Mississippi Expunction

If your record is expunged, you can answer "No, I do not have a criminal record." By law, an employer is not allowed to ask you about any charges, arrests or convictions that have been expunged from your record. After the record is expunged, it is legally considered to no longer exist.

How long do I have to wait to have a misdemeanor expunged? Depending on the charge, usually 1-5 years after completion of the court ordered sentence.

For immigration purposes a criminal conviction will always exist, no matter whether a court expunges your record or not. That said, even if you do have a criminal record expunged, sealed, or not you may still be able to immigrate to the United States.

Filing fees and costs vary, depending on the severity of your criminal record. Typically, the filing fees range from $85 to $150. If you hire an expungement or criminal defense lawyer, you may also be charged for attorney fees and other costs.

Expungement vs. Record Sealing. The key difference between expunging a person's criminal record and sealing it is that a sealed record still exists in both a legal and physical sense, while expungement results in the deletion of any record that an arrest or criminal charge ever occurred.

Only six felonies in Mississippi can be expunged: drug possession, larceny, bad check crimes, false pretenses, shoplifting, and malicious mischief.

Expungement and sealing Federal authorities and law enforcement can still view sealed records. This includes the FBI and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).This is the case even if they are expunged or sealed.

To get a conviction expunged under this statute, you need to retain a Mississippi expungement lawyer or attorney. A Petition for Expungement must be filed. At the end of the process, should the judge find you have been rehabilitated, he will enter the expungement Order.

A: Arrest and conviction records aren't automatically expunged or sealed after a period of years. Individuals seeking expungement generally have to apply (in writing) and follow the established procedure.