Full Oklahoma Expungement and Pardon

An Oklahoma expungement gives you a new lease on life. Many people convicted of crimes in Oklahoma presume that once they have served their time and fulfilled the terms of their probation they can move on with their lives.  The reality is that a criminal record can follow a person far into the future.  It can impact employment opportunities, housing, admission into college and even access to financial loans.  Because criminal background checks are now a common part of the hiring and property rental process, it is important to understand how to mitigate the impact of a prior criminal arrest and/or convictions including DUI convictions

Two Types of Oklahoma Expungement

for reducing the impact of a prior criminal arrest and/or conviction: (1) expungements and (2) pardons.  An expungement will make the criminal record unavailable to the public and employers.  A pardon represents forgiveness of the offense but does not eliminate your criminal record.  While there are multiple forms of expungement under Oklahoma law, we focus here on “full expungements in Oklahoma”.  These are the most extensive form of sealing your criminal records.

When attempting to seal a criminal record, multiple records may be an issue if you have previous arrests.  These records include those from the arresting agency, court records, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) and Department of Corrections.  The type of records that are most often sought when an employer hires a third party to conduct a criminal background check is an OSBI criminal record search.

Full Oklahoma Expungement [22 Oklahoma Stat. §18/19]:

This is the most extensive form of record expungement so it also is usually the best option if you qualify.  This form of expungement will eliminate arrest records and OSBI records.  The criminal records remain available to law enforcement in certain situations.  But most employers and the public cannot view them.  If this form of expungement is granted, the offense is deemed not to have occurred so that you can truthfully tell employers that you have never been arrested or convicted of the expunged offense.

The Requirements to Receive an Expungement

1. The applicant’s acquittal following trial.
2. A reversal of the applicant’s conviction with directions to the trial court to dismiss or prosecutor election to dismiss the charges.
3. The applicant was under 18 at the time of the offense and receives a full pardon.
4. DNA evidence following a conviction establishes factual innocence.
5. The person seeking relief has never had conviction on a misdemeanor or felony and has no pending charges.  However, this form of relief requires that the statute of limitations has expired or that the prosecutor has indicated that no charges will be filed.  Eligibility under this provision may not be based on charges dismissed following a delayed sentence or deferred judgment.
6. A full governor pardon occurs based on factual innocence.
7. The applicant had a misdemeanor charge dismissed following deferred judgment or delayed sentence, and the applicant has no prior convictions or pending charges.  There is a two-year waiting period for expungement following dismissal of charges under this provision.
8. The same as the misdemeanor provision immediately above this, but it applies to certain non-violent felonies.  The waiting period is ten years in this situation.
9. Misdemeanor convictions may expunge if there are no other convictions or pending charges after a ten-year waiting period.
10. A non-violent felony conviction can expunge after ten years if a full pardon, and the applicant has no other convictions or pending charges.
11. The prosecutor elects not to file formal charges and statute of limitations has expired.
12. An arrest was due to identity theft.

Experienced Tulsa Expungement Attorneys

Kania Law Office’s expungement and pardon attorneys commit to assisting those who have had arrests and/or convictions.  We want to minimize the long-term impact of their criminal history.  If you would like a free consultation, contact Kania Law Office at 918-743-2233.

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