After a Charge is Vacated, Can It Be Expunged, Deleted or Pardoned

[Richland2010]

So I have a question to those in the know... I've gone through the process of getting my conviction vacated many years ago but I still have the problem of the old conviction showing up in 3rd party data bases... Also many human resources people are not familiar with what "vacated" means... Thus I have had problems with my background check each and everytime I attempt to get a job! So my burning question is how to can I get this vacated conviction expunged/deleted? I know most resources say contact the WSP and follow those procedures... but my conviction is at the county level and i've asked numerous people about how to complete this procedure at the county level..... no one knows how this can be done or that there is just no process that has been devised.. Much to my dismay the 10 year old conviction of 3rd degree theft that has been vacated for 6 years still comes back and hinders me from obtaining an honest job.

Professional help has indicated that I might be out of options and that I should just live with it and always fight with background reporting companies and explain my circumstances to human resources people. But I'm not willing to just live with it and be stigmatized as a potential employee with a criminal record that requires extra hoops to be jumped through just to be eligible for employement.

Thus professional help indicated that I could attempt to get a governers pardon for my vacated conviction to fully remove it from my record... although he also said its mostly death row inmates that attempt to get a governers pardon.....

So my two questions are...
1.) Can I get my vacated conviction expunged/deleted at the county level?
2.) How to go about getting a governors pardon if question 1 is not an option.

Thanks for you time and professional guidance

[ashman165]

So I have a question to those in the know... I've gone through the process of getting my conviction vacated many years ago but I still have the problem of the old conviction showing up in 3rd party data bases... Also many human resources people are not familiar with what "vacated" means... Thus I have had problems with my background check each and everytime I attempt to get a job! So my burning question is how to can I get this vacated conviction expunged/deleted? I know most resources say contact the WSP and follow those procedures... but my conviction is at the county level and i've asked numerous people about how to complete this procedure at the county level..... no one knows how this can be done or that there is just no process that has been devised.. Much to my dismay the 10 year old conviction of 3rd degree theft that has been vacated for 6 years still comes back and hinders me from obtaining an honest job.

Professional help has indicated that I might be out of options and that I should just live with it and always fight with background reporting companies and explain my circumstances to human resources people. But I'm not willing to just live with it and be stigmatized as a potential employee with a criminal record that requires extra hoops to be jumped through just to be eligible for employement.

Thus professional help indicated that I could attempt to get a governers pardon for my vacated conviction to fully remove it from my record... although he also said its mostly death row inmates that attempt to get a governers pardon.....

So my two questions are...
1.) Can I get my vacated conviction expunged/deleted at the county level?
2.) How to go about getting a governors pardon if question 1 is not an option.

Thanks for you time and professional guidance

Presumably you're in Washington State?

If so, the list of who is/is not eligible to have a conviction removed from their criminal history is governed by RCW 9.96.060.

It's important to note that while you might be eligible to have this done, the sentencing court isn't obligated to do it. They simply have the discretion to elect to do it for you, or not do it for you. To figure out the ins and outs of it, you'll have to contact the court having original jurisdiction over the matter to determine their filing procedures.

[Richland2010]

Yes washington state,

I already got the expungement but my record still shows the charge. But now it says "theft 3rd - vacated - case closed."

What i'm looking for is to get the charge completely erased. Where the background check reveals "no records found."

Even with the vacated status I still have to explain what vacated means to human resource people and background reporting agencies because they don't understand what vacated means.... All they see is "theft 3rd" and automatically assume candidate is not competitive for hire.

Thanks Everyone

[ashman165]

Yes washington state,

I already got the expungement but my record still shows the charge. But now it says "theft 3rd - vacated - case closed."

What i'm looking for is to get the charge completely erased. Where the background check reveals "no records found."

Even with the vacated status I still have to explain what vacated means to human resource people and background reporting agencies because they don't understand what vacated means.... All they see is "theft 3rd" and automatically assume candidate is not competitive for hire.

Thanks Everyone

Read the RCW I linked to you; it has information on that very topic and who may have access to even expunged files and whether a person may legally say they've never been convicted as well as which third parties can have access.

If it's vacated, the provisions for having its removal effected are given in those relevant Revised Codes of Washington. The court having original jurisdiction over your case will have before them a set of procedures and attendant paperwork you'll be required to follow and file in moving to have it removed from your record. Good luck.

[Richland2010]

Thanks for the information. I took a closer look at the verbage and went ahead and called the county concerning expungement procedures. The court house worker told me there is no outlined process to have a case expunged and that an expungement is extremely rare... (she has only seen one in the past 3 years where as she see cases vacated all the time). I was also told that I would probably need professional help to draft a specific proposal for a judge to consider, where by the records would be either completely destroyed or sealed with no inidcation of what charge the file was pertaining to.

Is this accurate information?
Any recommendations for legal counsel?

[ashman165]

Thanks for the information. I took a closer look at the verbage and went ahead and called the county concerning expungement procedures. The court house worker told me there is no outlined process to have a case expunged and that an expungement is extremely rare... (she has only seen one in the past 3 years where as she see cases vacated all the time). I was also told that I would probably need professional help to draft a specific proposal for a judge to consider, where by the records would be either completely destroyed or sealed with no inidcation of what charge the file was pertaining to.

Is this accurate information?
Any recommendations for legal counsel?

Who am I to argue with what an actual clerk of court in the actual court where the actual legal work would actually have to be done? If that's what she knows, it's what she knows.

I have no information on who would be a good lawyer, and it's not even the case that a lawyer is legally required. (Though, they are often to your benefit since they, you know, understand the law) So, that's your answer from the actual court having jurisdiction.

If you dislike the answer, call the next senior person to her and discuss it with that person.

[controlvoice]

I am in the same situation, with a vacated conviction in Washington state and realizing that all my problems are not solved. Vacating a conviction only removes it from the public WSP database, it does not remove or seal the original court file. And, it does virtually nothing to shield your coviction from backgound search companies, such as Intelius. Some attorneys state on their websites that vacating a conviction will enable you to pass background checks, but that is an absolute lie, and they know it. Background check companies do not query the WSP site, they go to the Washington Courts website, where an index reference to your case will be listed. If the case is not too old, you can click on this index and see the docket summary information about the case. This is what gets reported to the investigating company. In my situation, because my case was very old, if you went to the court website you could see the index of my case, but all that was visible was my name, the case number and date of the disposition. It was not indicated that it was a criminal case. However, after I recently had it vacated, you can now click on that index and bring up not only the recent vacate information, but also the original case docket summay, which was not visible before. So, ironically, getting my conviction vacated has actually made my court record more visible than it was before! Does anyone know how long that is going to be the case? My attorney tried to get the court file sealed but was unsuccessful, and I'm assuming that if it had been sealed, it would not be possible to click on that idex and bring up the details of my case. From what I have learned about this whole subject, getting your court file sealed is the only way to effectively hide your conviction from investigation companies. But it is also very difficult, with many hoops to jump through. It's like they give you something with one hand and take away something with the other hand.