What Is The General Timeline For An Expungement Case?

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From the time you file a petition, it usually takes a few months to have the petition heard in court. However, if you are arrested in Chicago, it can take up to a year to have the case heard. That’s because they have many more cases than any other arresting agency. Our Criminal Defense attorney in Illinois is well versed with this area of law.

Are There Any Offenses That Are Automatically Expunged Or Dropped From a Person’s Record After A Certain Period Of Time?

No records are ever automatically expunged. If you want your records to be expunged or sealed, you have to take the affirmative action of filing a petition with the court. Juvenile records are not expunged automatically, either. However, the general public does not have access to those juvenile records. You could say that a juvenile record is automatically sealed, because certain people such as law enforcement or state’s attorneys can see those records, but the general public cannot.

What Recourse Do I Have If I Am Ineligible To Have A Record Expunged?

Sealing is another option, if you are not eligible to have a record expunged, but that’s generally only available for certain drug and other cases. The types of situations that can get sealed are even fewer than can be expunged, but it’s worth exploring if you are found to be ineligible for expungement.

What Does A Record Look Like If It Is Successfully Expunged? Would Anyone Be Able To See It?

Generally speaking, if your record were successfully expunged, nothing would appear on your criminal history. It would be empty, your record is wiped clean. Even if an expungement is successfully completed, I tend to still believe that someone out there—maybe a Federal agency, or something like that—might be able to figure out that you had an arrest or case at one time. However, for 99% of the people that are going to go looking, they are not going to see anything. One thing that you do have to be concerned about is that if you were arrested, and that was somehow reported on the Internet, that is not wiped clean by an expungement. As of right now, there really is no good way to clean off a news story or police blotter of your arrest. There are some companies that solicit that business, and they say that for sort of a lot of money they will wipe your Internet arrests clean, but I haven’t seen anybody that can successfully do it. I think most of those are scams.

Why Should I Hire A Criminal Defense Attorney For My Expungement Case? Can’t I Try To Get An Expungement On My Own?

You absolutely can try to get an expungement on your own, but it’s very different than trying to file a lawsuit on your own, or trying to represent yourself in court. Its ill advised to attempt this, because chances are that you don’t really know exactly what you are doing, and your chances are a lot better if you have an attorney handling it for you. I’ve successfully expunged dozens of arrests for my clients, but the rules can be tricky and complicated, and they are constantly changing. You can try to get your case expunged yourself, but like anything you are probably better off and have a better chance of succeeding if you have a professional do it for you, such as a Criminal Defense attorney in Illinois.

Additional Information About Expungement In Illinois

The best way to figure out if something can be expunged is to get a copy of your criminal history and bring it to an experienced attorney. Once I see a copy of your criminal history, I’ll be able to tell right away what can or cannot be expunged, and then we’ll take it from there.

For more information on Timeframe Of An Expungement, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling our Criminal Defense attorney in Illinois at  (708) 218-0947 today.