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 Louisiana (LA), expungement refers to the process of having a criminal record destroyed or sealed from state or federal records, making it inaccessible through a background check. This process allows individuals to legally deny the existence of the record in most situations. However, not all criminal records are eligible for expungement. Generally, expungement in Louisiana is available for arrests that did not lead to a conviction and for certain convictions after a specific period has passed, provided that the individual has not been convicted of another crime during that period. For example, first-time offenders of non-violent crimes may be eligible for expungement after successfully completing probation or a deferred adjudication program. Juvenile records may also be expunged under certain conditions. The eligibility for expungement of adult criminal records often depends on the nature of the crime, the time elapsed since the completion of the sentence, and the individual's criminal history. It's important to note that some convictions, such as those for violent crimes or sex offenses, may not be eligible for expungement. The specific procedures and requirements for expungement are detailed in Louisiana's statutes, particularly within the Code of Criminal Procedure.