North Carolina has its own unique rules on “expungement,” or called expunction. In general, expunction in North Carolina is only for limited felonies, to remove information about a charge or conviction of a criminal crime in North Carolina. If your record is expunged, any information tied to the crime is permanently deleted from your record, and then you can accurately say the arrest ever happened. One key witness is often a PO… out their attitude. Here’s a case describing a successful expungement in North Carolina: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-court-of-appeals/1127464.html.

The three big questions will be (1) what you were convicted of, (2) have you had any trouble since, and (3) when were you convicted?

In North Carolina, you may be eligible for expunction, if: any charges were dismissed or for charges where you were found not guilty. You can apply if you received a pardon. The type of crime may be expunged (such as if your name/identity was used through identity theft). Age matters a lot…anyone who is 18 years of age or older and wants to expunge their juvenile records, if it was for a minor crime (minor alcohol or drug possession). North Carolina also has a very good Pro Bono (free legal) help for prisoners’ programs… http://www.ncpls.org/Access/May11.pdf or legal aid for low income…http://www.legalaidnc.org/. You may have several crimes on your record, coming from one set of facts. Be careful to correctly list each separate conviction fro expungment. Here’s a North Carolina case where six related crimes were at first expunged. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-court-of-appeals/1411568.html.

Expunction has the purpose of helping you get a fair shake, especially when amount of time has passed without any further, related criminal trouble. Here are the five basic steps you’ll be following:

1 – Find Out Your Eligibility.
North Carolina Law allows expunctions for people that fit certain statutory criteria.

2 – Prepare and Use The Right Court Filings
You’ll file for expungement in the court in the county where any criminal charges or convictions occurred. This may mean having to file several county filings for expunction.

3 – Government Response To Your Petition
Both a county judge, and possibly a district attorney, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) will review your application. The county clerk will tell you when the petition is back and scheduled for the next step…

4 –Attending A Court Hearing
Your completed expunction petition will have reports attached to it, from both the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts and the SBI. A prosecutor may support or oppose it, in person. If there’s no opposition, the process may be very quick and informal.

5 – Use The Court’s Ruling
Following the hearing on the expunction petition, the judge will make a determination of eligibility and enter the determination as a judgment of the court. If granted, the court issues the order to destroy criminal records listed in the expunction petition. This order should include records at the courthouse and at any agencies listed on your detailed expunction petition. This step may be complicated, since many departments may be involved, from the sheriff's department or other state agencies (such as the NC Department of Motor Vehicles). .A copy of the order goes to Raleigh. The bottom line is for you to follow up, and be sure that even electronic records are destroyed.

Even if you can’t immediately get an explanation on why you might be turned down for a job, try and find a way to minimize the consequences of a felony conviction. North Carolina is one of only two states that have created a “certificate” program, aimed at helping people with felonies to get work. The idea is to allow the issuance of a certificate of rehabilitation, stating good grounds for your hiring.

http://www.nelp.org/page//SCLP/2011/PromotingEmploymentofPeoplewithCrimi...