In the state of North Carolina, some non-violent misdemeanors can be removed from your criminal record if you haven't re-offended in the last ten years. If your misdemeanor criminal conviction is expunged, any physical files related to it should be destroyed and any record of it removed. As a result, if an employer conducts a background check, your conviction won't appear. Expungements can help you when applying for a job, leasing an apartment, qualifying for certain kinds of licenses, or gaining admission to a college or university. At the law office of Stiller & Disbrow, our attorneys can evaluate your criminal record and determine whether or not you are eligible for an expungement. If you are eligible, you will be required to submit a number of documents and forms for review by the court. Typically, an expungement takes a few months to process which underscores the importance of submitting the rights forms and complying with court requests in a timely manner.

If you are interested in putting a mistake you made long ago behind you, contact expungements attorneys at the law office of Stiller & Disbrow today to schedule a consultation to discuss your case.

While determining if you are eligible for an expungement involves a number of different factors, the following are general eligibility requirements:

• You haven't already had a sealing or expungement of your record
• You have not had a withholding of adjudication for a drug, violent, or sex-related crime
• You have not been convicted for a misdemeanor or felony within the last ten years
• You are not currently under court supervision

Sealing your records is different from an expungement. When a record is expunged, it is destroyed. This means your file is shredded or thrown away and any electronic record is ideally deleted. When a record is sealed access to it is restricted, requiring a court order for its contents to be revealed. As such, a sealed record remains in existence, though most people cannot have access to it. Our attorneys can meet with you to discuss expungements and the sealing of your record to determine if you're eligible for either.

If you have questions regarding expungements or the sealing of your record, contact criminal defense lawyers at Stiller & Disbrow today.