The cost to expunge a record in California ranges from $0 to about $1,500 or more. If you qualify for automatic relief through the state, you pay nothing. If you file the petition yourself, expect to pay $60 for a misdemeanor or $120 for a felony in court filing fees. If you hire an attorney, add roughly $500 to $1,200 for a straightforward case, and more for felonies or anything contested.
Check Automatic Relief Before You Pay Anything
Under Penal Code 1203.425, the California Department of Justice reviews criminal records every month and automatically dismisses eligible convictions. No petition. No filing fee. No attorney. The DOJ has been processing these dismissals since October 2024, and the program reaches back to convictions from January 1, 1973.
You may qualify if:
- You completed probation without revocation.
- Your case was a misdemeanor or infraction with no probation, you finished the sentence, and at least one year has passed since judgment.
- Your case was a felony, you completed all incarceration, supervision, and parole, and four years have passed with no new felony conviction. Serious felonies, violent felonies, and sex offenses are excluded.
- You are not currently serving a sentence, on supervision, or facing pending charges, and you are not required to register as a sex offender.
To find out whether relief was already granted, request your Record of Arrest and Prosecution (RAP sheet) from the California Department of Justice. If the dismissal is on there, you are done. If it isn’t and you appear to qualify, you can still file a petition yourself under Penal Code 1203.4, but checking first can save you every dollar below.
Court Filing Fees
If you do need to file, the petition carries a filing fee based on the offense level. In San Diego County, that fee is $60 for a misdemeanor or infraction and $120 for a felony. Amounts vary somewhat between counties because some add local surcharges for courthouse construction.
Each conviction needs its own petition and its own filing fee. Three misdemeanor cases means three filings, and the fees stack.
If you cannot afford the fee, ask the court to waive it using a Request to Waive Court Fees (Form FW-001). You qualify if you receive public benefits like Medi-Cal, your household income is below federal poverty guidelines, or paying the fee would keep you from covering basic needs. A granted waiver drops the filing fee to zero.
Attorney Fees
Hiring a lawyer is the largest cost for most people. Many California attorneys handle expungements on a flat fee, usually $500 to $1,200 for a single straightforward misdemeanor. Felonies, cases involving probation violations, and petitions that require a court hearing tend to run higher, sometimes $1,500 or more, because they demand additional legal work to argue for relief despite complications.
Some lawyers bill hourly instead, and rates swing widely with experience and location. An attorney in a major metro area will almost always cost more than one in a smaller county.
You are not required to hire a lawyer. Filing yourself removes this expense entirely. For a simple misdemeanor where you completed probation without issues, the paperwork is manageable: fill out the Petition for Dismissal (Form CR-180) and submit the Order for Dismissal (Form CR-181) for the judge to sign.
Other Small Costs
You will need your case number, conviction date, and the exact code sections for each offense before filing. If you don’t have that paperwork, request your RAP sheet from the California Department of Justice. The DOJ charges $25 for processing, which includes fingerprinting, and a fee waiver may be available.
If any documents need notarization, California caps notary fees at $15 per signature. Small money, but worth knowing about.
What Pushes the Total Higher
The single biggest factor is whether you file yourself or hire an attorney. A self-filed misdemeanor can come in under $100 total: filing fee plus RAP sheet. The same case with a lawyer might run $600 to $800. For felonies or contested matters, the spread grows.
Case complexity is the next factor. If you completed probation cleanly, the petition is largely a paperwork exercise, and many courts grant these without a hearing. If you violated probation, were terminated early for bad behavior, or need the court to exercise discretion in unusual circumstances, expect a hearing where the judge weighs arguments from both sides. That is where attorney representation stops being convenient and starts being useful.
The number of cases multiplies everything. Each conviction is its own petition and its own filing fee. Some lawyers offer a multi-case discount, but the total still climbs.
Reducing a felony to a misdemeanor adds cost too. If your offense is a “wobbler,” you can ask the court under Penal Code 17(b) to reduce it to a misdemeanor before dismissal. The reduction and the dismissal can go on the same CR-180 petition, so you may not pay a second filing fee, but an attorney will typically charge more than for a straight misdemeanor expungement because the court has to be persuaded to exercise its discretion. If the code section for your offense lists county jail alongside state prison as possible sentences, it is usually a wobbler.
Free and Low-Cost Legal Help
If your case is too complicated to handle alone but a private attorney is out of reach, California has options that can bring the attorney line down to zero. Many county public defender offices run dedicated expungement programs. The California Courts website lists public defender offices that assist with record cleaning, and the Clear My Record program can connect you to legal services in your county.
Legal aid organizations and law school clinics across the state also offer free or sliding-scale help. Eligibility usually depends on income. Even if you don’t qualify for full representation, some programs run workshops that walk you through self-filing step by step, giving you the guidance without the full attorney bill.