What Felonies Cannot Be Expunged in California?

In California, the felonies you cannot expunge fall into two groups. A short list of sex and child exploitation offenses is permanently barred from dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4, no matter how much time has passed or how clean your record has stayed. A much longer list of serious and violent felonies is shut out of the newer automatic record-sealing process under Penal Code 1203.425, but many of those convictions can still be dismissed through a traditional expungement petition. Which rule applies to you depends on the offense and the pathway.

The Permanently Barred List

Penal Code 1203.4(b) contains a hard exclusion list. No waiting period, no judicial discretion, and no amount of rehabilitation will make these convictions eligible for the standard dismissal process. The barred offenses are:

Lewd acts with a child under Penal Code 288.
Continuous sexual abuse of a child under Penal Code 288.5.
Sodomy with a minor under Penal Code 286(c), where force, fear, or duress was used or the victim was under 14.
Oral copulation with a minor under Penal Code 287(c), under the same force or age circumstances.
Forcible sexual penetration under Penal Code 289(j).
Child exploitation material offenses under Penal Code 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, and 311.11, covering production, distribution, and possession.
Felony unlawful sex with a minor under Penal Code 261.5(d), where a person 21 or older had intercourse with a minor under 16.¹

These exclusions apply regardless of whether the sentence was probation or prison.² Automatic sealing is unavailable too, because that statute separately excludes anyone required to register as a sex offender.³

Two Pathways, Two Different Exclusion Lists

Before writing off a felony as unexpungeable, identify which pathway you are asking about. California has two.

The older one is a petition for dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4. You file in the court where you were convicted, and if the judge grants it, you can withdraw your plea (or have the verdict set aside) and the case is dismissed.²

The newer one is automatic sealing under Penal Code 1203.425. The Department of Justice reviews its databases monthly and grants relief without a petition. For felonies, automatic sealing becomes available four years after completion of all incarceration, probation, supervision, and parole, provided the person has not picked up a new felony conviction during that window.³

The exclusion lists overlap but do not match. A felony blocked from one path may still be eligible for the other.

Serious and Violent Felonies: Blocked From Automatic Sealing

Automatic sealing casts a wider exclusion net than petition-based expungement. The Department of Justice will not grant automatic relief for any conviction classified as a serious felony under Penal Code 1192.7(c) or a violent felony under Penal Code 667.5.³ Those categories cover murder, voluntary manslaughter, robbery, arson of an inhabited structure, kidnapping, carjacking, and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, among many others.

This is where the pathway distinction decides your answer. Robbery, for example, is not on the Penal Code 1203.4(b) list. Someone sentenced to probation for robbery who completed it successfully can still petition a court for dismissal, even though automatic sealing will never arrive on its own. Automatic sealing is more convenient but covers fewer felonies. The petition requires work and a judge’s approval but reaches more offenses.

Conditions That Block You Temporarily

Some disqualifications look permanent but are not. They lift once your situation changes.

You cannot get a felony expunged while you are serving a sentence for any offense, on probation for a different offense, or facing pending criminal charges.² Once those matters resolve and you are off all supervision, you can petition for the older conviction.

Automatic sealing follows the same logic. Anyone with an active record in the Supervised Release File, currently serving a sentence, or facing pending charges stays ineligible until those conditions clear.³

Incomplete probation is another common block. A standard expungement generally requires that you completed all probation conditions, including classes, counseling, community service, and other court-ordered requirements. A revoked probation that was never reinstated usually disqualifies the conviction. Even so, a judge has discretion to grant expungement after a probation violation if it serves the interest of justice. Unpaid restitution or an outstanding restitution fine cannot be the sole basis for denial, though judges still weigh restitution as one factor.²

When Neither Pathway Works: Certificate of Rehabilitation

For felonies that cannot be expunged or sealed, a Certificate of Rehabilitation may be the next option. The certificate is a court order declaring you rehabilitated, and it functions as an automatic application for a governor’s pardon.

The requirements are steeper than for expungement. You must have lived in California continuously for at least five years before applying. The total waiting period runs at least seven years after release from custody, probation, or parole, made up of the five-year residency plus an additional two to five years depending on the conviction.⁴ You must also be off parole, post-release community supervision, or mandatory supervision.

Even this route has hard limits. People on mandatory life parole, those with a death sentence, and those convicted of certain sex crimes involving minors, including lewd acts with a child under Penal Code 288 and sodomy with a minor under Penal Code 286(c), cannot receive a Certificate of Rehabilitation at all.⁴ For those offenses, a direct petition to the governor for a pardon is the only remaining avenue.

1
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 261.5
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation
3
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.425
4
California Courts. Certificate of Rehabilitation