Clearing a criminal record in Kern County

Kern County petitions are filed at the Metropolitan Division Justice Building in Bakersfield, 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 Kern County

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

What Kern County charges to file

Kern 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 Kern County

• Kern County's name comes from edward Kern, cartographer for John C. Fremont's 1845 expedition.
• The Kern County Law Library (1215 Truxtun Ave, 1st floor; (661) 610-6325) explicitly offers help with expungement paperwork as an alternate resource to the Public Defender.

Who else is involved

• The petition is served on the Kern County District Attorney, which has a statutory window to respond.
• The court publishes self-help information if you would rather do this yourself.

Cities we serve in Kern County

Bakersfield, Delano, Ridgecrest, Wasco, Shafter, 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.