If you want to get a misdemeanor expunged in Pennsylvania, the first thing to know is that true expungement is only available in a narrow set of situations. If you were actually convicted, the remedy is almost always record sealing under the Clean Slate law, not expungement. Both are handled through the Court of Common Pleas in the county where you were charged, filing fees generally run $150 to $200, and the process typically takes three to six months from filing to a cleared record.
The distinction matters because it determines which form you file, how long you wait, and what the final result looks like. Expungement is a court order directing agencies to destroy the record. Sealing, formally an Order for Limited Access, hides the record from employers, landlords, and the public but leaves it visible to criminal justice agencies.1Legal Information Institute. 234 Pa Code r 791 – Procedure for Obtaining Order for Limited Access in Court Cases Since Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate expansion in 2024, a sealed record also cannot be used against you in employment, housing, or education decisions.
When a Pennsylvania Misdemeanor Can Actually Be Expunged
Full expungement of a misdemeanor conviction is limited to specific categories under 18 Pa.C.S. ยง 9122.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18-9122 – Expungement You can petition to have the record destroyed if any of the following apply:
- The charges did not end in conviction. Dismissals, withdrawals, and acquittals qualify. After a trial acquittal the court initiates expungement on its own, though the prosecution has 60 days to object if the acquittal was only partial.
- You successfully completed an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program. Certain sex offenses against minors are excluded from this pathway even after completion.
- Your only conviction was for a summary offense (Pennsylvania’s lowest-level charge) and you have gone five years without a new arrest or prosecution.
- You are 70 or older and have been free from arrest or prosecution for the preceding ten years.
- You received an unconditional pardon from the Governor.
- You were convicted of underage purchase or possession of alcohol, you are now 21 or older, and you have completed all terms of the sentence.
If your misdemeanor conviction does not fit one of those categories, expungement is unavailable and you need to look at sealing instead.
When Sealing Is the Real Remedy
Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate framework creates two paths to seal a misdemeanor conviction: automatic sealing by the State Police and petition-based sealing through the courts. Both require full payment of court-ordered restitution and a conviction-free waiting period.
Automatic Clean Slate Sealing
Under the automatic track, the Pennsylvania State Police are supposed to seal eligible records without you filing anything.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18-9122.2 – Clean Slate Limited Access The waiting periods:
- Second- and third-degree misdemeanors (M2 and M3): seven years with no new conviction for any offense punishable by a year or more in prison.
- Summary offense convictions: five years after the judgment of conviction.
- Non-conviction dispositions (dismissed or withdrawn charges): sealed automatically with no waiting period.
- Qualifying drug felonies added by Act 36 of 2023: ten years conviction-free.
In practice, automatic sealing does not always happen on schedule. The system depends on clean data flowing between courts, the State Police, and other agencies. If your record should have been sealed but was not, filing a petition is the fallback.
Petition-Based Sealing
For qualifying misdemeanors and ungraded offenses with a maximum sentence of five years or less, you can petition the Court of Common Pleas for an Order for Limited Access after seven years free from any conviction for an offense punishable by a year or more in prison. Full payment of court-ordered restitution is required.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18-9122.1 – Petition for Limited Access
Misdemeanors That Cannot Be Sealed
Several categories of first-degree misdemeanor convictions are barred from both automatic and petition-based sealing:
- Offenses involving danger to the person (Chapters 25 through 33 of Title 18): assault, reckless endangerment, stalking, and similar charges. Terroristic threats is the one exception and can be sealed.
- Offenses against the family (Chapters 43 through 43.05), including child custody interference and endangering the welfare of children.
- Firearms offenses under Chapter 61, such as carrying without a license or prohibited possession.
- Sexual offenses requiring registration under Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry statutes.
- Corruption of minors and cruelty to animals.
If your conviction falls into one of these excluded categories, neither sealing nor a standard expungement petition will work. The remaining options are a gubernatorial pardon or waiting until you qualify under the age-70 provision.
Filing the Petition Step by Step
Pull Your Criminal History Record
Start by requesting your official criminal history from the Pennsylvania State Police through the Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History (PATCH) system at epatch.pa.gov.5Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History. Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History – Home Mail requests are also accepted.6Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Request a Criminal History Background Check The record you receive contains the docket numbers, Offense Tracking Numbers, arrest dates, and charge details you will copy onto the petition. PATCH only searches Pennsylvania records, not federal databases.
Prepare the Petition
Download the correct petition form from the website of the Clerk of Courts in the county where your charges were filed. Expungement and Limited Access use different forms. The petition requires your docket number, Offense Tracking Number, arrest date, and the exact charges as they appear on the original charging document.7Legal Information Institute. 234 Pa Code r 790 – Procedure for Obtaining Expungement in Court Cases Every entry needs to match the official record. A mismatched docket number or a misspelled charge is where these petitions get delayed or rejected.
File and Serve
File the completed petition with the Clerk of Courts in the county where the charges were handled and pay the filing fee. At the same time, serve a copy on the District Attorney’s office in that county. The rules require concurrent filing and service; you do not wait for the court to accept the petition before notifying the DA. Check local rules for acceptable service methods, which typically include hand delivery and certified mail.
What It Costs
Filing fees for expungement and sealing petitions vary by county but generally fall between $150 and $200 per petition. Some counties add an automation or miscellaneous fee for cases not previously filed in the Court of Common Pleas. You will also pay the PATCH fee for your criminal history check.
If you cannot afford the fees, you can apply for a waiver under Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration 1990. The waiver application should be filed at the same docket as the records you are trying to clear. Free help with expungement petitions is available through Legal Aid organizations in many counties.
Attorney fees range widely. A straightforward single-count expungement after ARD often falls at the lower end of a few hundred dollars, while cases with multiple dockets across different counties cost more, sometimes into the thousands.
After You File
Once the petition is served, the District Attorney has 60 days to consent, object, or take no action on an expungement petition.8Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Rule 790 – Procedure for Obtaining Expungement in Court Cases For a petition seeking an Order for Limited Access, the DA’s window is 30 days.1Legal Information Institute. 234 Pa Code r 791 – Procedure for Obtaining Order for Limited Access in Court Cases
If the DA consents or takes no action, the judge can grant the petition on paperwork alone. If the DA objects, the court schedules a hearing. In most ARD completions and clean non-conviction cases, prosecutors do not object and no hearing is needed.
One detail worth knowing: unless the DA consented, a granted expungement order is automatically stayed for 30 days to allow an appeal. If the DA files a timely appeal, the stay continues until it is resolved.
How Long the Whole Process Takes
From filing to a cleared record, plan on three to six months. The DA’s review window alone can consume up to 60 days. After the judge signs the order, the Clerk of Courts distributes it to the State Police, the arresting agency, and other relevant bodies, and those agencies each need time to process the removal. The State Police then requests deletion from the FBI’s federal database. Some agencies move faster than others, so verify the result rather than assume it happened.
Confirming Your Record Is Clear
After enough time has passed, run a fresh PATCH check on yourself to confirm the record no longer appears at the state level. If it still shows up, contact the Clerk of Courts to confirm the order was distributed. State records and the FBI’s national database do not always stay in sync; the FBI cannot delete a record without a formal request from the Pennsylvania State Police.9Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. FBI Criminal History Records What Every Legal Aid Lawyer Needs to Know If the state record is clean but a federal background check still shows the charge, you can challenge the FBI record directly.
Private background check companies are another trouble spot. They pull data from court databases and public records and do not automatically update when a record is expunged or sealed. Under federal law they must use reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy. If a report shows an expunged or sealed charge, you can dispute it with the screening company and, if needed, file a complaint under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
What Expungement and Sealing Don’t Erase
A Pennsylvania order is powerful for state-level purposes but has real limits when the federal government is involved.
Immigration
Federal immigration law does not recognize state expungements. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Immigration and Customs Enforcement retain access to the underlying records. If the misdemeanor involved drugs, fraud, or conduct classifiable as a crime involving moral turpitude, the conviction can still support deportation or a finding of inadmissibility. Consult an immigration attorney before assuming state relief resolves an immigration issue.
Firearms
Federal firearms law treats most Pennsylvania misdemeanors favorably even before expungement. Misdemeanors punishable by two years or less in prison are not disqualifying under federal law, which covers the vast majority of Pennsylvania misdemeanor convictions. For a misdemeanor that does trigger a federal firearms disability, an expungement removes that disability unless the expungement order expressly states the person may not possess firearms.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions Domestic violence misdemeanors have their own federal rules and are treated more strictly regardless of state expungement.
Future ARD Eligibility
Even after expungement, prosecutors and the central repository keep a limited list of names and case information for one purpose: determining future eligibility for diversion programs like ARD.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18-9122 – Expungement If you are charged again and apply for ARD, the prior participation will be visible to the prosecutor and the court even though the public record was destroyed.