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Expunging your California Criminal Record
Employers in California perform Criminal Background Checks
Having a California conviction on your record can keep you from moving on with your life. With more than 80% of employers performing background checks, obtaining a job with a record is more difficult than ever. In California, employers may ask you about your previous convictions if the conviction relates to your job. Employers can usually find a reason that your prior criminal history is relevant to the job you want and then deny you that employment solely because of your conviction. The only exception to this rule is that California employers may not ask applicants about convictions for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana if the conviction is older than two years.
Expunge your California Criminal Record to Move On with your Career
Having your California record expunged frees you from your past mistakes and allows you to move on with your life and career. The expungement process reopens your criminal case, dismisses and sets aside the conviction, and re-closes the case without a conviction. The result is you are able to truthfully and honestly say you were never convicted.
Under California law, it is unlawful for an employer to inquire or seek information regarding any conviction for which the record has been judicially ordered sealed or expunged. California employers are specifically denied the ability to refuse employment to an applicant based on an expunged record, regardless of how the employer comes by that information. If you expunge the record, it is unlawful for an employer to ever use it against you.
Since California Law forbids an employer from considering an expunged record, potential employers should not even be able to locate a record that the conviction ever happened. If the employer requires you to submit fingerprints and a copy of your California department of justice report, it will show that a case existed, but that it was dismissed without a conviction or finding of guilt. You do not even have to disclose the fact that the conviction occurred as you are technically no longer a convicted person.
Are you Eligible to Expunge your California Criminal Record?
To be eligible, you must have completed probation (or wait one year on low level misdemeanors where no probation is given), paid all fines and restitution, and not be facing any other charges or serving any other sentence. The easiest way to determine if you are eligibile is to take RecordGone.com's free eligibility test here or by clicking on the image below.
If an employer in California hires a company to do a background check on me, how far back it look on my record?
California law does not specifically control the amount of time that a criminal background check can cover. However, California law does specify that “records of arrest, indictment, information, misdemeanor complaint[s], or conviction[s] of a crime shall no longer be reported if at any time it is learned that a full pardon has been granted or a conviction did not result."
Additionally, the Fair Credit Reporting Act specifies that no arrest may be reported if it happened over 7 years before the issuance of the report.
How far back can an employer in California look on my record if he or she personally looks into my criminal history?
Public access to searches of criminal records stored with the Department of Justice is limited to those involving child care, the elderly, and the handicapped or mentally impaired.Anyone may obtain his or her own record, but that record cannot be used for employment or licensing purposes. An individual or agency is prohibited from requiring an applicant to provide that employer or agency with a copy of the applicant’s criminal record.
However, entities may be authorized by the State of California to receive criminal record history from the Department of Justice for the purposes of employment screening. California state law requires industries that involve child care, the elderly, and the handicapped or mentally impaired to check these records for employees. Additional state agencies may apply for authorization to receive either summary or complete criminal history information for job applicants.
The California Department of Justice is not the only source from which an employer can access information relating to a past or pending court case. The Superior Courts serving each county of California may make court records available at that county’s discretion. The amount of information available as well as the time period covered in a criminal records search through a county court varies greatly between the different counties. A number of counties have developed their own online access systems. Some courts allow unrestricted access to criminal searches while other courts require signed releases by the subject of that criminal search.
Applicable Law to Expunge your California Conviction
- California Felony Conviction Expungement - California Penal Code § 1203.4
- California Misdemeanor Conviction Expungement - California Penal Code § 1203.4
- California Juvenile Record Sealing - California Welfare and Institutions Code § 781