Illinois Criminal Record Expungement: Eligibility and Filing

Illinois criminal record expungement permanently destroys qualifying records under the Criminal Identification Act (20 ILCS 2630/5.2), and it is available primarily for arrests that never led to a conviction, for acquittals and dismissals, and for successfully completed supervision or qualified probation. If you were convicted of the offense, expungement usually is not available to you; the related process of sealing is. Sorting out which one applies to your record is the first real step, because filing the wrong petition is a common way to get denied.

Expungement Versus Sealing

Expungement destroys the records or returns them to you, and your name comes off official indexes and public databases. Standard employer background checks won’t reveal expunged records. Sealing hides records from the public but leaves them intact. Law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Illinois Department of Corrections can still see sealed records, and certain employers who run fingerprint-based checks (schools, healthcare organizations, park districts, law enforcement agencies) can see them too.

After either expungement or sealing, you are not required to disclose those records on job applications or licensing forms. Illinois law requires application forms to say so, and it bars employers from asking whether you’ve had records expunged or sealed.¹

One point trips people up. Under the statute, successfully completed supervision is not a conviction, so it qualifies for expungement rather than only sealing.² Successfully completed qualified probation for certain drug offenses is treated the same way. That matters because expungement is the stronger remedy.

Who Qualifies

Eligibility turns almost entirely on how your case ended. These dispositions qualify:

You were arrested but never charged.
A judge or jury acquitted you.
The prosecution dismissed the case or entered a nolle prosequi.
A court vacated or reversed your conviction on appeal or in post-conviction proceedings.
You successfully completed a court-ordered supervision sentence for most criminal offenses, including municipal ordinance violations.²
You successfully completed qualified probation under Section 10 of the Cannabis Control Act, Section 410 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act, the Substance Use Disorder Act, or the Steroid Control Act.²

If your supervision or qualified probation ended unsatisfactorily, meaning the court revoked it or you violated the terms, it counts as a conviction. Sealing would be the path in that case, not expungement.

Petitioners seeking to expunge a felony record based on qualified probation face an extra requirement. You must attach proof of a drug test taken within 30 days before filing, showing the absence of all illegal substances defined under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act and the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act.² Schedule the test before you finalize your paperwork.

How Long You Have to Wait

The waiting period depends on how your case ended, and miscounting is one of the easiest ways to get denied.

No waiting period for acquittals, dismissals, release without charging, and vacated or reversed convictions. File as soon as the case concludes.²
Two years for most supervision dispositions. The clock starts when you satisfactorily complete supervision, not the sentencing date.²
Five years for supervision on driving without insurance, displaying a false insurance card, domestic battery, or cyberstalking.²
Five years from satisfactory termination of qualified probation for drug-related dispositions.²

The five-year supervision category is the one people miss. Supervision for domestic battery or an insurance-related traffic offense carries more than double the wait of a typical misdemeanor supervision. Check your disposition before counting days.

Records That Cannot Be Expunged

Most criminal convictions cannot be expunged. They fall under sealing, with its own eligibility rules. And some records cannot be expunged or sealed at all without a governor’s pardon:

Driving under the influence convictions
Domestic battery
Criminal sexual assault and sex offenses
Violations of civil no-contact orders, stalking no-contact orders, and orders of protection
Reckless driving convictions (unless you were under 25 at sentencing)

For convictions that qualify for sealing but not expungement, the waiting period is three years from the end of your last sentence for any criminal offense in any jurisdiction. If you were convicted of something else after the offense you want sealed, the three-year clock starts when that later sentence ends.

If your record sits in one of the permanently excluded categories, the only route to expungement is a full pardon from the Governor of Illinois. Clemency petitions go through the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, which conducts hearings and forwards a recommendation to the Governor about 60 days after the hearing.³ The Governor has no deadline to act and no obligation to grant relief. A denied petition can be refiled after one year, sooner only with compelling new information.

Pulling Your Record First

Before you fill out any forms, get an accurate picture of what’s on your record. Guessing at case numbers or arrest dates is where most petitions go wrong.

Your primary document is a criminal history transcript from the Illinois State Police. To get one, go through the Access and Review process: visit any Illinois law enforcement facility, correctional institution, or licensed LiveScan fingerprint vendor during business hours. They take your fingerprints and forward them to the ISP, which mails your transcript (or a statement that no record exists) to the address you provide.⁴ The ISP doesn’t charge for the transcript itself, though the vendor may charge a fingerprinting fee.

If any arrests happened in Chicago, you may also need a Chicago Record of Arrests and Prosecutions sheet from Chicago Police Headquarters, which requires a separate set of fingerprints. For arrests outside Chicago, the ISP transcript should cover it.

From the transcript, pull the exact arrest dates, arresting agency names, court case numbers, and dispositions. Every one of these details goes on the petition, and any mismatch with the official record can slow things down or get the filing rejected.

Preparing and Filing the Petition

Illinois uses standardized statewide forms approved by the Supreme Court of Illinois. Three primary documents make up the filing:

Request to Expunge and Impound, the main petition identifying you and listing every record you want expunged.
Notice of Filing, sent to every agency that needs to know about the request.
Order to Expunge and Impound, a proposed order for the judge to sign.

Download the forms from the Illinois Courts website⁵ or pick them up at the Circuit Clerk’s office in the county where the arrest occurred. Arrests in multiple counties require separate petitions in each county; you cannot bundle them.

On the petition, enter your full legal name, current mailing address, and date of birth. For each record, list the case number and the statute citation for the charge. The Notice of Filing must include names and addresses for the arresting agency, the State’s Attorney’s office, and the Illinois State Police. You sign a certification under penalty of perjury that everything is accurate.

Filing Fees

File with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the arrest happened. Most Illinois counties use the statewide electronic filing system, eFileIL, which accepts submissions through certified Electronic Filing Service Providers, some of them free.⁶

Fees vary by county. In Cook County the fee is $152.04.⁷ If you can’t afford it, file an Application for Waiver of Court Fees with the petition. The court reviews your income and decides. Once the clerk accepts the filing, you’ll get a hearing date.

Objections, Hearing, and Timing

After filing, serve formal notice on three parties: the State’s Attorney in that county, the Illinois State Police, and the arresting agency. Each has 60 days from receipt to file a written objection.²

If nobody objects, the judge can grant the petition without your appearance. That’s the best-case outcome and it’s common on straightforward non-conviction records. If an agency does object, most often the State’s Attorney’s office, the court sets a contested hearing. The objection might argue that the waiting period hasn’t actually elapsed, that the disposition doesn’t qualify, or that keeping the record accessible is warranted on the facts.

Once the judge signs the order, it goes to the Illinois State Police and the arresting agency, which are required to destroy the records or return them to you and remove them from public databases. The full process from filing to record destruction typically takes four to six months. Contested petitions can run longer.

What Expungement Does and Doesn’t Get You

After records are expunged, private and public employers, licensing agencies, and certification boards cannot use those records against you in employment or licensing decisions. Application forms must tell you that you don’t need to disclose expunged or sealed records, and employers cannot ask whether you’ve had records expunged or sealed.¹

There are limits. Law enforcement agencies, the Department of Corrections, State’s Attorneys, and other prosecutors can still access expunged records. Positions requiring fingerprint-based background checks at schools, park districts, healthcare organizations, and law enforcement agencies may still surface expunged or sealed records during screening. And expungement doesn’t entitle you to a refund of fines, court costs, or other money paid in the original case.¹

If Your Petition Is Denied

A denial isn’t the end. You have two options and short deadlines on both.

First is a motion for reconsideration in the same circuit court. File within 60 days of the denial order. Serve a copy of the motion and a notice of motion on every party that was notified of the original petition (the State’s Attorney, arresting agencies, and the Illinois State Police). Another filing fee applies unless you have a fee waiver.²

Second is a direct appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court. The deadline is tighter, 30 days from entry of the denial order. If you filed a motion for reconsideration and it too was denied, the 30 days run from the denial of that motion. Appeals involve a filing fee at the appellate court and a fee for the circuit clerk to prepare the record on appeal; fee waivers are available for both.⁸

Common reasons for denial are filing before the waiting period ends, asking for expungement of a record that only qualifies for sealing, or paperwork errors that leave the court unable to verify the disposition. A technical deficiency is usually fixed faster and cheaper through reconsideration. If the judge misapplied the law and the statute actually allows the relief, appeal is the appropriate route.

A Warning If You Are Not a U.S. Citizen

Illinois expungement has no effect on how federal immigration authorities view your record. The Board of Immigration Appeals has consistently held that state court actions to expunge, dismiss, or vacate convictions under rehabilitative statutes do not remove the underlying conviction for immigration purposes.⁹

USCIS officers can require evidence of a conviction even after expungement, and the agency may petition a court to obtain sealed records. This applies to any offense that qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude or a controlled substance violation under federal immigration law. Talk to an immigration attorney before assuming an Illinois expungement resolves a naturalization, visa, or adjustment-of-status question. Deportation and denial of citizenship are severe, and often irreversible.

Verifying the Record Was Cleared

Once the court has issued the order and agencies have had time to process it, confirm the records actually came off. Use the same Access and Review process you used at the start: visit a law enforcement facility or licensed fingerprint vendor, submit your fingerprints, and request an updated criminal history transcript from the Illinois State Police.⁴ If expunged entries still appear, file a Record Challenge with the ISP. Third-party background check companies sometimes hold onto outdated data, so a commercial background check on yourself is worth running to catch any stragglers.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 20 ILCS 2630/12 – Entry of Order; Effect of Expungement or Sealing Records
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 20 ILCS 2630/5.2 – Expungement, Sealing, and Immediate Sealing
3
Illinois Prisoner Review Board. Executive Clemency and Expungement
4
Illinois State Police. Viewing My Record
5
Office of the Illinois Courts. Approved Statewide Forms – Expungement and Sealing
6
Illinois Courts E-Filing. Electronic Filing Service Providers
7
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. A Guide to Expungements
8
Illinois workNet. Instruction Booklet for Expunging and Sealing Court Forms
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual Volume 12, Part F, Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors