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 Missouri, any record of arrest where arrest of adult was based on false information and other criteria may be eligible for expungement. In the case of juvenile arrests, if a petition has not been filed within thirty days of the date that the juvenile was taken into custody, and if a petition for the child has not been filed within one year of the date the child was taken into custody, any records relating to the child concerning the alleged offense may be expunged.  

In Missouri, a petition for expungement must include the petitioner's:

• Full name
• Sex
• Race
• Date of birth
• Driver’s license number
• Social Security number
• Address at the time of the arrest

The petition must also include the following information:

• The offense charged against the petitioner
• The date the petitioner was arrested
• The name of the county where the petitioner was arrested and if the arrest occurred in a municipality, the name of the municipality
• The name of the agency that arrested the petitioner
• The case number and court of the offense
• Petitioner’s fingerprints on a standard fingerprint card at the time of filing the petition to positively identify the petitioner

The petition must name as defendants all law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecuting attorneys, central state depositories of criminal records or others who the petitioner has reason to believe may possess the records subject to expungement. The court’s order will not affect any person or entity not named as a defendant in the action.

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