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.

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 Georgia, expungement is referred to as 'record restriction.' Under Georgia law, certain criminal records can be restricted and sealed so they are not accessible to the general public, including potential employers. However, expungement in the sense of completely destroying or deleting a criminal record is very limited. Generally, individuals who have been convicted of a crime, pleaded guilty, or pleaded no contest (nolo contendere) in Georgia are not eligible for record restriction. There are exceptions, such as for certain first-time drug offenses, or if the individual was under the age of 21 at the time of the conviction for certain misdemeanors. Additionally, if a case was closed without a conviction, the individual may apply to have the record restricted. Juveniles in Georgia may also have their records restricted under certain conditions. The process typically involves filing a petition with the court, and eligibility often depends on the nature of the offense and the individual's criminal history. It's important to note that even when a record is restricted, it may still be accessible by law enforcement and judicial agencies for certain purposes.