A New Law Will Expand Clearing of Criminal Records in Pennsylvania
A new law called "Clean Slate" will automatically seal many criminal cases, beginning around July 2019.
Automatically sealed cases will include all dropped cases (after around 60 days), summary convictions (after 10 years), and many non-violent misdemeanors (after 10 years without a new conviction).
More misdemeanor convictions will also be eligible to be sealed by filing a petition, starting on 12/26/2019. They include:
Some 1st degree misdemeanors;
Simple assault (2nd or 3rd degree).
What Cannot Be Sealed?
1st degree misdemeanors involving violent crimes and sexual offenses cannot be sealed.
You cannot seal misdemeanors if:
You have had a conviction in the last 10 years.
You ever had a 1st degree felony conviction.
You have 2 or more felonies or 1st degree misdemeanors in the last 15 years.
You have 4 or more convictions in the last 20 years (excluding 3rd degree misdemeanors)
You must pay your court fines and costs first!
Check with a lawyer to find out if you are eligible!
Read more on Clean Slate using CLS's short explanatory 2-pagers here and here