Clearing a criminal record in Imperial County

Imperial County petitions are filed at the El Centro Criminal Courthouse, Criminal Division in El Centro, our flat fee covers whatever the court charges to file, and you do not need to live here, or come to court, to clear a case from here.

Where a petition is filed in Imperial County

Record-clearing petitions are filed in the county where you were convicted, which means Imperial County petitions go to the Superior Court of California, County of Imperial (court website).

What Imperial County charges to file

Imperial County does not publish a filing fee for a record-clearing petition that we were able to verify as of 2026-10-10. A good number of California counties charge nothing at all. Either way our fee is all-in, so if a fee applies we pay it.

Local notes for Imperial County

• Imperial County's name comes from imperial Valley, named after the Imperial Land Company.
• Imperial County, formed in 1907, was the most recently created of California's 58 counties.
• Imperial County completed a new, dedicated Criminal Courthouse at 650 Wake Ave, El Centro in December 2023; the historic courthouse at 939 West Main Street now handles civil, probate, and family matters instead.
• Criminal records correspondence has its own dedicated email, [email protected].

Who else is involved

• The petition is served on the Imperial County District Attorney, which has a statutory window to respond.
• Imperial County Public Defender's Office handles indigent defence in the county.

Cities we serve in Imperial County

El Centro, Calexico, Brawley, Imperial, Calipatria, and everywhere else in the county. Where you live does not matter — the petition goes to the court that handled the conviction.

Legal information on this page was last checked against primary sources in October 2026. California law changes; if you are reading this long after that date, confirm before you rely on it.