To “expunge” is to “erase or remove completely.” In law, “expungement” is the process by which a record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from state or federal record. ... Likewise, pardons are not expungements and do not require removal of a conviction from a criminal record.

Do expunged records show up on background checks?

Expunged charges are erased from the record entirely, and sealed records still exist but are inaccessible to the public. Generally, sealed and expunged records will never appear on a background check.

Is expunging your record worth it?

In a Nutshell: Expungement has legitimate value for employment purposes and recently, due to recent new laws, in professional licensing. However, expungement does not erase, delete, remove or, like a sponge cleaning up a spilled drink, restore one's record to appear like nothing happened.