Alabama Expungement

 

If you are charged with a crime in Alabama, you’ll not only have to deal with the stress of the police and the judicial system, possibly even going to trial, you might have to live with the consequences of your actions for the rest of your life on your criminal record.

 

Depending on the type and severity of the crime, this can make it difficult for you to find a place to live, get a job, and live a normal life – even well after you’ve paid your dues to society.

 

Fortunately, the state of Alabama has expungement laws that you can use to attempt to get a number of crimes removed, erased, struck out, obliterated, or even have the record itself destroyed. Essentially, expungement is the legal elimination of a person’s criminal records. This means that you can legally say that you were never arrested or convicted of a crime. As far as potential new employers or landlords will know, your crime simply won’t exist.

 

What kinds of records can be expunged in Alabama?

 

Alabama laws state that expungement is allowed for individuals who were charged and sentenced incorrectly in cases where a conviction was never reached. In layman’s terms, if you are charged or convicted of a crime but can find a way to prove that the information about the crime was wrong or incomplete, you might be able to erase or expunge the crime from your record.

 

In Alabama, only certain records are even eligible for expungement, including records in relation to:

 

• Child abuse investigations (the authority or agency that investigated the case is responsible for expunging your record)
• Cases with wrong or incomplete information toward criminal convictions
• DNA records

 

For example, if the police had you under investigation for abusing your spouse but did not have enough evidence to convict you, it is possible that Alabama law would allow you to expunge your criminal record. Expungement may also be allowed if you receive a criminal conviction that is then repealed, or if you complete pretrial or pre-prosecution diversionary programs in the state.

 

The Alabama Expungement Process

 

So how do you go about getting your eligible criminal record expunged in Alabama? If you want a record from an incorrect or incomplete case to disappear, the first step is to turn in a request to the Alabama Criminal Information Center. Be sure you include the correct information with your request so that they have proof of your innocence.

 

If you are not dealing with an incorrect or incomplete case, you will need to file your request to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. In addition, you are required to turn paperwork in to the Attorney General, the district attorney, and to the judge who oversaw your case within 30 days of filing with the Pardons and Paroles Board. In the event that your request for expungment is denied, you have the legal right to appeal to the circuit court within 30 days of the refusal.

 

For records related to the investigation of child abuse, you will need to contact whatever agency or authority did the investigating and tell them that you would like the records expunged. Under Alabama law, once you do this the investigating agency is required to expunge all information from your records.

 

Sealed Records

 

There is one other avenue by which someone can remove or otherwise “hide” their records in Alabama, and that is to have them sealed. This is an option only open to juvenile records, and in order to be eligible you must be discharged and have no outstanding subsequent criminal charges leveled against you, or records of having participated in any criminal acts for two years after your discharge. An example of this kind of sealed record is a juvenile DUI. Rather than being expunged, this offense is simply sealed so that no future employers need to know it exists.

 

To seal a record, the proper paperwork must be filed and everyone involved with the case – the prosecuting attorney, the authority who discharged the juvenile, and the heading law agency – needs to be informed about what is going on. In most cases, it’s in your best interest to hire an Alabama lawyer with experience handling expungement.