How to Expunge Your Record for Free in California

You can expunge your record for free in California by filing a petition under Penal Code 1203.4 (if you were on probation) or Penal Code 1203.4a (if you weren’t), and asking the court to waive the filing fee with Form FW-001. Before you file anything, check whether your conviction has already been dismissed automatically — a 2023 law now clears many eligible records without a petition.

Check for Automatic Relief First

Since 2023, the California Department of Justice reviews criminal records every month and dismisses qualifying convictions on its own. The program was created by SB 731. If your record qualifies, you don’t file anything and you don’t pay anything.

You qualify for automatic relief if all of the following are true:

You are not required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act.
You are not currently on probation, parole, mandatory supervision, or any other state or federal supervision.
You are not currently serving a sentence or facing new charges.
Your conviction fits one of these categories: probation completed without revocation (any conviction back to 1973); a misdemeanor or infraction without probation, at least one year past judgment; or a non-serious, non-violent felony where four years have passed since you finished supervision without a new felony conviction.

The four-year felony track excludes serious felonies, violent felonies, and offenses requiring sex offender registration.¹ If you think you qualify but haven’t received notice, request a copy of your criminal record through the California DOJ’s online record review process. If automatic relief hasn’t applied to you, or your conviction doesn’t qualify, move to the petition path below.

Who Can Petition

Which section you file under depends on whether you were placed on probation.

If You Were Placed on Probation (PC 1203.4)

You can petition once probation is complete. You cannot currently be serving a sentence, on probation for another offense, or facing new charges. The court can grant relief even if you didn’t complete every probation condition perfectly, when the interests of justice support it.²

One point that trips people up: unpaid restitution does not disqualify you. The statute specifically forbids denying a petition because of an unfulfilled restitution order or fine.² You don’t have to pay it off first.

Some offenses cannot be dismissed under this section, including sex crimes involving minors, certain child pornography offenses, and specific Vehicle Code violations. Infractions are excluded here but have their own path under 1203.4a.²

If You Were Not Placed on Probation (PC 1203.4a)

For a misdemeanor or infraction without probation, wait at least one year from the date of judgment. You must have completed your sentence, not be currently serving time or facing charges, and have lived a law-abiding life since the conviction. The restitution protection applies here too — unpaid restitution cannot be used to deny your petition.³

Felony convictions that resulted in a state prison sentence follow a different section, Penal Code 1203.41, with its own eligibility rules and waiting periods. You can still file yourself, but those cases are more complex.

Getting the Filing Fee Waived

The “free” part turns on Form FW-001, Request to Waive Court Fees. The court will waive fees if any of the following is true:

You receive public benefits: Medi-Cal, CalFresh, SSI, CalWORKs, county general assistance, IHSS, CAPI, WIC, or unemployment.
Your household income falls below the court’s low-income threshold, even without public benefits.
Your income is above that threshold, but paying court fees would leave you unable to cover necessities like rent, food, and utilities.

You’ll list income, household size, and monthly expenses on the form.⁴ File the waiver at the same time as your petition. If it’s granted, you pay nothing. If it’s denied, the clerk will tell you the fee amount and you can decide whether to go forward.

Forms to Prepare

All forms are free on the California Courts website. You’ll need one complete set per conviction. Before filling anything out, pull together your case number, conviction date, offense, and sentence. That information is in your original court paperwork, or you can request it from the court where you were convicted.

Petition for Dismissal (CR-180) — the main document. Enter your case details, the section you’re petitioning under (1203.4 or 1203.4a), and why you qualify.⁵
Order for Dismissal (CR-181) — fill in your information at the top and leave the judge’s sections blank.
Request to Waive Court Fees (FW-001) — your financial information and basis for the waiver.
Order on Court Fee Waiver (FW-003) — top portion only; the judge completes the rest.

Filing and Serving the Petition

Make at least two copies of every completed form. The originals go to the court, one set goes to the prosecutor, and one stays with you.

Take everything to the clerk’s office at the superior court where you were convicted. The clerk stamps your documents, keeps the originals, and returns the copies. With the fee waiver filed alongside, there should be no charge.

Next, deliver a stamped copy of the petition to the District Attorney’s or City Attorney’s office that prosecuted your case. Mail or hand-delivery both work. This step is called service, and it gives the prosecutor a chance to review and object. Keep a record of how and when you served the documents; you may need to prove it.

What Happens After You File

Processing times vary by courthouse. Some courts turn petitions around in six to eight weeks. Older felony cases can take four to six months, especially where files have to be pulled from storage. In Los Angeles County, retrieval of archived felony files alone can take 60 to 90 days before the court starts reviewing the petition.

If you’re eligible and the prosecutor doesn’t object, the judge often grants the dismissal without a hearing and signs the Order for Dismissal. If the prosecutor objects or the judge has questions, you’ll get a hearing date and need to appear. Once the order is signed, ask the clerk for a certified copy. That’s your official proof.

What a Dismissal Does for You

The biggest practical benefit is employment. Under California Labor Code 432.7, employers cannot ask about or use a conviction dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 or 1203.4a in hiring, promotion, or termination decisions. This applies to both private and public employers.⁶

California’s Fair Chance Act adds another layer. After a conditional job offer, employers are barred from considering convictions that have been dismissed or expunged. On most job applications that ask whether you have ever been convicted, you can legally answer “no” for a dismissed conviction.⁷

Consumer reporting agencies also have obligations. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, they must maintain procedures to avoid reporting information that has been expunged, sealed, or otherwise restricted from public access.⁸ Databases don’t always update on their own, so if a dismissed conviction still appears on a background check, dispute it with the reporting company.

What a Dismissal Does Not Do

A 1203.4 dismissal is valuable, but it has real limits.

Professional Licensing

You must still disclose a dismissed conviction when applying for a state professional license or for public office. The statute says so directly.² Nearly every California licensing board — including those for nurses, real estate agents, doctors, dentists, therapists, teachers, and psychologists — requires disclosure even after a dismissal. The board can still weigh the conviction, though the dismissal helps.

Immigration

Federal immigration authorities do not treat a California dismissal as erasing a conviction. USCIS treats a conviction dismissed after a rehabilitative program, which is what a 1203.4 dismissal is, as still a conviction for immigration purposes.⁹ If you are not a U.S. citizen, a dismissed conviction can still trigger deportation, block naturalization, or prevent re-entry. Talk to an immigration attorney before filing.

Firearms

Federal law generally treats a conviction that has been expunged or set aside as not a conviction for firearm restriction purposes, unless the order says otherwise.¹⁰ California has separate firearm restrictions that may still apply depending on the offense. Verify both federal and state law before assuming the dismissal restored your firearm rights.

Free Help If You Want It

Filing on your own is workable, but free help exists. Public defender offices in many counties, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Orange, and Riverside, assist with record-clearing petitions at no cost.¹¹

Clear My Record (clearmyrecord.org) connects you to legal aid in your county. The Sacramento County Law Library publishes an expungement guide with a video walkthrough of the forms. These resources are especially useful if your case has a probation violation, an older felony, or overlapping convictions that make the standard petition path less straightforward.

1
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.425 – Automatic Conviction Record Relief
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information
3
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.4a
4
California Courts. Information Sheet on Waiver of Superior Court Fees and Costs
5
California Courts | Self Help Guide. Petition for Dismissal
6
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 432.7
7
California Civil Rights Department. Fair Chance Act – Criminal History and Employment
8
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12, Part F, Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 921 – Definitions
11
California Courts | Self Help Guide. Legal Help to Clean Your Record