California (CA) — Expungement & Record Clearing

Remedy

Petition to seal arrest records (Penal Code § 851.91; forms CR-409/CR-410) and automatic DOJ 'arrest relief' (Penal Code § 851.93); also diversion-specific sealing (§§ 851.87, 851.90, 1001.9) and factual-innocence sealing and destruction (§§ 851.8, 851.85, 851.86)

Waiting period

Petition (§ 851.91): no fixed waiting period, but not available while the person may still be charged with an offense from the arrest. Automatic (§ 851.93): no wait for a dismissed misdemeanor charge; 1 calendar year after arrest for a misdemeanor arrest with no charges; 3 calendar years after arrest for a felony arrest with no charges (6 years if the offense is punishable by 8 or more years).

A person whose arrest did not end in a conviction (no charges filed, charges dismissed, diversion or DEJ completed and charges dismissed, or acquittal) can petition the court to seal the arrest; in most cases the court must grant it as a matter of right. Separately, each month the DOJ automatically grants arrest relief for many such arrests made on or after January 1, 1973: dismissed misdemeanor charges, misdemeanor arrests with no charges after one year, felony arrests with no charges after three years (six years for offenses punishable by eight or more years), and arrests where a listed diversion program was completed. An arrest granted relief is treated as not having occurred, but law enforcement can still see it.

• ✗Petition is not available while the person may still be charged with an offense on which the arrest was based
• ✗Arrests for domestic violence, child abuse, or elder abuse where the record shows a 'pattern' can be sealed only in the interests of justice (court discretion)
• ✗Automatic relief currently covers dismissed charges only for misdemeanor arrests; felony arrests where charges were filed and later dismissed are not on the current automatic list
• ✗Sealed or relieved arrests must still be disclosed on applications for public office, peace officer employment, or a state or local license (petition route) and for peace officer employment (automatic route)

Sources: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Record cleaning: arrest with no conviction (Who qualifies and what can be sealed; NOTE; How to ask to seal your record; Diversion Programs; +1 more); Judicial Council form CR-409-INFO, Information on How to File a Petition to Seal Arrest and Related Records (Rev. Jan. 1, 2024) (Item 5, How will the court make its decision?); Senate Committee on Public Safety, analysis of SB 1342 (Durazo), hearing Apr. 7, 2026 (restates existing law) (p. 2, existing law (§ 851.93(a)(1)); p. 2, existing law (§ 851.93(a)(2)); p. 3, existing law (§ 851.93(b)(3)); p. 7, comment 2); California DOJ, Automatic Record Relief - Penal Code sections 851.93 and 1203.425 (FAQ: what will prospective employers be able to see)

Remedy

Dismissal under Penal Code § 1203.4 (probation granted) or § 1203.4a (no probation), using form CR-180/CR-181; automatic DOJ conviction relief under § 1203.425; reduction of listed misdemeanors to infractions under § 17(d)

Waiting period

Petition: after probation ends or is terminated early (§ 1203.4); at least one year after conviction if no probation (§ 1203.4a). Automatic: after completing probation without revocation, or at least one calendar year after judgment for a misdemeanor or infraction without probation once the sentence is completed.

If the person completed probation (or got early termination), the court must grant dismissal under § 1203.4; otherwise relief is up to the court in the interests of justice. Without probation, a person can petition one year after conviction (§ 1203.4a). The petitioner must have no pending cases and not be on probation or parole. Many misdemeanors are also dismissed automatically by the DOJ under § 1203.425 when probation was completed without revocation, or one year after judgment when there was no probation and the sentence was completed, so a petition may be unnecessary (though it can have added benefits).

• ✗Automatic relief: anyone required to register as a sex offender, on active supervision, serving a sentence, or with pending charges
• ✗Prosecutor or probation department may petition to block automatic relief on public-safety grounds
• ✗Petition route: Penal Code §§ 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.11 convictions are ineligible under § 1203.4; Vehicle Code § 42002.1 misdemeanors and Penal Code § 288(c) convictions are ineligible
• ✗Petition route: must not be on probation or parole, serving a sentence, or facing new charges

Sources: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Record cleaning: Misdemeanors (Who qualifies; Things to consider if you qualify); Judicial Council form CR-180, Petition for Dismissal (Rev. Jan. 1, 2024) (Item 3 (Pen. Code, § 1203.4a)); Senate Committee on Public Safety, analysis of SB 1342 (Durazo), hearing Apr. 7, 2026 (restates existing law) (p. 4, existing law (§ 1203.425(a)(1)(B)); p. 4, existing law (§ 1203.425(b)(1))); Superior Court of San Diego County, PKT-026 Misdemeanor Petition for Dismissal Packet, form CRM-202 (Rev. 2/24) (Ineligible Violations)

Remedy

Dismissal under Penal Code § 1203.4 (felony probation), § 1203.41 (county-jail § 1170(h)(5) or state-prison sentence), § 1203.42 (pre-2011 prison sentence that would now be a county-jail sentence), § 1203.4b (fire camp/firehouse); reduction of 'wobblers' to misdemeanors under § 17(b); automatic DOJ conviction relief under § 1203.425 (SB 731 felony track)

Waiting period

Probation cases: after probation ends (§ 1203.4). § 1203.41: 1 year after completing a § 1170(h)(5)(B) sentence with mandatory supervision; 2 years after completing a § 1170(h)(5)(A) county-jail sentence without mandatory supervision or a state-prison sentence. Automatic (felonies other than completed probation): 4 years after completing probation or supervision, with no new felony conviction.

Felony probation cases follow § 1203.4 (mandatory if probation was completed). Felonies with a county-jail (§ 1170(h)(5)) or state-prison sentence can be dismissed at the court's discretion under § 1203.41 after a 1- or 2-year wait; state-prison cases qualify only if the conviction did not require sex-offender registration. A wobbler can also be reduced to a misdemeanor. The DOJ automatically grants relief for felonies where probation was completed without revocation and, under the SB 731 track, for other felonies four years after all incarceration and supervision ended with no new felony conviction, except serious, violent, or registrable felonies.

• ✗State-prison felonies that resulted in a sex-offender registration requirement cannot be dismissed under § 1203.41
• ✗Automatic felony track excludes serious felonies, violent felonies, and felonies requiring sex-offender registration
• ✗Automatic relief is unavailable to anyone required to register as a sex offender, on active supervision, serving a sentence, or with pending charges
• ✗§ 1203.4 does not apply to listed offenses such as Penal Code §§ 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.11
• ✗Petition route requires not being on parole, mandatory supervision, or probation, not serving a sentence, and no pending charges

Sources: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Paths to dismiss a felony conviction / Proposition 47 (Felony conviction with probation or county jail sentence; Felony conviction with county jail sentence under Penal Code section 1170(h)(5); Felony conviction with a state prison sentence; Fire camp or institutional firehouse participants); Judicial Council form CR-180, Petition for Dismissal (Rev. Jan. 1, 2024) (Item 5c (Pen. Code, § 1203.41); Item 5a (Pen. Code, § 1203.41); Item 5 (Pen. Code, § 1203.41); Item 6 (Pen. Code, § 1203.42); +1 more); Senate Committee on Public Safety, analysis of SB 1342 (Durazo), hearing Apr. 7, 2026 (restates existing law) (p. 4, existing law (§ 1203.425(a)(1)(B))); Superior Court of San Diego County, PKT-026 Misdemeanor Petition for Dismissal Packet, form CRM-202 (Rev. 2/24) (Ineligible Violations)

Remedy

Discretionary dismissal under Penal Code § 1203.4(c) for offenses described in Vehicle Code § 12810(a)-(e) (which includes DUI under Vehicle Code § 23152); possible automatic DOJ relief under § 1203.425

Waiting period

Court petition: after probation ends (or is terminated early); the court decides in the interests of justice. Automatic relief, if it applies, follows the general conviction rules (completed probation without revocation, or one year after judgment for a misdemeanor without probation).

For offenses described in Vehicle Code § 12810(a)-(e), which include DUI, dismissal under § 1203.4 is up to the court even after probation is completed. The automatic-relief eligibility rules in § 1203.425 (as restated by the Senate Public Safety Committee) turn on sentence type and completion and do not list DUI as an excluded category, so check the DOJ record. Either way, dismissal does not stop DMV suspensions or revocations (Vehicle Code § 13555), and the prior DUI can still be pleaded and proved in a later prosecution.

• ✗No mandatory (as-of-right) dismissal under § 1203.4: relief is discretionary for Vehicle Code § 12810(a)-(e) offenses
• ✗Dismissal does not affect DMV license suspension or revocation (Vehicle Code § 13555)
• ✗The dismissed DUI can still be pleaded and proved as a prior conviction in a later case
• ✗Prosecutor or probation department may petition to block automatic relief on public-safety grounds

Sources: Superior Court of San Diego County, PKT-026 Misdemeanor Petition for Dismissal Packet, form CRM-202 (Rev. 2/24) (Ineligible Violations; Granting of the Petition); California DMV, Driver Negligence (NOTS points) (Two-Point Convictions); California Courts Self-Help Guide, Record cleaning: Misdemeanors (Things to consider if you qualify); Senate Committee on Public Safety, analysis of SB 1342 (Durazo), hearing Apr. 7, 2026 (restates existing law) (p. 4, existing law (§ 1203.425(a)(1)(B)); p. 4, existing law (§ 1203.425(b)(1))); Judicial Council form CR-181, Order for Dismissal (Rev. Jan. 1, 2024) (Item 7)

Remedy

Same dismissal routes as other convictions (Penal Code §§ 1203.4, 1203.4a, 1203.41) and automatic DOJ relief (§ 1203.425); Proposition 47 reduction of pre-November 2014 felony simple possession to a misdemeanor (Penal Code § 1170.18); cannabis: Proposition 64 redesignation, dismissal and sealing (Health & Safety Code § 11361.8), with government-initiated review under AB 1793

Waiting period

Same as the misdemeanor or felony rows for dismissal and automatic relief; Proposition 47 and Proposition 64 requests have no stated waiting period in the official sources reviewed.

Simple drug possession convictions can be dismissed through the ordinary petition routes and can receive automatic DOJ relief on the same terms as other misdemeanors and felonies. People convicted of felony simple possession before November 2014 can ask the court to reduce it to a misdemeanor under Proposition 47; the application deadline was removed effective October 8, 2023. For cannabis convictions before November 9, 2016 (possession, cultivation, possession for sale, transport), courts are required to clean up many records automatically; if that has not happened, the person can petition with form CR-400.

• ✗Proposition 47 reduction: not available with a prior conviction requiring sex-offender registration under Penal Code § 290(c) or a 'super strike' conviction
• ✗Automatic relief exclusions (sex-offender registration, supervision, pending charges; serious/violent/registrable felonies on the felony track) also apply

Sources: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Paths to dismiss a felony conviction / Proposition 47 (Proposition 47; Proposition 47: Who is eligible; Proposition 47: Applications; Proposition 47: Additionally, to qualify); California Courts Self-Help Guide, Marijuana conviction relief (Prop 64) (Automatic review of marijuana-related criminal records); California DOJ, AB 1793 - Cannabis Convictions Resentencing (Overview); Senate Committee on Public Safety, analysis of SB 1342 (Durazo), hearing Apr. 7, 2026 (restates existing law) (p. 4, existing law (§ 1203.425(a)(1)(B)))

Remedy

Automatic sealing when the juvenile court dismisses a case after satisfactory completion of probation or informal supervision (Welf. & Inst. Code § 786); petition to seal (Welf. & Inst. Code § 781); probation/law-enforcement sealing after pre-petition diversion; sealing after deferred entry of judgment

Waiting period

Automatic: when the case is dismissed after satisfactory completion of probation. Petition: at age 18, or 5 years after the case closed; for § 707(b) offenses, age 18 with probation completed, or age 21 with Division of Juvenile Justice supervision completed.

For many juvenile cases the court must dismiss the case and seal the records automatically when the youth satisfactorily completes probation, unless the case involved a Welfare and Institutions Code § 707(b) offense committed at age 14 or older. Otherwise, a person can petition once they are 18 or five years after the case closed, if the court finds rehabilitation. Once sealed, the case is treated as no longer existing for most purposes, though some agencies keep limited access. There is no cost to petition.

• ✗§ 707(b) offenses committed at age 14 or older are not sealed automatically and have stricter petition rules
• ✗§ 707(b) sex offenses committed at 14 or older that required sex-offender registration cannot be sealed
• ✗An adult conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude bars petition sealing unless that conviction was dismissed, vacated, pardoned, or reduced (change effective January 1, 2025)
• ✗Convictions in adult criminal court are not covered by juvenile sealing

Sources: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Sealing juvenile court records (When records are sealed automatically; Who qualifies to have their record sealed; How a juvenile record can affect you and how sealing it can help; Who can access sealed juvenile records?; +4 more); Judicial Council of California, 2024 Summary of Court-Related Legislation (SB 1161 (Becker), ch. 782 (Juveniles), effective Jan. 1, 2025); California DOJ, Sealing Orders (Overview)