Legal Definition of Record Sealing

File the application with the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. You can get the app by going to the Cuyahoga County Public Defender website. There are separate application forms, depending on the type of file you wish to seal (conviction, no invoice, arrest, etc.). The registration fee is $50. If you can`t afford it, you`ll need to file an affidavit of indigence with your application. The affidavit of need is available on the Cuyahoga County Court Clerk`s website. Submit your complete application to the Cuyahoga County Court Clerk. **Please note that the Cuyahoga County Court Clerk will send you a notification when your records are sealed. After submitting your application, you must contact the case officer to ensure that your address is up to date in the files.** Once the court receives your application, it will ask the Cuyahoga District Probation Service to interview you and complete a deletion investigation report. This report is sent to our law firm where lawyers review it to determine its relevance. The Cuyahoga County District Attorney`s Office can either appeal your request to seal the records, which means that we have determined that you are not authorized to have your records sealed, or file a «letter in response,» which means that we have determined that you meet the sealing requirements for your records. You and the court will receive submissions from our office.

Once this happens, a hearing will be scheduled to review your application. A judge has the final decision whether or not to seal your case. If the judge decides to seal your records, a certified court order will be sent to all authorities holding your arrest or conviction records to seal them. You will also receive a copy of the order. A criminal record can significantly limit access to employment, education, housing, civic engagement, and public support. Nearly 9 in 10 employers, 4 in 5 landlords, and 3 in 5 colleges use background checks to search candidates` criminal records, and one study found that more than 45,000 federal and state laws and regulations impose disqualifications or disadvantages on convicted individuals. Even if there is no conviction, an arrest on a record reduces a person`s employment prospects more than other common job-related stigmas. In addition, the collateral damage of a criminal record spans generations, as socio-economic barriers associated with a parent`s criminal record can impact a child`s well-being and long-term outcomes. Read our information (below) on sealing files for different legal situations. Under Virginia`s current expungement law, expunging a criminal record, even with the help of a lawyer, often takes at least nine months, and sometimes much longer. Since the new legislation provides for automatic sealing, some records will be sealed monthly once they are authorized. The petition-based sealing process will still take several months, but one of the sources of delays under the old law is the requirement for individuals to take their fingerprints.

Under the new law, the fingerprint requirement has been abolished, so the process should be speeded up somewhat. Not much in Virginia. In some states, deletion means that a criminal record has been completely destroyed, while sealing means that a record has been placed in a safe place where few people can access it for very specific reasons. The current Virginia law says «suppression,» while the new law says «sealing,» but the terms are defined in the same way. In Virginia, deletion means that a recording has been placed in a secure location where only a few people can access it for very specific reasons, such as: whether a clerk has access so that he can collect payments for fines or fees still due for the case. According to the new law, sealing means that the file is transferred to a confidential and secure area that is not accessible for normal use. Once a document has been sealed or deleted, it can only be accessed by court order and only for certain specific reasons specified in the law. Most importantly, whether a record is sealed or deleted, most employers and landlords no longer have access to it. The Commonwealth will keep two copies of each criminal record.

One is being held by the Virginia State Police and the other is being held by the court where the person was charged. The new law defines sealing as a prohibition on sharing these two files – meaning the court will not tell anyone that you have been charged, except in certain circumstances where there is a court order (see below). The main difference between expunging a person`s criminal record and sealing is that a sealed record still «exists» in the legal and physical sense, while deletion results in the deletion of all records that an arrest or criminal complaint has already taken place. This is usually a standard procedure of sealing records of juvenile criminal proceedings once the person reaches the age of 18, as well as other criminal cases involving a minor, but these records are always accessible with a court order. In addition, states are enacting legislation to remove barriers to the professional admission of persons with criminal records. Today, a work permit is required for more than 1 in 4 jobs, including those in some of the fastest growing industries such as healthcare. In 2019 alone, at least nine states, including Texas, began opening up these opportunities to qualified individuals with records by removing vague language in laws and regulations, requiring transparency in licensing authority decisions, and removing blanket prohibitions for people with records to obtain licenses. If you have a criminal record – whether for convictions or non-convictions (such as a case that was dismissed or in which you were found not guilty) – you may be eligible to have your case sealed. We have provided the following information to help you understand the process of sealing adult criminal records. Because our office reviews these applications and makes recommendations to the courts, we cannot help you request that your documents be sealed.

However, we have listed other agencies and resources that can help you with this process. Please do not contact our office for assistance with a deletion request. Please also note that our office only processes requests for sealing of documents from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.