certain DWI records, but that process sits outside the general expungement framework.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
- Any offense requiring sex offender registration.
- Most violations of Section 571.030 (unlawful use of weapons), with a narrow exception for some offenses committed before January 1, 2017.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
- Any motor vehicle offense committed by someone who holds or is required to hold a commercial driver’s license.
Section 610.140 also names dozens of specific code sections covering stalking, certain property crimes, and public safety violations. If you aren’t sure your offense qualifies, read the exclusion list in the statute or ask an attorney before you spend time preparing a petition.
Filing the Petition
Most people handle a straightforward expungement without a lawyer, but there are several steps you can’t skip.
What To Gather
You’ll need your case number, the dates of arrest and conviction, the court where your case was heard, and documentation that every piece of your sentence is complete. The petition form is available from the circuit court clerk or through the Missouri courts website. File it in the court where you were charged or convicted.4Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
Filing Fees and Service
Filing requires court costs that include a statutory surcharge on expungement petitions.5Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 488.650 – Expungement Cases Under Section 610.140 The total varies by court; the circuit clerk can tell you the current amount. Courts can waive fees for petitioners who can’t afford them.
Once filed, you must serve copies on the prosecuting attorney, the arresting law enforcement agency, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and any other relevant agencies. The prosecutor then has 30 days to file a written objection.6Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
The Hearing
The court schedules a hearing where a judge reviews the petition. If the prosecutor doesn’t object, the hearing is usually brief. If there is an objection, you need to show the judge that you meet every statutory requirement. When the judge grants the petition, the expungement order goes to all agencies holding your records, directing them to seal the information.
What Changes When Expungement Is Granted
Missouri’s expungement statute is stronger than people often expect. The order restores you to the status you held before the arrest, plea, or conviction, as if it never happened.7Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records Any rights lost because of the conviction come back with it.
When someone asks whether you’ve been convicted, you can legally answer no. The statute protects you from perjury charges for denying the expunged offense. The record won’t show up on most standard background checks, which is what removes the practical barriers to employment and housing.
When You Still Have To Disclose
Two situations still require disclosure:
- In court. If you’re charged with a new offense or questioned by a judge, you must disclose the expunged conviction, and the court can treat it as a prior offense when sentencing you for any future crime.7Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
- On specific license and job applications. Disclosure is required for a state professional license or certificate, a gaming license under Chapter 313, and employment with a gaming entity, a state-run lottery, an emergency services provider, or a law enforcement agency. Even then, the expunged offense cannot serve as an automatic disqualification. A licensing board or employer may weigh it, but it can’t reject you solely on that basis.7Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Criminal Records
What Law Enforcement Can Still See
Police and certain government agencies retain access. The Highway Patrol’s fingerprint-based checks return “closed record information” that includes expunged offenses.1Missouri State Highway Patrol. Criminal Record Check That’s different from the name-based checks most employers run, which generally will not show the expunged record.
Federal Records and Immigration
Missouri expungement controls only Missouri-held records. It does not reach the FBI’s federal databases. Missouri is not a member of the National Fingerprint File program, so the FBI keeps its own copies of Missouri criminal records. When Missouri updates its records after an expungement, the federal copies may not reflect the change promptly, if at all.8Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Clean Slate Relief: The Impact on Criminal Record Sharing and Immigration
This gap matters most in immigration cases. Federal immigration law uses its own, broader definition of “conviction.” Under USCIS policy, a conviction set aside or expunged because the person completed a rehabilitation program still counts as a conviction for immigration purposes.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual – Adjudicative Factors If you are not a U.S. citizen, a Missouri expungement will not shield you from deportation, inadmissibility, or denial of a green card or naturalization based on that conviction. Talk to an immigration attorney before assuming expungement solves the problem.
Suspended Imposition of Sentence Is Not the Same Thing
Missouri courts sometimes grant a suspended imposition of sentence, or SIS. You plead guilty, but the court holds off on entering a conviction. If you complete probation successfully, the case closes without a formal conviction, and you can truthfully say you were not convicted of that offense.
An SIS still leaves the arrest and guilty plea in your criminal history. After probation ends, you can petition under Section 610.140 to expunge those records, provided the offense isn’t on the ineligible list and you meet the waiting period and other requirements. The SIS gives you a head start because there is no conviction to clear, but the records themselves still need expungement to disappear from background checks.
Arrests Without a Conviction
If charges were dropped or dismissed, or you were found not guilty, Missouri provides a separate path. Section 610.122 allows you to petition for expungement of arrest records when no probable cause supported the charges. The requirements and waiting period differ from the conviction-based process under 610.140, and the standard is generally easier to meet because there is no underlying conviction to weigh.
Pursuing that expungement is still worth the effort. Arrest records without a conviction continue to appear in criminal background checks through the Highway Patrol’s central repository,1Missouri State Highway Patrol. Criminal Record Check and employers and landlords don’t always distinguish between an arrest and a conviction when they read a report.