Helping Clients Clear Their Criminal Record
Your criminal record can have a negative effect on your ability to get a job, a home or a loan. You need an experienced attorney to help you clean up your record.
At Noonan Perillo & Thut Ltd., we help clients clear their criminal record through expungement or by sealing their record. To learn about these procedures, contact our firm. Our Lake County and Waukegan expungement attorneys will help you understand the process of clearing your record.
The Difference Between Expungement and Sealing the Record
An expungement eliminates the record of your arrest or charge from law enforcement databases. This means that records of your arrest, including fingerprints and mug shots, would be destroyed.
Sealing the record is different from an expungement. The record of your arrest will still exist, but it will be hidden from public view. Potential employers, landlords or lenders doing a criminal background check would not be able to see your arrest record. However, the record can still be viewed for sentencing purposes and by law enforcement personnel.
Types of Cases That Can Be Expunged or Sealed
You can usually have your criminal record expunged if you received court supervision or were not convicted of the crime. When you have been convicted of a crime, it is more difficult to get that record cleared.
If you have had a clean record in recent years, you may be eligible for record sealing if you were convicted or pled guilty to a:
- Misdemeanor, not including violent offenses
- Class 4 felony drug conviction for cannabis or methamphetamine
- Class 4 felony prostitution conviction
In the case of a DUI, expungement is not possible unless you were acquitted or your case was dismissed. There are also separate record-sealing provisions for juvenile criminal records.
In order to determine if your record is eligible for expungement or sealing, talk with a Waukegan expungement attorney at Noonan Perillo & Thut Ltd. Contact a criminal defense attorney to discuss your options.