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Idaho Expungement of Criminal Records

 

Living with a criminal record in Idaho can make life a lot tougher, and unfortunately the record will last for the rest of your life. Having a record of your criminal activities follow you around can negatively impact your ability to do a great many things, such as get the job you want, find housing for yourself and your family, receive credit or financial aid, and even obtain licenses for certain kinds of professional organizations.

 

Thankfully, Idaho, like most of the states in America, allows a legal process called expungement for certain types of crimes in specific situations. If your record is expunged, it will not be able to be accessed for use by the public – including employers doing background checks – or by law enforcement when they are looking into you for general purposes.

 

What kinds of things can be expunged under Idaho law?

 

There are many different types of records that might qualify for expungement in a particular case. Some specific kinds of documentation or records that you might have expunged include:

 

  • DNA samples that relate to the convicted person – the Idaho state police will destroy samples unless a separate conviction requires the person to provide fingerprints or a DNA sample; also, regardless of whether your DNA record is expunged, the Bureau of Forensic Services doesn’t have to destroy the actual physical DNA evidence they have if another person is connected to it.
  • Fingerprints
  • Juvenile photos
  • Sexual offender records contained in a central registry

 

Who can have Idaho criminal records expunged?

 

Not everyone is eligible to have their criminal records expunged. Under Idaho law, juvenile offenders who were taken into police custody and subsequently fingerprinted and photographed can petition to have those records expunged. If a person was arrested or answered a criminal summons, but still has not been charged or indicted by the time a year has passed, and then was later acquitted, they, too, can petition for erasure of their records.

 

Idaho Law 18-8310 also allows for expungement for a person given exemption from being registered as a sexual offender. And if an offender’s DNA profile has been added to the state database but they subsequently have the conviction dismissed, they are able to apply for expungement.

 

And finally, Idaho Law 20-525A details specific conditions and offenses under which juveniles can petition to have their crimes expunged.

How is an Idaho criminal record expunged?

 

Because expungement in Idaho is a privilege and not a right, the erasure of your records is not guaranteed, and in fact will likely be overturned if you do not carefully follow the requirements. For a record to be expunged, the first thing you need to do is file the correct paperwork and make sure to include all the information that you would like to be expunged. This information needs to be sent in to the court in which the case was handled, and you will also have to notify the prosecuting attorney and all other applicable law enforcement agencies that an expungement for this particular crime is pending. Even then, it is quite possible that the court could decide to deny your petition for other reasons, such as finding that it is not in the court’s favor to grant the expungement to you.

 

Idaho cases which are ineligible for expungement

 

While most juvenile crimes are applicable for expungement, certain crimes are deemed so serious by the state that the records are not eligible to be expunged. These crimes include:


  • Administering poison with intent to kill
  • Forcible sexual penetration
  • Assault with the intent to murder
  • Any degree of murder
  • Assault with the intent to commit a felony of a serious nature
  • Arson
  • Sexual exploitation of a minor
  • Ritualized child abuse
  • Kidnapping
  • Armed robbery
  • Committing an infamous crime against nature by using force or violence
  • Voluntary manslaughter
  • Using a bomb
  • Aggravated battery
  • Any violations of Idaho Law provisions from section 37-2732, which states that if any violation occurs in or within 1000 feet of a park, school, stadium, grounds, or building, or if drug manufacturing or drug trafficking is involved in the case, it is ineligible for expungement.


 

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