Clearing a criminal record in San Francisco County

San Francisco County petitions are filed at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, our flat fee covers whatever the court charges to file, and if you qualify for the Public Defender's free record-clearing clinic you should use that instead of paying anyone.

Where a petition is filed in San Francisco County

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

What San Francisco County charges to file

San Francisco 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 San Francisco County

• San Francisco County's name comes from the city of San Francisco, from Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asís, named after Saint Francis of Assisi (Spanish for Saint Francis.
• San Francisco is California's only consolidated city and county, and at about 47 square miles it is also the smallest county in the state by area.
• The Public Defender's free 'Clean Slate' program serves people with SF arrests/convictions who can't afford private counsel; intake is by phone (415-553-9337) or email ([email protected]) — online applications are not currently accepted due to volume.
• After a petition is granted, it typically takes about 90 additional days for the DOJ to update the record.

Who else is involved

• The petition is served on the San Francisco County District Attorney, which has a statutory window to respond.
• San Francisco Public Defender's Office handles indigent defence in the county.
• The court publishes self-help information if you would rather do this yourself.

Cities we serve in San Francisco County

San Francisco. 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.