Expungement and Post-Conviction Relief

Expungement under Penal Code § 1203.4

There is a common assumption that a conviction fades with time. It does not. California law does, however, provide for clearing a conviction by having the case dismissed and the conviction set aside under Penal Code § 1203.4.

Who qualifies: most people do. The principal exceptions are those who served a state prison sentence and those convicted of certain serious sexual offenses. Even a probation violation frequently still permits expungement.

The process: we prepare and file the petition for dismissal, serve the prosecuting agency, and handle the court filings and appearance. When the petition is granted, you withdraw the guilty plea, a not-guilty plea is entered, and the conviction is dismissed and removed from state and federal databases.

Timeline: most cases resolve within 60 to 120 days. Older matters, where records have to be retrieved from archive, can take up to six months.

Felony reduction under Penal Code § 17(b)

Where a conviction is for a wobbler and probation was granted, the court has authority under Penal Code § 17(b) to reduce the offense from a felony to a misdemeanor. Assault with a deadly weapon and many theft offenses are among the charges commonly eligible.

In deciding, the court weighs the offense, the offender, and the public interest. A § 17(b) reduction is frequently paired with a § 1203.4 dismissal in the same petition.

Certificate of Rehabilitation

For people who served a state prison sentence, traditional expungement is not available. The route in that situation is a Certificate of Rehabilitation under Penal Code § 4852.01.

A certificate is an official finding by the court that you have been rehabilitated. In addition to its own weight with employers and licensing bodies, it operates as an automatic application to the Governor for a pardon.

What relief is actually worth

Clearing a record materially changes employment background checks, professional and occupational licensing, college admission, and housing applications. For most people, that is the whole point: not the legal formality, but getting the door to stop closing.

Common questions