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 Oklahoma, expungement means the same thing as sealing a record. It is a process commenced in court that allows an individual to have any and all reference to a prior criminal conviction cleared and their court file sealed. In Oklahoma, expunged records are deemed not to exist and when asked about their past criminal record, a person whose record has been expunged can honestly say that they have none.

But the records do not just disappear. According to 22 O.S § 991-c, court clerk’s offices are required to delete the defendant’s name from the docket sheet, expunge the public filing of the charge, and keep a separate and confidential index of the case. In most court clerk’s offices, the process includes the removal of the defendant’s file from the main file area. The court information will also be redacted from the clerk’s computer and also from any public access website such as the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network.

As a result, doing a search of the defendant’s name, either at the courthouse or by computer, will yield no information regarding the expunged case. However, if the defendant’s case number is searched, some information regarding the case may still be available. In most cases, any information specific to the defendant remains undiscoverable. However, if the defendant paid fines and court costs, the defendant’s name may appear as the person who made the payment.

For a full overview of expungement law in the state of Ohio, see the USLegal website.