How Long Does a Misdemeanor Stay On Your Record In California?

By: Brad Nakase, Attorney

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A misdemeanor conviction is a permanent part of your criminal record unless you take steps to remove it. The public can search your criminal record and see what you have been convicted of in the past. This means friends, employers, community members, prospective partners, and landlords can see your past convictions.

California has introduced additional legislation to make it difficult for employers to see past criminal convictions and to discriminate against employees or potential employees based on prior convictions. In fact, an employer cannot ask prospective employees about their past criminal convictions until after they have made a conditional employment offer. They cannot rescind their offer unless the crime is related to the job (eg. White collar crimes in a bank job).

How to Get a Misdemeanor Conviction Removed From Your Record

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor offense in the past and want to have it removed from your record, you can apply for expungement, also called judicial dismissal. The law regarding expungement is California Penal Code Section 1203.4.

According to California Penal Code Section 1203.4, all misdemeanors are eligible for expungement as long as they were not sentenced to state prison and served their probation. There are two exceptions that are not eligible for expungement:

Child sex crime convictions
Someone currently being charged for a crime

In order to apply for a judicial dismissal, you must file a petition with the court. We recommend hiring a lawyer to help you with the application and make the process easier. The court will review your application and decide if they will expunge the misdemeanor conviction or not.

If they approve your petition, the conviction will be expunged. The term “expunged” makes it sound like the record will be wiped, but the court simply adds a note that the charge was dismissed. As far as your criminal record is concerned, you have not had criminal convictions. This means it will not show on criminal background checks, and you can tick the box saying you have not had criminal convictions on forms.

Can I Have Multiple Misdemeanor Convictions Expunged?

Yes. You need to file a separate petition for each misdemeanor charge, but the court will consider expunging all of the misdemeanor charges on your criminal record.

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How Long Does a Misdemeanor Stay On Your Record In California?

How to Get a Misdemeanor Conviction Removed From Your Record

Can I Have Multiple Misdemeanor Convictions Expunged?

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