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When can I seal my criminal record?

In 2013 Arkansas passed what is referred to as the Universal Misdemeanor Sealing Act. This allowed most misdemeanors to be sealed 6o days after the successful completion of the sentence.
The process before involved drafting and submitting a petition to seal, as well as an order to seal, along with a $50.00 filing fee payable to the court clerk.

Now for the good news. The legislator has done away with the required wait time to seal a conviction. Act 680 states misdemeanors may be sealed immediately after completion of probation, and class D and class C felonies which are non-violent may also immediately be sealed.
As for the order to seal being entered, the court did have 90 days after the filing of the petition to execute the order to seal. Now, Act 57 reduces that possible wait time to 30 days after the filing of the petition to seal.

What does all this mean? Effectively, it means you can get your record clean quite a bit quicker than the original act allowed. As it currently reads, you can shave almost six months off the process of getting your record sealed.

If you or someone you know needs help with getting a conviction sealed, please call or text us anytime.

About the Author

Degen D. Clow

Partner

Degen Clow joined wh Law | We Help, in 2015 after serving as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for several years in Pulaski County. During that time, he spent almost every day in court, which he now considers his office away from the office. He developed confidence and, most importantly, learned what it takes to beat a criminal charge. Before law school,…

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