A misdemeanor conviction stays on your record in Pennsylvania permanently unless you take action to remove or seal it. The state does not wipe convictions after a set number of years on its own. What it offers instead are three routes to clear or hide the record: automatic sealing under the Clean Slate Law, a petition for limited access, and expungement. Which one you can use depends on the degree of the misdemeanor, how much time has passed, and whether the case ended in a conviction at all.
Why the Degree of the Misdemeanor Matters
Pennsylvania sorts misdemeanors into three degrees, and the degree controls your options later.
- A first-degree misdemeanor (M1) carries up to five years in prison and fines up to $10,000. Simple assault, theft of $200 or more, and high-BAC DUI are common examples.
- A second-degree misdemeanor (M2) carries up to two years and fines up to $5,000. Most first-offense DUIs, simple assault by mutual consent, and some retail theft offenses fall here.
- A third-degree misdemeanor (M3) carries up to one year and fines up to $2,500. Disorderly conduct and underage drinking are typical.
Those maximums come from 18 Pa.C.S. § 1104 and § 1101.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Chapter 11 – Authorized Disposition of Offenders An M2 or M3 can be sealed automatically. An M1 cannot be sealed automatically but may qualify for a limited-access petition. Without one of these remedies, the conviction remains visible for the rest of your life.
Automatic Sealing After Ten Years (Clean Slate)
Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate Law, in effect since 2019 and expanded since, is the pathway most people with a misdemeanor conviction will use. The state court system seals qualifying records on its own. You do not file anything.
Automatic sealing covers second- and third-degree misdemeanor convictions, summary offenses, and charges that never produced a conviction (dismissals, acquittals, withdrawn charges). For a conviction to seal automatically, you must have been free from conviction for any offense punishable by a year or more in prison for ten years, and you must have paid all court-ordered fines, costs, and restitution.
Sealing is not erasure. The record still exists. Law enforcement and criminal justice agencies can see it. What changes is that employers running standard background checks, landlords, and the general public cannot.2Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. How Does Pennsylvania’s New Limited Access Law Differ from Expungement?
Several categories of offenses never seal automatically even when graded M2 or M3. Crimes involving danger to persons, crimes against families, and firearm offenses are excluded. You are also disqualified if you have been convicted of any felony, two or more offenses punishable by more than two years, or four or more offenses punishable by one or more years.
Petition for Limited Access After Seven Years
If your misdemeanor does not qualify for automatic sealing (because it is an M1, or because you want relief sooner), you can petition the court for limited access under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.1. This route covers misdemeanors and ungraded offenses carrying a maximum penalty of no more than five years. You need seven conviction-free years for any offense punishable by one or more years in prison, and all restitution must be paid.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Section 9122.1 – Petition for Limited Access
The same exclusion list applies: crimes involving danger to persons, crimes against families, firearm offenses, sexual offenses such as indecent exposure, and failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements are off the table regardless of how long you wait.
The practical difference between the two sealing routes: automatic sealing is free and effortless but only reaches M2 and M3 convictions after ten years. A petition takes work and filing fees but can reach M1 convictions and gets you there in seven.
Expungement: Narrower Than Most People Think
Expungement actually destroys the record. The court file and the Pennsylvania State Police database both get updated to remove the arrest and case information. The categories that qualify are limited:4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Section 9122 – Expungement
- Cases that did not result in a conviction (dismissed, withdrawn, or acquitted) can be expunged right away.
- Charges that went through Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) and were successfully completed can be expunged. First-offense DUI cases often fall into this category.
- Summary offense convictions can be expunged after five years with no new arrests or prosecutions.
- Any conviction, misdemeanors included, can be expunged if you are at least 70 and have gone ten years since your final release from confinement or supervision with no new arrest or prosecution.
- Records of a deceased person can be expunged three years after death.
- A pardon from the Governor makes a conviction eligible for court-ordered expungement.
If you have a standard misdemeanor conviction, are under 70, and do not have a pardon, expungement is not available. The five-year expungement route applies to summary offenses only. Sealing, not expungement, is the realistic option.
How to Check What’s on Your Record and File
Order your own criminal history first so you know what you are dealing with. The Pennsylvania State Police runs the PATCH system (Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History) for this purpose; a personal review copy is requested by mail using form SP 4-170.5Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Request a Criminal History Background Check If your conviction is an M2 or M3 and you are past the ten-year mark, check the Unified Judicial System’s online portal before spending money. It may already be sealed.
If you need to file, petitions for expungement are governed by Pa.R.Crim.P. 790 and petitions for limited access by Pa.R.Crim.P. 791. File with the Clerk of Courts in the Court of Common Pleas in the county where the charges originated, and serve a copy on that county’s District Attorney.6Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Apply for Criminal Record Expungement The DA can object, and an objection triggers a hearing. Include a $20 certified check or money order payable to the Commonwealth for the state police processing fee. County filing fees are separate and vary.
Once a judge signs the order, criminal justice agencies holding copies of your record have to update their files. That administrative step can take up to six months, and the record may still show up on some background checks during that window.7Westmoreland County, PA. Expungements
What the Record Does While It’s Still There
Until the record is cleared or sealed, a misdemeanor conviction keeps showing up. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act exempts criminal convictions from the seven-year reporting cap that limits most other negative information, so a private background check company can legally report a misdemeanor conviction from decades ago.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports Arrests that did not lead to conviction fall off after seven years, which is one reason to expunge non-conviction records promptly even without a guilty finding.
One boundary worth knowing: sealing a record does not restore firearm rights. A conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence triggers a federal lifetime ban on possessing firearms or ammunition, even at the M3 level.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Limited access leaves the conviction visible to law enforcement and federal agencies running firearms background checks. Expungement or a pardon can potentially restore those rights; sealing cannot.