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VACATING YOUR CONVICTION
There are two separate statutes with different requirements
for vacating convictions in Washington.
One is for misdemeanors, and one is for felonies. We
urge you to consider contacting us
if you are interested in having your conviction vacated,
sealed or expunged, because past experience has
taught us that many people do not know exactly what they are
eligible for or even what they were actually convicted of.
This is because many people remember what they were charged
with even though they pled guilty to a reduced charge.
Additionally, incomplete and inaccurate records
often only list charges instead of convictions.
Vacating a conviction means that your conviction
is reversed. If you are eligible, you will be found
not guilty, and this finding will be retroactive. In
the eyes of the law, you will never have been convicted.
Washington statutes specifically allow someone who has had
his or her conviction vacated to tell employers,
housing authorities, schools, and others that they were
never convicted of a crime. Additionally, the
Washington State Patrol will not release any information
about a vacated record to anyone other than the
local police departments and the Department of Social and Health
Services.
ELIGIBILITY:
MISDEMEANORS
In general, you must wait three years from the date you
paid your fines and your probation was finished. For
domestic violence labeled offenses, you must wait five years
and meet many additional requirements. Additionally,
you must not have been convicted of any crimes after the
offense which you wish to vacate. Almost all
misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors are eligible to be
vacated. The statute that governs misdemeanor
vacations is RCW 9.96.060. Also, please remember
that you will probably want to attempt to
seal your records in
addition to having your conviction vacated.
ELIGIBILITY: ADULT FELONIES
To vacate a class C felony, you must wait 5 years
from the date you paid your fines and your probation was
finished. The waiting period for class B felonies is
10 years. Additionally, you cannot have been convicted
of any crimes after the offense which you wish to vacate,
except for possibly one subsequent misdemeanor. Common
offenses which we can vacate are felony theft,
possession of stole property, possession and delivery of
drugs, bad checks, fraud, and burglary. In general,
we cannot vacate convictions for: Aggravated murder,
first or second degree murder, first or second degree
kidnapping, first, second, or third degree assault, first,
second, or third degree assault of a child, first, second,
or third degree rape, first, second, or third degree rape of
a child, first or second degree robbery, first degree arson,
first degree burglary, first or second degree manslaughter,
first or second degree extortion, indecent liberties,
incest, vehicular homicide, first degree promoting
prostitution, communication with a minor for immoral
purposes, unlawful imprisonment, sexual exploitation of
minors, first or second degree criminal mistreatment,
endangerment with a controlled substance, child abuse or
neglect, first or second degree custodial interference,
first or second degree custodial sexual misconduct,
malicious harassment, first, second, or third degree child
molestation, first or second degree sexual misconduct with a
minor, patronizing a juvenile prostitute, child abandonment,
promoting pornography, selling or distributing erotic
material to a minor, violation of child abuse restraining
order, child buying or selling, felony indecent exposure,
and criminal abandonment. The statute that governs
felony vacations is RCW 9.94A.640.
Please remember that we sometimes can vacate
convictions that do not appear to be eligible because of
unusual circumstances or the extreme age of the conviction.
Crimes committed before 1985 fall under different guidelines
than those listed above. For this reason, we urge you
to contact us to determine if you
are eligible. For example, we have successfully helped
clients with very old sex offenses despite the
general guidelines. Also, please remember that you
will probably want to attempt to seal your records
in
addition to having your conviction vacated.
Steve
Rosen
Attorney at Law
800 5th Avenue, 40th Floor
Seattle, WA 98104
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