How to Get Your Record Expunged in California

To get your record expunged in California, you petition the court under Penal Code 1203.4 to withdraw your guilty or no-contest plea, enter a not-guilty plea, and dismiss the case. The conviction stays on your record but shows as dismissed, which removes most employment and housing barriers. Before you file anything, check whether the state has already cleared it for you.

Check Whether the State Already Cleared It

Under California’s Clean Slate Act (SB 731, signed in 2022), the Department of Justice automatically identifies eligible convictions and grants relief without any paperwork from you. The automatic process covers most misdemeanor and felony convictions, with exceptions for violent felonies, sex offenses, and crimes requiring sex offender registration. Eligible records are sealed after a waiting period following completion of your sentence, probation, or parole, provided you pick up no new convictions during that time.

Request your own criminal record from the California Department of Justice to see whether automatic relief has already been applied.¹ If your record still shows an active conviction, you need to file a petition yourself.

Who Can Petition

Eligibility turns on how your case was sentenced and how probation went. In every scenario below, you must not be currently serving a sentence, on probation or parole, or facing new charges when you file.²

Probation Completed Successfully

If you finished all your probation conditions for the full term, or the court granted early termination, dismissal is mandatory. The California Courts self-help guide states that in that situation, “the court must grant your petition to dismiss.”³ You file; the judge signs.

Probation Violated

You can still petition, but relief is discretionary. The court decides whether dismissal is “in the interest of justice.” Attach proof of rehabilitation: steady employment, treatment program completion, community involvement, letters of support. Someone whose probation was revoked and never reinstated is not eligible.⁴

No Probation Was Imposed

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor or infraction and never placed on probation, you can petition one year after the date of conviction.⁵

State Prison Time

A 2023 change opened dismissal to people who served time in state prison. You can petition two years after completing the prison sentence, provided the conviction does not require sex offender registration. Relief is discretionary.³ A separate two-year path exists under Penal Code 1203.42 for people sentenced to state prison before the 2011 realignment who would now receive a county jail sentence.⁶

Convictions That Don’t Qualify

Sex offenses against minors under Penal Code sections 269, 286(c), 288, and 288a(c) are excluded, as is any conviction requiring sex offender registration if you served state prison time.³ Certain Vehicle Code violations listed in Vehicle Code 12810 are not automatically eligible but can still be granted at the court’s discretion.² If you fall into an excluded category, skip to the alternatives below.

Ask to Reduce a Wobbler Felony to a Misdemeanor

If your felony is a “wobbler” (an offense that could have been charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor), ask the court to reduce it to a misdemeanor under Penal Code 17(b) at the same time you petition for dismissal. A misdemeanor on your record, even a dismissed one, carries far fewer long-term consequences than a felony. Courts and public defender offices routinely combine the reduction with the dismissal petition in a single filing, and you can indicate the request on the same form.³

Gather Your Case Information

Pull the case number, date of conviction, court where the case was heard, and the sentence details including probation terms, fines, and restitution. If you don’t have these, request your own criminal record (sometimes called a “RAP sheet”) from the California Department of Justice, or get minute orders and other court records from the court clerk’s office.¹

Fill Out the Court Forms

Two Judicial Council forms do the work:

Form CR-180, Petition for Dismissal, is the form requesting dismissal. You can also use it to request a felony reduction under Penal Code 17(b).⁷
Form CR-181, Order for Dismissal, is the proposed order for the judge to sign.⁸

Both are available on the California Courts website. Complete every field. Incomplete or inaccurate petitions are a common source of delays.

File With the Right Court

File the petition with the Superior Court in the county where the original conviction occurred. You can file in person at the clerk’s office, by mail, or through e-filing where available.

Filing Fees

Fees vary by county. Many counties charge nothing. Others charge between $30 and $150, sometimes at different rates for misdemeanors and felonies. If you can’t pay, file a Request to Waive Court Fees (Form FW-001). You qualify for a waiver if you receive certain public benefits such as Medi-Cal or CalWORKS, your household income is below a set threshold, or you cannot cover basic needs and court costs at the same time.⁹

Serve the Prosecutor

Serve a copy on the prosecuting attorney (the district attorney or city attorney who handled the case) at least 15 days before the court can grant relief, and file proof of service. Once proof of service is on file, the law presumes the prosecutor received notice.² If the prosecutor doesn’t appear and object, they lose the ability to later challenge or appeal the court’s decision.

What to Expect After Filing

A straightforward case takes roughly two to four months. The court reviews your petition and supporting documents, and the prosecutor has a chance to oppose. Oppositions are more common where probation was violated or the prosecutor argues dismissal would not serve the interests of justice.

Depending on the court and whether an opposition is filed, the judge may schedule a hearing. At a hearing, you or your attorney can present rehabilitation evidence and argue for dismissal. For mandatory-relief cases, hearings are less common because the court has no discretion to deny.

You will be notified of the decision by mail. If granted, the judge signs Form CR-181 and the court updates its records to show the conviction as dismissed. The Department of Justice typically takes several additional weeks to update state records. Complex cases involving unpaid fines, multiple counties, or contested hearings can stretch to six months or longer.

What a Dismissal Does for You

The biggest benefit is employment. California law bars employers from asking about or considering convictions that have been dismissed, in both the public and private sectors, for hiring, promotion, and termination decisions. An employer who intentionally violates this rule is liable for the greater of $500 or three times your actual damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs, and commits a misdemeanor.¹⁰

On most private-sector job applications asking whether you have been convicted of a crime, you can answer “no.” Dismissal also helps with housing applications and professional licensing.

What a Dismissal Does Not Do

This is where people get caught out. A 1203.4 dismissal has real limits.

You Still Have to Disclose to Some Government Agencies

You must still disclose the dismissed conviction when applying for public office, contracting with the California State Lottery Commission, or responding to direct questions on applications for any state or local government license. The dismissal order is required to include this warning.²

Firearm Rights Don’t Come Back

A dismissal does not restore firearm rights. If your conviction triggered a state firearms ban, the ban remains in place after dismissal. The statute is explicit, and the same holds for dismissals under Penal Code 1203.42.⁶ Federal firearms prohibitions also survive a state-level dismissal.

Future Criminal Cases Can Still Use It

If you’re charged with a new offense, prosecutors can use the dismissed conviction for sentence enhancements exactly as if it had never been dismissed.⁴

Immigration Doesn’t Recognize It

Federal immigration authorities do not recognize California dismissals. Under federal law, a conviction exists for immigration purposes once you entered a guilty plea and received some form of punishment, and a later state dismissal does not undo that. An expunged conviction can still make you inadmissible or deportable, and you must disclose it on every immigration application. Failing to disclose creates a separate finding of misrepresentation, which carries its own permanent bar to immigration benefits. If immigration status is a concern, consult an immigration attorney before relying on a California dismissal.

The Arrest Record Stays

A 1203.4 dismissal does not seal or erase your arrest record. The arrest remains visible unless you take the separate step of petitioning to seal it under a different code section with its own eligibility rules.⁴

If Standard Dismissal Isn’t Available

Two other paths exist for convictions that don’t qualify under Penal Code 1203.4.

Certificate of Rehabilitation

A Certificate of Rehabilitation is a court order declaring that you have been rehabilitated. It is available for most felony convictions, including some that don’t qualify for standard dismissal. You must have lived in California continuously for at least five years, and the total waiting period is at least seven years after release from custody, probation, or parole; the additional two to five years beyond the five-year residency depends on the severity of the conviction.¹¹

A Certificate of Rehabilitation automatically functions as an application for a Governor’s pardon. It is not available if you are currently in the military, live outside California, are on mandatory life parole, have a death sentence, or were convicted of certain sex crimes against minors.¹¹

Governor’s Pardon

You can apply directly to the Governor by submitting a Pardon Application and a Notice of Intent to Apply for Clemency to the district attorney in the county of conviction. The Governor can only pardon California state convictions, not federal or out-of-state ones, and cannot pardon someone with more than one felony conviction without California Supreme Court approval.¹²

There is no set timeline for review and no obligation to consider any application. The Governor’s office weighs the impact on victims, the circumstances of the offense, your age at the time, your rehabilitation since, and your specific need for a pardon. Unlike a standard dismissal, a pardon can restore firearm rights in some cases.¹²

1
California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Criminal Records – Request Your Own
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.4
3
California Courts. Record Cleaning – Felony Convictions and Proposition 47
4
Sacramento Superior Court. Petition Information and Instruction Packet for Penal Code 1203.4
5
California Courts. Record Cleaning – Misdemeanors
6
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.42
7
California Courts. Petition for Dismissal
8
California Courts. Order for Dismissal (CR-181)
9
California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees (FW-001)
10
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 432.7
11
California Courts. Certificate of Rehabilitation
12
Governor of California. Pardons