Having a criminal record may prevent you from leading a better life, it can make finding a good job difficult, and you may even have issues when you want to rent a new place where you can live. Clearing your criminal record will help you start a new chapter in your life, and it can improve the overall quality of everything you do. If you want to erase your past mistakes, we are going to tell you some things you didn’t know about this process.
1. You will not get notified
When you want to get your crime sheet cleaned, you can apply for full or for partial expungement. Depending on your state and the current laws, the whole process should be finished in a few days up to a month or two.
When the whole process is over and once you’ve been expunged, you will not get notified by anyone that that has been done. The only way to find this out is to check your criminal sheet and see if it is still there. However, your lawyer should be following up on your case, and they should have the information about this process.
Because of that, you need to have a good relationship with your attorney and be in constant contact with them. If you cannot sit still and if you don’t want to wait for your lawyer to find this information out, you can do it yourself by checking the information on your own.
2. There is a difference between clearing your arrest and your court crime sheet
One of the first things you need to know about this whole process is that if you erase your arrest information, it does not mean that the court records are cleared as well, and vice versa. Depending on the crime you committed, there are different ways you can do it.
In most states, if you were not convicted of anything serious, you will be able to remove the court information by paying up to 200 dollars. When it comes to the arrest information, you will be able to do it as well, but the price you have to pay, again depends on what you were arrested for, the state you live in, and mostly, on your lawyer.
Because of that, you need to find a good representative that knows what they are doing. According to RecordPurge.com, there are two ways to clean your criminal sheet – expungement, and order of nondisclosure. Depending on your misdemeanor, your lawyer will give you information about which option is better for you, and what you can do to clean both your arrest and court data.
3. Google remembers everything
Even though the modern age allows you to clear your record and forget all about your past mistakes, there is one huge problem. If anything that you were convicted of was put on the internet, there is almost no way to delete it and remove it from the browsers.
When your criminal sheet gets cleared, everything government or local office-related will be sealed or deleted, however, you can never delete things that were put online. Even if the officials remove your data, someone somewhere might’ve downloaded and screenshot the information.
After all the info about your past misdemeanors is removed by the officials, you should Google yourself, and maybe put in the keywords about your charges and see if anything comes up on the browsers.
It is better to do this now and to be aware that your future employer may find out than to be surprised if someone mentions it even after you clean your name.
4. When your crime sheet has been removed by the state bureau, it has also been removed in the FBI
This is another really good thing about you and your crime sheet. Once you’ve been expunged by your state, there won’t be any evidence about your record in the FBI as well.
The removal of the federal crime sheet means that you will have better chances of finding a good job or a new place to live. Even if your employer decides to look at federal bureau records, they won’t be able to link you to your past crimes.
Because of this, you need to find a good lawyer that will be able to finish the expungement process fast and without you having to wait for a long, long time. Experts say that hiring a more expensive attorney is worth it when it comes to your past and your future.
5. Can your employer find out?
Well, there is no exact answer to this question because it all depends on the company you want to become a part of. Some businesses do an extensive search and they may even use the services of private information providers, so if there is anything about your criminal record written somewhere, chances are, they will find out.
The good news is, not every company does that, and unless you decide to work something that has top-secret information, they should not do more than looking at the official records. Remember that if you want to become a lawyer, a judge, or a representative of the law, your employer will do an extensive search and they will find out about your past.
Some companies will ask you if you ever had an issue with the law and if you were ever convicted of anything. You can choose to tell the truth or to hide it, just remember that if they ever find out, you will be fired immediately. If you decide to go with the truth, you should tell them in person, explain why you had issues with the law, and that your criminal sheet has been expunged.
One thing you should always remember is that after the whole process is over, you won’t be legally obliged to disclose any information about your past crimes. This means that you don’t have to share this information with your employers or landlords, but if they do find out, they can fire you.
The expungement process will help you lead a better life, and it will help you start a new chapter without having the baggage of your past mistakes. Find a good attorney, listen to them, and do everything you can to finish this process as quickly as possible.
