In the common law legal system, an expungement proceeding is a type of lawsuit in which a first time offender of a prior criminal conviction seeks that the records of that earlier process be sealed, making the records unavailable through the state or Federal repositories.

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.

What does it mean when your record is expunged?

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. ... Expungement proceedings, however, must be ordered by a judge, or court.