When a person is charged with a crime or convicted of a crime, the information stays on the person’s criminal record and may be accessed by the court or other federal, state, municipal, or county agencies—or by private persons or entities conducting a background check.

Under limited circumstances a person with a criminal record of arrest or conviction may be able to have the criminal record expunged—meaning the record will be permanently destroyed or deleted so it is no longer accessible by the court or other federal, state, municipal, or county agencies—or by private persons or entities conducting a background check.

Such an expungement or expunction of a criminal record is different from having a record sealed—which means the record still exists, but access to it is limited. A person whose only criminal record has been expunged may truthfully answer “no” when asked on an employment, licensing, or other application whether the person has ever been convicted of a crime.

Under both state and federal law, in most cases it is not possible to have a person’s criminal conviction expunged. For example, under federal law only a person who is guilty of a minor drug offense under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. §844) may have their record expunged. See 18 U.S.C. §3607(c).

Under state laws a person who has been convicted of a crime, pleaded guilty, or pleaded no contest (nolo contendere) is often ineligible to have their criminal record expunged. When a person is eligible to have a criminal record expunged, it is often dependent upon the person successfully completing a probation or deferred adjudication program. And in some states juveniles may be eligible to have a criminal record expunged if the criminal offense was committed before they turned 17 years of age, for example.

Expungement or expunction laws vary from state to state and are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Alaska, expungement of criminal records is not widely available, but there are limited circumstances under which a person may have their criminal record cleared. Alaska Statute § 12.62.180 allows for the sealing or destruction of certain criminal justice information, including records of arrest if the arrest did not lead to a conviction or if the individual was acquitted. However, Alaska does not generally allow for the expungement of convictions, except for some cases involving juveniles. For juvenile records, under Alaska Statute § 47.12.300, a person may petition for the expungement of their juvenile records if certain conditions are met, such as the individual reaching 18 years of age and having no subsequent convictions. It's important to note that sealing a record is different from expungement; when a record is sealed, it still exists but is not accessible to the public, whereas expungement typically means the record is destroyed. Federal law provides very limited opportunities for expungement, such as for minor drug offenses under the Controlled Substances Act, as specified in 18 U.S.C. §3607(c). Individuals in Alaska seeking to manage their criminal records should consult with an attorney to understand their specific options and the procedures involved.