How Long Does a Misdemeanor Stay on Your Record in NC?

A misdemeanor stays on your record in North Carolina permanently. There is no waiting period after which the charge or conviction falls off on its own, and no distinction between older and newer entries when a background check is run. The only way to remove it is through expungement, and whether that happens automatically, after a petition, or not at all depends on how your case ended.¹

Dismissals and Not Guilty Findings Can Clear Automatically

If every charge in your case was dismissed or ended in a not guilty or not responsible finding on or after December 1, 2021, the record is expunged by operation of law between 180 and 210 days after the final disposition. You do not have to file anything, and there is no fee.²

Two situations break the automatic process. If one charge in the same case ended in a conviction and another was dismissed, the dismissed charge will not clear on its own. And a felony dismissed as part of a plea deal is excluded from automatic expungement.²

Petitioning to Clear Older Dismissals and Acquittals

Cases resolved before December 1, 2021, and cases with mixed outcomes still qualify for expungement, but you have to file a petition. There is no waiting period and no filing fee for this type of expungement, and a prior felony conviction no longer disqualifies you.

If every charge in a case was dismissed, the court is required to grant the expungement after confirming the dismissals. If you were found not guilty on one or more charges and all related charges have reached a final outcome, the court must order those charges expunged. When a case had a mix of dismissed and convicted or pending charges, the court may grant the expungement for the dismissed counts but is not required to.²

There is no cap on how many dismissed or not guilty expungements you can obtain.

How Long You Wait to Expunge a Misdemeanor Conviction

A conviction is a different track. North Carolina allows expungement of nonviolent misdemeanor convictions, but only after a waiting period measured from the later of your conviction date or your sentence completion. “Sentence completion” includes probation and post-release supervision, so a two-year probation term pushes the start of the clock back two years.³

One nonviolent misdemeanor: five years.
Multiple nonviolent misdemeanors from the same court session: treated as one conviction, so five years.
Multiple nonviolent misdemeanors from different court dates: seven years from the most recent conviction or sentence completion, whichever is later.⁴

Other Conditions You Have to Meet

Serving out the waiting period is only part of eligibility. When you file the petition, all of the following must be true:

You have had no new felony or misdemeanor convictions (other than traffic violations) during the five- or seven-year window.⁵
All restitution orders and related civil judgments are paid in full.⁴
You have no outstanding warrants, pending criminal cases, or indictments in any state or federal court.⁴
You have not already received a conviction expungement under this statute for any offense committed after the date of the earlier order.³

The last point matters more than it sounds. A conviction expungement under this section is a one-time opportunity. If you qualify to clear multiple misdemeanors at once under the seven-year track, doing them together is usually the better move than clearing one and losing the chance to clear the rest later.

Misdemeanors That Never Come Off

Several categories of misdemeanor conviction are permanently excluded from expungement, no matter how much time passes:³

Class A1 misdemeanors, the most serious misdemeanor classification in the state, including offenses such as assault inflicting serious injury.
Offenses that have assault as an essential element of the crime.
Impaired driving offenses, including DWI and DUI.
Offenses that triggered or trigger sex offender registration, even if you are no longer required to register.
Specific enumerated sex-related and stalking offenses, including certain indecent exposure, peeping, and cyberstalking crimes.

If your conviction fits one of these categories, it stays on your record. There is no alternative path to clear it.

Filing the Petition

Petitions are filed with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the case took place. Official forms are organized by statute and available through the North Carolina Judicial Branch.¹ For convictions in more than one county, you file a separate petition in each county, and the petitions must be filed within 120 days of each other unless the court finds good cause for a longer gap.⁴

Expunging a conviction costs $175, paid when you file.⁴ An indigent petitioner can request a waiver. There is no fee for expunging dismissed charges or not guilty verdicts.

The District Attorney reviews the petition before a judge hears it. The full process typically takes several months.¹

What Expungement Actually Removes

Once an order is granted, the State Bureau of Investigation and other agencies holding the public record are directed to destroy it.⁶ The charge or conviction will no longer appear on standard background checks, and you can legally deny the arrest, charge, or conviction on employment or housing applications without perjury exposure.¹

The arresting agency may keep its own investigative file.² And the North Carolina courts note that an expungement may not prevent the case from being used in federal immigration decisions.¹ For the public-facing record that most background checks pull from, though, an expungement is what makes the misdemeanor go away. Without one, it stays.

1
North Carolina Judicial Branch. About the Expunctions Process
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 15A-146 – Expunction of Records When Charges Are Dismissed or There Are Findings of Not Guilty
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 15A-145.5 – Expunction of Certain Misdemeanors and Felonies; No Age Limitation
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 15A-145.5 – Expunction of Certain Misdemeanors and Felonies
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 15A-145.5 – Expunction of Certain Misdemeanors and Felonies; No Age Limitation
6
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Expungements Frequently Asked Questions