Having an Indiana criminal conviction has the potential to come back to haunt you, and it may impact everything from your ability to find housing to your ability to land a lucrative job. Depending on the details and circumstances surrounding your situation, arrest and conviction, you may be able to pursue something called an expungement under Indiana’s Second Chance Law.
Per WFYI, an expungement involves destroying or sealing the records concerning your arrest and conviction from the public and making them only available to certain individuals who may access them in limited circumstances.
Who is eligible for an expungement
You may be able to ask for a record expungement if a specific amount of time has passed since you received your conviction and have no charges pending against you. Your driver’s license must not be under suspension, either, and how long you have to wait to request the expungement depends on the type of offense you faced. In most cases, you should expect to have to wait somewhere between five and 10 years before requesting a record expungement. Furthermore, if authorities arrested you, but never prosecuted you, or if an appeal resulted in a judge overturning your conviction, you may seek an expungement one year after your arrest.
How to request an expungement
Requesting a record expungement involves filing a petition in the same county where you received your criminal conviction. You may have to pay fees when doing so.
Please note that, in Indiana, you have one chance and one chance only to request an expungement. So, if you have multiple convictions, it may benefit you to seek expungements for all of them at the same time.
