How to seal your public records

To seal public records, here is the common procedure:

1) You must file an individual petition and pay a fee for each case or incident you want sealed. The fee varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This typically occurs at the county courthouse level.

2) After you get the necessary forms, you next must determine whether you are eligible to have your record(s) sealed. You are eligible to have your records sealed only if:

You were not charged
The case against you was completely dismissed
You were acquitted of all charges
And FYI, no criminal justice information involving a conviction may be sealed

3) It is your responsibility to specify in your petition(s), which criminal justice agency(-ies) has a copy of your record(s).

4) Here are some things the records may include:

The police contact report
An arrest report
An indictment, case information, summoning documentation, complaint documentation, and any case data associated with it
Any other record held by a criminal justice agency regarding the incident

4) You may not petition to seal any records of cases involving a conviction on a
DUI (driving under the influence) or DWAI (driving while ability impaired) and certain traffic offenses and infractions.

5) After the petition is filed and the fees are paid, the court sets a hearing date. Each agency that you listed on the petition will receive a notice of the petition and the hearing. If the court decides to grant your Petition to Seal Arrest and Criminal Records, it orders the record to be sealed.

When you do all of this, and you have successfully sealed your public record.

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