Expungement in California: how it actually works

California does not erase criminal records. What it does is dismiss cases, seal arrests and reduce felonies — three different things, under about a dozen different statutes. This page explains which is which.

What people mean by expungement

Almost always, a dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4. The court lets you withdraw your plea or sets aside the verdict, then dismisses the case. You are released from most of the penalties of the conviction. The record itself still exists and is annotated to show what happened.

That is genuinely valuable — it is the difference between a live conviction and a dismissed one on almost every employment background check in the state. It is also considerably less than the word “expungement” suggests, which is why this site says so on every page that uses it.

Which statute applies to you

Who qualifies

The requirements common to the dismissal statutes are that the case was in California, that the sentence and any probation are finished, that you are not currently charged with anything, and that the offence is not one of the few the statute excludes. Owing restitution does not disqualify you, despite what you may have been told — California law says a petition shall not be denied on that basis.

How long it takes and what it costs

Two to four months from filing is typical, and it varies considerably by county. Before that there is a records review, which takes two to three weeks because it depends how quickly the court and the Department of Justice respond. Our flat fees start at $399 and include the court filing fee. A good number of California counties charge nothing to file in the first place.

Every price, and what each one covers

Doing it yourself

You can. The forms are free, the Judicial Council publishes them, and the courts publish self-help guidance. For a straightforward misdemeanour where probation was completed cleanly, plenty of people file their own petition and it works.

It gets harder when the record is not what you remember, when more than one statute could apply, when the petition is discretionary and needs an argument rather than a form, or when a reduction ought to happen before the dismissal. That is what you would be paying us for — and if your case is the simple kind, we would rather tell you that.

Start from your charge

All charges · All statutes · All 58 counties

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.