Shoplifting 8 years ago..what can I do now?

Hello to all and thank you for these boards! How I wish I'd known many of the things posted here 8 years ago!

Jan 1998, I was in Walmart with my 'friend'...I had my niece with us who was 2 at the time. My niece was potty training, and had to go while we were in the store, and I handed my 'friend' (I use the term loosely now) my shopping bag from another store to hold until we got back. We returned from the restroom, I gathered my belongings from her, I purchased the swimsuit I'd gone in for, and we proceeded to leave. The alarms went off as we were leaving, figuring it was the swimsuit I went to the guard as did 'friend' who'd also purchased a couple of things. They went thru our bags, and found a bunch of jewelry in MY bag. My good 'friend' had slipped many things in MY bag while I was in the restroom. I started screaming at her, she said she didn't know what I was talking about and proceeded to leave with MY niece while they took me into custody. I was arrested, fingerprinted, and went to court.

I had NO idea of my rights, I was scared to death, and I was young (20). I hadn't done ANYTHING wrong, except choose a 'friend' of poor character. I went to court and pleaded no contest as I truly had no idea of what to do. I was not told of any diversion, probation programs, not given any options except guilty, not guilty or no contest. I had no idea that I could ask for that or try to deal with the prosecutor. I never thought to ask about video to exonerate me, and no one ever mentioned it. I just feel so badly now that I was so ignorant and uninformed and I just sat back and let 'friend' and everyone else just push me around. I had never been in trouble before, or since. I've never even had a speeding ticket, so I was totally in foreign waters.

I have learned alot from this terrifying experience. I am now a stay at home mom, I choose my friends with MUCH more care and hesitation, I'm a much better judge of character, and I've not been in any sort of trouble since. I am wanting to sign up for the McGruff house thru my childrens school but cannot because of this conviction. I'm wondering what I would need to do to find out about expungement and if I would be a good canidate? I've searched on the net and on this site and cannot find exactly what I need. I was convicted in CO and now reside in KS, would that play a part in how I would handle this?

Any other information that you can provide would be most beneficial and greatly appreciated.

Colorado's adult criminal conviction records may not be sealed.
http://www.lac.org/lac/main.php?view...&subaction1=CO

You may wish to explore the possibility of a pardon. Pardons in Colorado are issued by the governor. Applications are available through:

Mark Noel
Executive Chambers
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792
Tel: (303) 866-2471

I don't know that an executive pardon would get the conviction off of your record, but it would fully restore your civil rights, remove any employment impediment (i.e., jobs you would otherwise be disqualified from holding as a matter of law), and should otherwise improve employability.