Motion to Vacate Conviction in Washington State: Eligibility and Filing

A motion to vacate a conviction in Washington State asks the sentencing court to withdraw its finding of guilt and dismiss the charge, so you can legally say you were never convicted of that crime. Once granted, the conviction drops off most background checks and cannot be used against you for employment, housing, or licensing. Whether you qualify depends on the offense, how much time has passed, and whether you have finished your sentence.

Who Qualifies to File

Eligibility runs on three tracks: misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors, felonies, and a separate path for people whose offenses grew out of being a victim of trafficking, sexual assault, or domestic violence.

Misdemeanors and Gross Misdemeanors

You can petition the sentencing court to vacate a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor if you have completed every term of your sentence, you have no criminal charges pending in any state, federal, or tribal court, and the offense is not on the excluded list.¹

The waiting period is three years from your release from Department of Corrections supervision or probation. A 2024 change in state law (SSB 5998) removed the old rule that the clock could not start until legal financial obligations were paid off. The three years now runs from release even if you are still paying down fines or court costs, though the court will still require those obligations to be satisfied before granting the vacation. Waiting and paying can overlap.²

Domestic violence misdemeanors carry a five-year waiting period instead of three, and you must give written notice of your petition to the prosecuting attorney’s office that handled the case. The court will deny the petition if you have two or more domestic violence convictions from separate incidents, if you are currently subject to a domestic violence protection or no-contact order, or if you were found to have violated such an order within the five years before you apply.¹

Felonies

Felony vacation has an extra step. Before you can ask the court to vacate, you must have a Certificate of Discharge under RCW 9.94A.637.³ The court is supposed to issue the certificate automatically when you finish all sentencing conditions while still under DOC supervision, but that often does not happen. If no certificate is in your file, you file a motion with the sentencing court asking for one, and the court will issue it after verifying you completed all conditions, including financial obligations.⁴

Once discharged, the waiting period depends on the class of felony:

Class B felony: ten years must have passed since the latest of your release from community custody, your release from confinement, or your sentencing date, with no new conviction in any court during those ten years.
Class C felony: five years must have passed since the latest of those same three dates, with no new conviction in any court during those five years.

Class A felonies cannot be vacated. The statute creates vacation paths only for Class B and Class C, so Class A is excluded from the process entirely.³

Victims of Trafficking, Sexual Assault, and Domestic Violence

Washington has a separate route for people who committed a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor as a direct result of being a victim of sex trafficking, prostitution, commercial sexual abuse of a minor, sexual assault, or domestic violence. Either you or the county prosecutor can file. You submit a sworn affidavit explaining how the offense was connected to your victimization, and the court must find that connection. You can have no pending charges other than prostitution, and for a misdemeanor you must have gone three years without a conviction before applying. Restitution to any victim must be paid in full, though the crime victim penalty assessment is waived for prostitution-related convictions.⁵ A parallel provision exists for Class B and C felonies committed as a result of victimization, handled under RCW 9.94A.648.³

Cannabis Convictions

Since Washington legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, there is a dedicated process for vacating pre-legalization marijuana misdemeanor convictions, with a specific “Petition and Declaration for Order to Vacate Cannabis Conviction” (form CrRLJ 09.0800). The cannabis forms sit on the same Washington Courts forms page as the standard vacation forms.⁶

Convictions That Cannot Be Vacated

Some offenses are permanently ineligible no matter how much time has passed.

DUI, actual physical control while intoxicated, and operating a railroad while intoxicated cannot be vacated as misdemeanors. Felony DUI is barred as well.¹³
Most violent felonies are barred. Three narrow exceptions exist: second-degree assault, third-degree assault where the victim was not a law enforcement officer, and second-degree robbery. Even those exceptions require that the conviction did not include a firearm, deadly weapon, or sexual motivation enhancement.³
Misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor violations of Washington’s obscenity, sexual exploitation of children, and sex offense chapters are off the table, with the sole exception of failure to register as a sex offender.¹
Class A felonies have no vacation path at all.

The Forms You Need

Washington publishes standardized forms free on the courts’ website. Which ones you use depends on the conviction.

For a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, file form CrRLJ 09.0100 (Petition and Declaration for Order Vacating Conviction), the proposed order on form CrRLJ 09.0200, and form CrRLJ 09.0150 (Notice of Hearing).⁶ For a felony, file form CR 08.0900 (Motion and Declaration for Order Vacating Record of Felony Conviction) with its proposed order, form CR 08.0920.⁷

You will need your court case number, date of conviction, and the exact name of the offense, all of which appear on your judgment and sentence. If you no longer have those documents, the clerk of the court where you were convicted can help you locate them.

Supporting documents to pull together:

A Washington Access to Criminal History (WATCH) report from the Washington State Patrol showing whether you picked up any new convictions during the waiting period. The fee is $11 per name search.⁸
Your Certificate of Discharge, if the conviction is a felony. Check with the clerk first; if one was never filed, you will need to obtain it before moving forward.⁹
Proof of sentence completion, including documentation of jail time served, community service, treatment programs, probation, and receipts or court records for fines and restitution.

Filing, Serving, and the Hearing

File your paperwork with the clerk of the court that originally convicted you. For misdemeanors that means the district or municipal court clerk; for felonies, the superior court clerk. After filing, serve a complete copy on the prosecuting attorney’s office that handled your case. Keep proof of service, whether a signed receipt, a declaration of service, or a certificate of mailing, and file that proof with the clerk.

You will also need to put the matter on the calendar. In many courts, that means filing the Notice of Hearing (CrRLJ 09.0150 for misdemeanors). Ask the clerk how hearings are scheduled locally and how much notice the prosecutor is entitled to.

Plan to appear. The judge reviews your petition, your supporting documents, and your criminal history to decide whether every statutory requirement is met. This is not a rubber stamp. Even if you technically qualify, the judge has discretion to grant or deny. The prosecutor may appear and object, often on grounds like an undisclosed conviction, unpaid financial obligations, or a disagreement about the waiting period. If the judge grants the motion, you receive a signed Order Vacating Conviction, and the clerk transmits it to the Washington State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies, which update your criminal history record. You do not have to contact those agencies yourself.¹

What Vacation Changes and What It Doesn’t

Once a conviction is vacated, you are released from all penalties and disabilities tied to the offense, and for most purposes, including employment applications, you may state that you were never convicted of that crime. The Washington State Patrol and local law enforcement can no longer disclose the conviction to the general public, though they may still share it with other criminal justice agencies.¹⁰

Two limits catch people off guard. A vacated conviction can still be used against you in a later criminal case: if you pick up a new charge, prosecutors may reference the vacated offense, and a conviction vacated on or after July 28, 2019, still counts as a prior for purposes of charging certain repeat offenses. Vacation also does not restore firearm rights. The statute says so expressly; if you lost gun rights because of your conviction, you need a separate court petition under RCW 9.41.040 to get them back.¹⁰

Private background check companies are a separate issue. State law stops Washington agencies from disclosing a vacated conviction, but the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act lets commercial screeners report convictions indefinitely, and federal courts have held that a conviction remains a conviction for FCRA purposes even after a state court vacates it. If a vacated conviction shows up on a commercial background report, you can dispute it in writing with the screening company and include a copy of your vacation order. The company has 30 days to investigate and correct inaccurate or incomplete information.

If the Judge Says No

A denial is not necessarily the end. If the problem is something you can fix, such as an outstanding financial obligation or a pending charge, you can refile once the issue is cleared. There is no statutory cap on how many times you may apply, though a court is unlikely to react well to repeated filings without changed circumstances. If you believe the judge misapplied the law, the denial may be appealable, and that is a good moment to bring in an attorney.

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.96.060 – Vacating Records of Conviction for Misdemeanor and Gross Misdemeanor Offenses
2
Washington Courts. 2024 Legislative Changes Impacting the Superior Courts, County Clerks, and Juvenile Departments
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.94A.640 – Vacation of Offenders Record of Conviction
4
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.94A.637 – Discharge Upon Completion of Sentence
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.96.080 – Victims of Certain Crimes Vacating Records
6
Washington Courts. Court Forms – Vacating/Sealing Records
7
Washington Courts. Motion and Declaration for Order Vacating Record of Felony Conviction
8
Washington State Patrol. Washington Access to Criminal History (WATCH) Brochure
9
Washington Courts. Obtaining a Certificate of Discharge
10
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.94A.640 – Vacation of Offenders Record of Conviction