You were convicted of a misdemeanor at the age of 17. Flashback, you and a group of your friends decided to purchase alcohol and have a few brews at the local park. Soon after a plain clothes officer approaches and asks the group what they were doing. A beer bottle drops and you all are caught. You are charged with consuming alcohol in a public area, as well as, underage drinking. Fast forward, you’re 21 years old and entering the workforce. When it comes time to complete the application for your dream job, the “have you ever been convicted of a crime” question is smack dab in the middle of the document. It’s been a full 4 years, you haven’t been in any trouble since, and lucky for you, the time required to file for an expungement has been changed.
North Carolina’s New Expungement Law or Senate Bill 445, became effective December 1, 2017 after approval by Governor Roy Cooper. With this law, more individuals will have the opportunity to expunge past criminal charges sooner than the time usually required. Additionally, this new law allows prosecutors and law enforcement officials to access charges that have previously been expunged. Most importantly, prosecutors are able to use your expunged criminal offenses to calculate sentencing levels whenever one is convicted of a succeeding criminal offense.
How Has the New Expungement Law Been Implemented? The new law aims to minimize the wait time to clear felony convictions and non-violent misdemeanors that is required before filing for an expungement. With this, individuals with criminal convictions in North Carolina are able to create opportunities for themselves, find gainful employment, and even apply for financial aid for continuing education.
Implementation of this law will allow those convicted of a nonviolent misdemeanor to apply after 5 years and those who were convicted of a nonviolent felony to apply in 10 years.
Secondly, the law provides an unlimited amount of dismissals to be removed from their criminal record.
A petition for an expungement must be filed at the courthouse of the county where you were charged. The petition must be accompanied by affidavits and evidence related to the case. Keep in mind information such as disposition, file number, date of charge, and date of offense is important to have before attempting to complete the petition.
DWI Expungement In the state of North Carolina, the offense of Driving While Impaired has not been designated a felony or misdemeanor. However, in practice it is treated as a Class 1 Misdemeanor. Under the new law, a DWI conviction is not eligible for expungement. Petitioning the court for an expungement of your criminal charges can be a complicated and complex process. Allow the experienced attorneys at McCall Law, PLLC to assist you and bring about a favorable outcome! Contact us today and take a small step in the right direction.
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