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.

According to 11 Delaware Code § 4374, the following individuals may be eligible for an expungement:

• Juveniles charged with an act of delinquency under the age of 18 which was later dropped, dismissed, nolled, or otherwise disposed of, and  either a) had no further adjudications in the three years after such adjudication or b)presents documentation of intent to enlist in the U.S. armed services;


• Adults charged with a crime in Family Court who were acquitted or had charges dismissed or nolled; and


• Adults charged with a crime in Criminal Court who were acquitted or had charges dismissed or nolled.

Once a criminal record has been expunged in Delaware, 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 general law enforcement or court purposes, under certain circumstances they may be searched, retrieved, and used. Typically this is in response to a court order or statutory authority. Expunged records may be accessed by law enforcement officers if the person is a suspect in a felony or applying for law enforcement job.

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