A criminal record can be a bar to certain types of employment, licensing, holding public office, and even the right to vote. Most states allow for a process called expungement that will remove certain arrests or criminal convictions from the offender’s record.

Depending upon the laws of the state in which you live and the nature of the crime, you may be able to get an arrest or conviction sealed or erased from your legal record. After the expungement process is complete, you will not need to disclose the conviction on a job or school application, and in most instances no record of the arrest or conviction will show up during a public records inspection or background check commonly done by potential employers, landlords, and educational institutions.

In Michigan, expunged records do not just disappear, although they cannot be accessed for general law enforcement or civil use. A record that has been set-aside may be considered in employment applications for law enforcement positions and licensing, and expunged records may still be used as a prior conviction when applicable in subsequent sentencing. According to Michigan Compiled Law (M.C.L.) § 780.622, the setting aside of an offense does not relieve anyone of the duty to register as a sex offender.

Those eligible to request an expungement  for a criminal conviction in Michigan include:

• A person who is found guilty or guilty but mentally ill by a judge or jury, or pleads no contest. The criminal offense must not be a sexual offense under M.C.L. 750.520c, 750.520d, or 750.520g, a felony or attempted felony punishable by a life imprisonment, or a traffic offense. The person must not have any other prior convictions or convictions that were set aside. A person may apply to have a conviction set aside for any crime except: 1) a conviction of a felony or an attempted felony punishable by life imprisonment; 2) a violation or attempted violation of criminal sexual conduct under MCL 750.520c, MCL 750.520d, or MCL 750.520g; or 3) a traffic offense. A person who has had more than one conviction for any offense cannot apply. A person may have only one conviction set aside.


• A person who has been convicted of a non-traffic offense that is reported to the Michigan Secretary of State. If the application is granted, the court cannot order the removal of the offense from the Secretary of State’s records.


• A person who has waited at least five years since the date he was sentenced for the conviction, as long as he was not imprisoned. If the person was imprisoned, he may apply to have the conviction set aside once five years have passed since being released from imprisonment for that conviction.

An application for expungement in Michigan must contain:

• The full name and current address of the applicant
  A certified record of the conviction that is to be set aside
  A statement that the applicant has not been convicted of an offense other than the one sought to be set aside as a result of this application
  A statement as to whether the applicant has previously filed an application to set aside this or any other conviction and, if so, the disposition of the application
  A statement as to whether the applicant has any other criminal charge pending against him or her in any court in the United States or in any other country
  A consent to the use of the nonpublic record to the extent authorized by Michigan law

The USLegal website  gives a full overview of expungement law in the state of Michigan.