Sealing Records
Sealing Records ARS 13-911
The best service for anyone who has been arrested, had a case dismissed, or a criminal conviction and completed their sentence.
Minimum Required Information:
(Please fill in these answers before purchasing.)
- Court Name:
- Case Number: (If there is one.)
- Charges:
- City of Arrest:
- Police Agency:
- Month/Day/Year of Crime:
- Anything Else We Should Know:
- Attachments: (Please attach any supporting documentation.)
- Customer’s Full Legal Name: (Also, list any prior names if different at the time of the case.)
- Date of Birth:
- Customer’s Phone Number:
- Customer’s Email:
- Customer’s Mailing Address:
Legal Benefits:
Sealing Records judgment of guilt (aka no longer guilty), or arrest (as if they were never arrested)
- Sealed for the rest of their life
- Public cannot access the information through government systems
- Released from all penalties that came with the conviction
- Most useful for employment, housing, financial aid, and loan applications because once approved you do not have to disclose
- DPS must update criminal background information and seal everything
Limitations:
- Does not remove from driving records or insurance
- Does not delete anything from the internet that is a non-government website
- Does not delete old things on gov sites that background companies have already saved to their systems
- Judges, prosecutors, police, victims, DCS, Juvenile Corrections, DOC, and Clerk of Court can still access all sealed records as long as it is related to job duties
- Doesn’t legally remove it as a prior felony or prior DUI
Eligible:
- Charged with crime, but the case is dismissed (including diversion dismissals)
- Arrested but never charged with a crime (aka profile cases past the statute of limitations or with disposition letter or police report clearly showing no charges)
- Criminal convictions (guilty plea or found guilty at trial)
Must Complete All Terms of the Sentence (Including Fines) and Then Wait __ Years Before Applying:
- 10 years for class 2 or 3 felony
- 5 years for class 4, 5, or 6 felony
- 3 years for class 1 misdemeanor (most common)
- 2 years for class 2 or 3 misdemeanor (commonly criminal speeding and reckless driving)
- Additional 3 years wait if the judge denied a prior request from the date of denial (time starts calculating the moment the final term of the sentence is completed—usually going to be when the fine is paid off)
- If felony, sentenced to DOC with no fines/probation, then the date of
- Absolute Discharge is when the time starts ticking (time in jail doesn’t count)
Approval Process:
Typically, it takes more than 90 days from the time the application is submitted. Applications are typically reviewed multiple times for accuracy before submission and filed in under 30 days from the time the firm is hired. Once approved, the online records and databases are typically removed within 30 days.
Judge Decides Legal Factors:
- The best interest of the petitioner (aka impact on their future)
- The best interest of the public’s safety (judge’s catch-all reason if they want to deny an application)
- Victim’s position (they have a right to be heard)
- The prosecutor may request a hearing
If Approved, a Sealed Record Must Still Be Disclosed If:
- The job involves houses, and you have a burglary/theft sealed case
- The job involves teachers/children work, and you have a child abuse or aggravated assault sealed case
- The job involves commercial pilot, driver, or boat
- The job involves finances, and you have theft/forgery/etc. sealed case
- The job is with police, prosecutor, court, or DCS
Fingerprint clearance - Child abuse for jobs that involve minors
- Vulnerable adult abuse for jobs involving the care of adults
- Defense of a civil action arising from arrest
Not Eligible Cases:
- Civil cases
- Sentenced as Dangerous category ARS 13-704 (check plea/sentencing)
- Serious Offenses ARS 13-705
- Murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, arson of an occupied structure, armed robbery, burglary of an occupied residence, kidnapping, assault by prisoner, riot, drive-by shooting, shooting at occupied structure, gangs, terrorism
- Violent/aggravated offense ARS 13-706
- 1st/2nd-degree murder, aggravated assault with serious injury or use of a weapon in any way, assault by prisoner, anything riot-related, drive-by shooting, kidnapping, sex cases, 1st-degree burglary, arson of an occupied structure, armed robbery, anything gang-related, terrorism
- The case involved the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument as an element of the offense
- “The discharge, use, or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.”
- Victims under the age of 15
- Serious injury cases (aggravated assault, manslaughter, etc.)
- Sex-related cases (DACA)