Cleaning up your Criminal Record …

Does your criminal record need to be cleaned up? It is important to understand the impact that your criminal record and associated criminal history may have on employment, volunteer opportunities, coaching youth organized sports, field trips, and other endeavors.  Whether the person looking into your criminal record has access to your criminal history information depends upon the manner in which you were charged, whether you were arrested, the type of case you were charged with – misdemeanor or felony, how long ago you resolved your case and how old you were at the time.  These factors will play a role in whether your history is visible to the inquiring party.  There are seven different levels of access to a criminal record – whether a person looking for your criminal history would have access would be determined in part by the factors listed above.  The important question is how to limit this access even further.  This brings me to the advice I would give anyone with a criminal record whether juvenile or adult – look into the ability to seal or expunge your criminal record.  If you seal your criminal record, then the ability to access that information is limited to law enforcement and the like.  If you fall into the limited number of cases in which expungement is an option – you may be able to remove the case from your record as if it never happened.

Although the need for access to a person’s criminal history may be necessary, that does not mean that your particular case needs to fall within this category.  There are two different ways to petition a court to seal or expunge your criminal record.  The first option is based upon the lapse of time and the second is a direct petition to the judge regardless of the time since the case was resolved.  The ability to seal based upon meeting the minimum time requirements is an easier hurdle than petitioning the court to seal your criminal record before the expiration of those minimum time standards.  An experienced Attorney would be able to review your particular situation and recommend the appropriate course of action – or whether it is in your best interests to wait a year or two.  If your case is successfully sealed – Massachusetts law requires that any record check returned indicate “no record” instead of indicating the existence of a sealed charge/conviction.

As you might expect, the ability to expunge a criminal record requires the highest showing of need – that either you meet the minimum standards set by the Board of Probation and fall into the category of individuals contemplated when implementing this legislation (predominantly individuals 23 or younger) or you can show the court that some sort of major mistake was made with respect to your case.  The process of obtaining an expungement is relatively new as it only came into effect at the end of 2018.  However, if you do meet the standards as set forth by the legislature… this option may be your best option and can accomplish your ultimate goal of cleaning up your criminal record.

Please contact Newburyport based Criminal Defense Attorney Kristen Bonavita for a free consultation.  Attorney Bonavita will be able to review your criminal record and suggest the best manner of resolving your associated concerns with respect to the existence of your individual criminal history.  Please contact Attorney Bonavita at (978) 376-6747.