Everyone has a past. Most people can decide what details they want to share with others. If you have a criminal history, your arrest records could bring challenges even as you try to improve your life.
Why let your criminal record ruin your future? Getting your criminal records sealed could protect you from suffering and missed opportunities.
Would you like to know how sealing criminal records works? Wolf Law LLC’s legal team would be happy to discuss your case and show you how to take advantage of recent law changes that can work in your favor.
How Erasing Your Criminal History Impacts You
Many people with misdemeanor and felony convictions dread background checks. They know that potential employers, lenders, and others will judge their criminal record.
Background checks, often linked to your name, social security number, and fingerprints, could include reviewing the following elements:
- Criminal records: State, federal, and county records of previous criminal arrests and convictions
- Civil court actions: County and federal records revealing non-criminal lawsuits, claims, and judgments (e.g., restraining orders, civil infractions, bankruptcies)
- Employment history: Work experience like your past titles and awards
- Driving record: License validity, including DUI, suspensions, and moving violations
- National authorization: International background checks that sometimes include criminal records from outside of the United States in addition to your immigration status and work permissions
What advantages could you enjoy if a lawyer made your criminal record inaccessible to the general public?
Protecting your employment opportunities
Employers conduct background checks to verify candidates’ qualifications and ensure they fit the company well. An employer may look for red flags like criminal convictions or false information on applications that could indicate risks to the company or its employees.
A criminal history can significantly impact your chances of getting a good job. Employers may view past convictions, especially for serious offenses, as indicators of untrustworthiness or security threats. Even a petty offense could raise concerns in some fields.
A 2021 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reveals that 33 percent of released inmates did not find employment at any time during a 4-year span.
Individuals with criminal records may face limited job opportunities, lower wages, or be passed over for candidates without such histories. If you were incarcerated, the difficulty of finding stable employment can also impact your ability to rent or purchase a home.
Improving your housing prospects
How does your criminal record affect your ability to secure housing? Notice that these laws are in place to prevent discrimination.
Senate Bill 18-057
The following legislation prohibits unfair housing practices based on arrest records or charges that did not result in a conviction, criminal cases not actively pending, or sealed or expunged criminal records:
- Section 1: Honoring or exercising any restrictive covenant (i.e., transfers, rentals, leases)
- Section 2: Asking about criminal offenses or taking adverse action based on them
- Section 3: Requiring housing applicants to disclose information from sealed criminal records
- Section 4: Denying or ending contracts or accommodations
- Section 5: In a civil case against a landlord, certain sealed records are inadmissible as evidence if the case is based on the tenant’s conduct
- Section 6: Landlords must provide applicants with the basis for rejecting rental applications
Section 7 declares this act “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.” Even with bills like these in place, people with criminal convictions could still have difficulty exercising their rights in the face of prejudiced landlords with access to their criminal records.
House Bill 19-1263
In 2019, this legislation changed the offense levels for possession of specific controlled substances as follows:
- A person cannot be sentenced to jail confinement for the first offense of toxic vapor abuse
- The court must require people with diversion or deferred sentences to complete useful public services (rather than suspending their sentences)
- Any level 1 or 2 drug misdemeanor is subject to the same sentencing as other petty drug offenses
Since this bill changed the law, those convicted under the previous version of the law could build a case to expunge or seal records containing misdemeanor drug offenses.
Property owners, employers, educational institutions, and other state and local governmental agencies cannot ask you to discuss the facts in your sealed record. Therefore, you can also take legal action if someone denies your application because you refused to provide information after your record is sealed.
Avoiding discrimination in professional licensing
Colorado licensing boards can refuse to issue, suspend, or revoke professional licenses based on criminal convictions. Often, the offense must directly relate to the profession.
For instance, a veterinarian could lose his or her credentials due to an animal abuse charge, but traffic infractions might not disqualify the doctor as long as driving isn’t a job duty. On the other hand, driving convictions like DUIs could cause a trucker to lose his commercial driver’s license, while petty offenses might be less of a concern.
Other professional licensing boards are more demanding. The Colorado Department of Education requires “you disclose all misdemeanor and/or felony criminal convictions, including those based on a plea of no contest and any deferred judgments” on your application.
You might also need to upload related documentation, including:
- Police reports
- Court dispositions
- Employment termination or resignation letters
- Official reprimands
- Letters of licensing board actions if you have had licenses suspended, revoked, or annulled
A new Colorado law can make it easier for those previously involved in criminal proceedings to leave their records in the past. Since Colorado law prohibits professional license denial based on pardoned, sealed, or expunged convictions, it’s worth the trouble to clear criminal charges from your record.
Enhancing access to financial services and loans
Lenders can conduct a background check as a standard part of the application for credit cards, mortgages, and personal loans. Having a criminal record may also be stigmatizing, so sealing records puts you on a more equal footing with others in this competitive arena.
In the financial world, a criminal record seal could:
- Protect your privacy and reputation
- Prevent unnecessary loan and grant denials
- Give you access to lower interest rates and higher credit limits
- Improve credit score ratings after the removal of negative assessments
Many financial services companies use criminal records as part of their risk assessment models, which can negatively impact an applicant’s creditworthiness. Sealing a criminal record individuals can help you rebuild your credit.
The record-sealing process often opens doors to more competitive loan products and favorable terms, empowering you to make significant financial strides, such as buying a home, investing in education, or starting a business.
How to Get Your Colorado Criminal Record Sealed
Not everyone is eligible for record sealing. Colorado courts grant record seals only in specific circumstances.
For instance, many qualify if:
- They completed a diversion agreement, and no criminal charges were ever filed
- They were not charged before the statute of limitations for the offense expired
- They are no longer being investigated by law enforcement for committing the offense, or the charges were eventually dismissed
- They were arrested for domestic violence, but charges weren’t filed within 1 year
Of course, each case is different. A Wolf Law attorney can help you through each step, from determining eligibility to celebrating an approved petition to seal a record.
The record sealing process in Colorado typically involves 3 steps described in the Colorado Revised Statutes 24-72-703:
- Complete a criminal background check or obtain your previous police reports
- Start a formal petition with the relevant court by submitting the appropriate forms
- Pay the filing fee
Once a criminal record is sealed, it generally no longer appears on background checks. However, law enforcement authorities and courts could still view your full criminal record. If you want your criminal records in Colorado completely wiped out, you will need to do more than a petition to seal your arrest records.
How to Expunge a Criminal Record
Since “to expunge” means to “erase or remove completely,” some assume that expunged records are destroyed. Indeed, some are, such as in the case of a full and unconditional pardon, mistaken identity, or if you were arrested while you were a victim of human trafficking.
Usually, though, expunging criminal records means that law authorities treat criminal convictions as if they never occurred. The most common type of expungement concerns juvenile offenses. When juvenile records are expunged, the public can no longer access them.
If you are asked, you can lawfully deny having been:
- Arrested
- Charged
- Adjudicated
- Convicted
- Sentenced
Only felony convictions are exempt from expungement regardless of the age of the perpetrator.
Felonies or a juvenile criminal case concerning sexual offenses could make you ineligible for expungement sealing:
- A court made a formal judgment for a felony offense involving sex crimes like sexual assault or rape
- You were adjudicated an aggravated juvenile offender or a juvenile offender who has committed violent crimes
- You were adjudicated of homicide or other offenses related to fatalities
- You were convicted of level 1 drug felonies or class 1, 2, or 3 felonies
Your lawyer can help you expunge closed cases where you were found not guilty or after you successfully completed a sentence or a diversion program. A parent or guardian can also act on a juvenile’s behalf.
How to Overcome Challenges in the Sealing Process
Sealing criminal records in Colorado can be a complex process even when it goes smoothly.
When there are obstacles like those listed here, it can become even more challenging:
- Waiting periods: Sealing a criminal record can take a considerable amount of time if there is a legal waiting period in place and the court has a heavy workload
- Fees and court costs: You will have to pay a filing fee at the appropriate court
- Deferred judgment: If you are on probation due to a plea deal, this could lengthen the waiting period
The petition process doesn’t have to be a nightmare. An experienced lawyer can help you schedule a hearing to defend your petition to seal criminal proceedings.
Get Help to Rebuild Your Life
Don’t wait to encounter problems before starting a petition to seal your history. Why not schedule a meeting with legal professionals to discuss the record-sealing laws that apply to your criminal case?
Wolf Law LLC has years of experience with criminal records in Colorado. Our attorneys can help you determine whether you qualify to get your criminal record sealed and to benefit from the new sealing law. Offenses committed long ago no longer need haunt your future.
Sealing your criminal record offers you a fresh start, free from the burden of a past criminal conviction or a petty offense. Contact us at (720) 479-8574 today to learn more about sealing criminal records and moving on with your life.
