More On Clearing Up Old Criminal Records

December 19, 2009  |  Jon P. Erickson

More On Clearing Up Old Criminal Records
By Jon P. Erickson
The article “Old Criminal Records Can Be ‘Off the Record'”, generated some additional issues which we’d like to address.
The article discussed the legal process known as “expungement” in which information in old criminal records resulting from an arrest process can be sealed or returned. In addition to the situations discussed in that article which might be appropriate for expungement, there are several others that might also be appropriate.
Some controlled substance convictions are appropriate for expungement, depending upon how the case was handled. Many first-time offenders who were charged with and convicted of a controlled substance crime may be eligible for expungement under the Minnesota law.
Also, any individual who is convicted of a felony offense prior to reaching age 21 might also qualify for an expungement under a different Minnesota statute. This particular law provides that an individual who was convicted of a felony offense before reaching age 21 is eligible for an expungement for most felony offense convictions, assuming that five years have passed since the sentence for that offense was served and/or the defendant was discharged from probation. In addition, the individual could not have been convicted of any other new felony or gross misdemeanor offenses during the time period after the offense for which the expungement is being sought.
If you have any questions about expungement or pardons, please call or e-mail either Jon Erickson at (763) 783-5145, e-mail jerickson@bgs.com or Russ Crowder at (763) 783-5143, e-mail rcrowder@bgs.com.