Plain-English glossary

Every term you will meet in a California record-clearing case, in words that assume nothing. All 40 of them on one page, so your browser's own find-in-page works and nothing is hidden behind a click.

Automatic record relief — also called AB 1076, SB 731, 1203.425, automatic expungement

Relief the California Department of Justice grants without anyone petitioning, under Penal Code 1203.425. It has run monthly since October 2024. It adds a notation to the record that limits who it is disseminated to. It is not a dismissal, it produces no document, and the Department does not tell you it happened. How to check whether you got it.

Certificate of Rehabilitation — also called COR, 4852.01

A court order declaring that someone convicted of a serious offence has been rehabilitated. It is not a dismissal. It is forwarded to the Governor as an application for a pardon. How it works.

CR-180

The Judicial Council form used to petition for dismissal under sections 1203.4, 1203.4a, 1203.41, 1203.42 and related statutes, and for a 17(b) reduction. CR-181 is the corresponding order.

CR-409

The Judicial Council form used to petition to seal an arrest record under Penal Code 851.91. CR-410 is the order.

Dismissal

What California actually grants. The case is dismissed, which releases you from most of the penalties of the conviction, and the record is annotated to show it.

Diversion — also called deferred entry of judgment, DEJ, PC 1000

Programmes that resolve a case without a conviction, or that dismiss it on completion. If your case went this route you may already have a dismissal under a different statute, and what you need may not be a 1203.4 petition at all.

Early termination of probation — also called 1203.3

A motion asking the judge to end probation before its natural end date, usually so a dismissal can be filed sooner. Penal Code 1203.3. How early termination works.

Expungement — also called expunge, expunged, expungment

The everyday word for a dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4. It is a misleading word in California, because nothing is expunged in the ordinary sense: the record is not erased or destroyed. The court withdraws the plea or sets aside the verdict and dismisses the case. What a 1203.4 dismissal does.

Factual innocence — also called 851.8

A finding that no reasonable cause existed to believe you committed the offence. It leads to the record being destroyed rather than sealed. It is a real evidentiary burden and is rarely granted.

Fair Chance Act — also called ban the box, AB 1008

California's law preventing employers with five or more employees from asking about criminal history on a job application, and from considering dismissed convictions at all.

Felony

The most serious level of offence. Which clearing statute applies to a felony depends on how the sentence was served — probation, county jail under realignment, or state prison.

Flat fee

A fixed fee for defined work. In California a flat fee paid in advance belongs in the client trust account unless you are given specific disclosures and agree in writing, and you are always entitled to a refund of any part that has not been earned. Our fees and when they are earned.

Governor's pardon

Executive clemency. It is the only route in California that can restore firearm rights to someone with a felony conviction, and not even then if the felony involved a dangerous weapon.

Infraction

The least serious level of offence in California. No jail is possible and there is no right to a jury trial. Infractions still appear on records and can still be dismissed.

Live Scan

Electronic fingerprinting, used both to request your own record and to run fingerprint-based background checks for employment and licensing. A Live Scan check sees more than a commercial background check does.

Mandatory supervision

The community-supervision part of a split sentence. It is a sentence, so you cannot petition while it is running.

Mental health diversion — also called 1001.36

Diversion for defendants with a qualifying mental disorder. Successful completion results in dismissal and the arrest being deemed never to have occurred.

Military diversion — also called 1001.80

Diversion for current or former military members with service-related conditions. It reaches misdemeanour DUI, which ordinary diversion does not.

Misdemeanour — also called misdemeanor

An offence punishable by up to a year in county jail. Most record-clearing petitions are for misdemeanours and they are the most straightforward to clear.

Moral turpitude

A category covering offences involving dishonesty or base conduct — theft, fraud, forgery. It carries extra weight with licensing boards and has serious immigration consequences.

Parole

State supervision after release from prison. You can vote on parole in California. You cannot petition for a dismissal while it is running.

Post-release community supervision — also called PRCS

County-run supervision after release from state prison for certain offences, as opposed to state parole. Like parole, it is supervision, so it must be complete before a petition.

Probation

Supervision in the community instead of, or after, custody. Formal probation is supervised by a probation officer; informal or summary probation is not supervised but is still probation. Completing it is the main requirement for a 1203.4 dismissal.

Probation violation — also called VOP

A finding that you breached a condition of probation. It does not disqualify you from a dismissal. It makes the petition discretionary rather than mandatory, so the judge decides in the interests of justice.

Proposition 47 — also called Prop 47, 1170.18

The 2014 measure that reclassified several theft and drug felonies as misdemeanours where the value was $950 or less. It applies retroactively. Which offences it covers.

Proposition 64 — also called Prop 64, 11361.8

The 2016 measure that legalised adult cannabis use and allowed prior cannabis convictions to be dismissed, sealed or redesignated. Cannabis relief.

Prospective client

Someone who consults a lawyer about possibly hiring them. Under California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.18 what you tell a firm at that stage is confidential even if you never become a client — which is why our eligibility check affirms confidentiality rather than disclaiming it.

RAP sheet — also called criminal record, state summary criminal history, DOJ record

Your Record of Arrest and Prosecution — the California Department of Justice's summary of your criminal history. It is the only document that shows whether automatic relief was granted. How to get yours.

Realignment — also called 1170(h), AB 109

The 2011 change that moved many felony sentences from state prison to county jail. It created its own relief statute, Penal Code 1203.41, because the old statutes were written around probation. Relief after a county jail felony.

Redesignation

Having a conviction formally re-labelled as a lesser offence — typically a felony becoming a misdemeanour under Proposition 47 or 64. The conviction remains; its level changes.

Reduction — also called 17(b) motion

A motion to have a wobbler felony declared a misdemeanour for all purposes. On a form asking whether you have a felony conviction, a successful reduction changes the answer to no.

Restitution

Money ordered to be paid to a victim. It does not bar a record-clearing petition — California law says so expressly — but it remains owed and enforceable after relief is granted.

Restitution fine

A separate fine paid to the state rather than to a victim. Also not a bar to relief.

Sealing

Different from a dismissal. Sealing applies mainly to arrests that did not lead to conviction, and to juvenile records. A sealed record is treated for most purposes as though it never happened, which is stronger language than a dismissal gets. Sealing an arrest.

Serious felony

A statutory category of the most serious offences. It matters here because a serious felony is excluded from automatic relief entirely and makes a discretionary petition harder.

Split sentence

A realignment sentence divided between custody and mandatory supervision. It carries a longer waiting period for relief than a straight county jail term, and the clock runs from the end of supervision rather than from release.

Substantially related

The test a licensing board applies to decide whether a conviction bears on fitness for the profession. It is the question that decides most licensing cases that are not resolved by a dismissal. Licensing and records.

Summary probation — also called informal probation, court probation

Unsupervised probation. You are still on probation even though nobody checks on you, which means the dismissal goes under section 1203.4 rather than 1203.4a. People get this wrong constantly.

Violent felony

Another statutory category, overlapping with serious felonies, also excluded from automatic relief.

Wobbler

An offence that can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanour. It matters because a wobbler felony can sometimes be reduced to a misdemeanour under Penal Code 17(b), which is often worth more than a dismissal. Reducing a felony.

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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.