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.

An expunged arrest or conviction may not be completely erased, however, and ordinarily will remain an accessible part of a person's criminal record, accessible to certain government agencies, including law enforcement and the criminal courts. This limited accessibility is also known as a criminal record being "under seal." In some legal proceedings, an expunged conviction that is under seal may still be considered as proof of a prior conviction.

Pursuant to Connecticut Statutes Sec. 54-142a, only certain individuals are eligible for an expungement, including adults whose criminal charges have been:

• Pardoned


• Decriminalized


• Dismissed


• Nolled


• Found not guilty

Once a criminal record has been expunged in Connecticut, the court clerk or other individual in charge of the record cannot disclose the record's existence or information regarding the charge to anyone. Three years after the disposition of a criminal case, the records may be destroyed. Although expunged records cannot be accessed for law enforcement or court purposes, under "exceptional circumstances" they may be searched, retrieved, and used. Typically this is in response to a court order or statutory authority.

For more information on expungement in the state of Connecticut, go to the USLegal website.