Clear Your Record: Los Angeles Expungement Services

After being found guilty, one of the biggest fears that most individuals have regarding criminal conviction is that their crimes will remain on their permanent record and affect the rest of their lives. With help from a skilled Los Angeles expungement attorney, however, many of these convictions can be wiped from the person’s criminal record. This means the individual can rest easy, knowing that potential employers and other organizations that conduct criminal background checks will not be swayed by the negative stigma that accompanies criminal conviction.

It is crucial to hire an attorney who has experience in this field, as there are a variety of laws that dictate the types of charges that are eligible for expungement and who can have these convictions removed from their record. Since it is vital to ensure one’s livelihood by maintaining a clean record, the Los Angeles expungement lawyers at Stein and Marcus Law focus our attention on our clients’ interests and seek solutions that provide for the best future.

What Is Expungement?

By definition, to expunge something means to remove or erase it completely. The legal term refers to the court process that destroys a criminal conviction or seals it from federal or state records. This is commonly seen in juvenile court cases but also applies to adults who wish to establish a clean record.

If an expungement order is granted, it directs the court to approach the existence of a criminal conviction as if it had never happened. This effectively removes prior convictions from the public record and from a defendant’s criminal record.

Having a conviction expunged from one’s record is a proceeding that must be ordered by a judge. They differ from pardons in that pardons do not require the conviction to be removed from an individual’s criminal record, and they can be granted by public officials such as state governors and the President. They essentially “forgive” an individual for committing a crime, whereas an expungement is intended to clear one’s record.

SHOULD I HIRE A EXPUNGEMENT LAWYER?

Although hiring an attorney is not required for an expungement, anyone seeking to clear their record will likely want a knowledgeable Los Angeles expungement lawyer on their side. Many individuals who seek to expunge their own cases end up having the request for expungement denied without even so much as a reason from the district attorney or the courts.

The fact is there are many prosecutors and judges in the state of California who simply do not fully understand the expungement laws, so hiring a skilled lawyer is a vital step in attaining the expungement. Additionally, when individuals choose to represent themselves in these cases, they are at a disadvantage against prosecutors who make objections with little or no legal merit.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR EXPUNGEMENT IN CALIFORNIA?

As one might expect, not every individual who has been convicted of a crime is eligible for expungement in the state of California. It is important to note that having one’s record expunged is only an option for defendants in non-incarceration cases.

The California penal code that pertains to expungements in California states that an individual is eligible for expungement if they were convicted of a felony or misdemeanor offense and proceeded to fully complete all of the requirements of their probation successfully.

There are circumstances in which an individual may not be eligible for expungement, such as:

• Those with convictions for serious sex offenses against minors
• Convicts who served time in CA state prison, regardless of whether they were sentenced to time there at the time of their conviction or due to violating their probation
• Those who are serving time for another crime
• Anyone who is currently on probation for any crime
• Individuals who are currently charged with a crime

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO HIRE A LAWYER FOR EXPUNGEMENT?

Just as with attorney fees for any services, the costs to hire a lawyer for expungement vary greatly, depending on the unique requirements in the jurisdiction where the crime was committed, the number of underlying crimes, and their severity. Hiring an attorney for expungement may cost as little as a few hundred dollars or as much as $10,000. Some factors that may affect the total fees charged by your attorney may include:

• Filing fees
• Whether the lawyer charges an hourly fee or a flat fee
• Whether there is a maximum number of hours the attorney will bill for
• Whether the criminal record will be sealed or completely expunged

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET YOUR RECORD EXPUNGED IN CALIFORNIA?

Court costs and legal fees are two of the many factors that may affect the cost of getting one’s record expunged in the state of California, so specific prices are not always guaranteed when an individual is looking to get their record cleared. Generally speaking, though, the cost of getting most crimes expunged from one’s record fall into the following ballpark range:

• Expungement with a motion for early probation termination for misdemeanor and felonies: $1250
• Having marijuana records reduced per Prop 64 or purged: $750
• Reduction of charges to a misdemeanor under Prop 47 or 17b: $750
• Using 851.91 PC to seal arrest records: $750
• Expungement of infractions: $595
• Expungement of felonies, including having then reduced to misdemeanors: $850
• Expungement for misdemeanors, including DUI offenses: $650

CAN A PUBLIC DEFENDER HELP YOU WITH EXPUNGEMENT?

When you are arrested for a crime, and you can’t afford to hire an attorney, a public defender may be appointed to handle your case. Their job, as you can ascertain from their title, however, is to provide defense for individuals who are facing charges. For this reason, public defenders in many places are not able to help individuals with an expungement. For many, the best-case scenario would be for the public defender who handles the individual’s case to get the charges dismissed so that they never need to worry about getting them expunged later, but unfortunately, that is not always possible.

In Los Angeles County, individuals who were juveniles at the time of their arrest and their cases were heard in a juvenile court, as well as adults who have fulfilled all of the obligations of their probation may be eligible to have their record expunged. The application to have the conviction set aside in these cases will typically be made by a probation officer, and the public defender’s office may be able to represent the individual.