Indiana Expungement Lawyer

A Fresh Start Requires Getting the Entire Record Right

A criminal record can continue affecting employment, housing, professional opportunities, and reputation long after the sentence has been completed.

Indiana’s expungement law gives many people an opportunity to seal criminal records or restrict how those records may be used. But expungement is not a single form that works the same way in every case.

The result depends on whether the record involves an arrest or a conviction, the offense and level of conviction, the person’s entire criminal history, the applicable waiting period, and whether the court must grant relief or has discretion to deny it.

There is another important concern: conviction expungements generally must be coordinated within a single statutory filing window.

Before filing anything, I review the complete record and determine what should be included, when the petitions should be filed, and what relief is actually available.

What Does an Indiana Expungement Do?

Indiana uses the word “expungement,” but the records are not necessarily destroyed.

Depending on the category, an expungement may:

• Seal arrest or conviction records from ordinary public access
• Restrict the release or use of criminal-history information
• Require court and law-enforcement databases to reflect the expungement
• Protect a person from certain forms of discrimination based on the expunged record
• Restore certain civil rights
• Allow the person to be treated, for many purposes, as though the conviction had not occurred

The precise result depends on the type of record.

Arrests, misdemeanors, and eligible lower-level felonies may be sealed from public access. More serious felony records may remain publicly visible but must be marked as expunged.

That distinction matters. An attorney should explain the result that applies to the particular conviction rather than simply promising to “erase” the record.

Am I Eligible for Expungement?

Eligibility cannot be determined from the name of one charge alone. Indiana law evaluates the person’s criminal history and divides records into different statutory categories.

Important considerations include:

• Whether the case resulted in a conviction
• The offense and level of conviction
• Whether bodily injury or serious bodily injury was an element of the offense
• Whether the person is classified as a sex or violent offender
• Whether the person has disqualifying convictions
• How much time has passed since conviction
• When the sentence was completed
• Whether there are pending charges
• Whether there have been later convictions
• Whether fines, costs, fees, and restitution have been paid
• Whether prior expungement petitions have been filed
• Whether records exist in more than one Indiana county
• Whether prosecutorial consent is required

Some eligible expungements are mandatory once every statutory condition is established. Others are discretionary, meaning that the judge may deny the petition even when the person is legally permitted to file. Certain serious felony expungements also require the prosecutor’s written consent.

The first step is therefore not completing a petition. It is identifying the correct statutory category and determining what must be proven.

Arrests and Cases That Did Not Result in Conviction

Records may qualify when a person was arrested or charged but not convicted, including cases that were dismissed, resulted in acquittal, or involved a conviction that was later vacated.

Indiana now provides automatic expungement in some circumstances. But automatic processing does not always occur correctly or capture every related record.

A review may still be appropriate when:

• The case remains publicly visible
• An arrest appears on a background check
• The court record was sealed but another agency continues reporting it
• Charges were never filed after an arrest
• Only part of a case was dismissed
• A related collateral proceeding remains public
• The person is uncertain whether an automatic order was entered

Expungement of arrest records is treated differently from expungement of convictions and is not subject to the same lifetime filing limitation.

Misdemeanor and Felony Convictions

Many Indiana misdemeanor and felony convictions are eligible after the applicable waiting period and satisfaction of the statutory requirements.

But felony eligibility is not determined solely by the felony level. The court may need to consider whether bodily injury was an element of the offense, whether the conviction falls within an excluded category, whether the person’s broader criminal history creates a disqualification, and whether prosecutorial consent is necessary.

The difference between categories also affects the result:

• Some records are sealed from public access.
• Some records remain public but are marked as expunged.
• Some petitions must be granted if every requirement is met.
• Some petitions remain within the judge’s discretion.
• Some cannot be granted without written consent from the prosecutor.
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This is why generic online eligibility calculators can be misleading. The correct analysis requires the charging and conviction records, not merely a person’s recollection of the case.

Why the Filing Window Matters

Indiana generally permits only one coordinated opportunity to seek expungement of conviction records.

When convictions exist in multiple counties, separate petitions must be filed in the appropriate counties, but those petitions generally must be filed within the same 365-day period. Convictions within a single county must ordinarily be consolidated.

Filing before every eligible conviction has been identified can create serious problems. So can filing an older eligible case while overlooking a newer conviction that has not yet reached its waiting period.

The strategic question is not merely:

Can I expunge one conviction today?

It is:

What records exist throughout Indiana, when will each become eligible, and how should all petitions be coordinated without wasting the statutory opportunity?

That analysis should occur before the first conviction petition is filed.

Expungement Is Not Always Automatic

For eligible misdemeanors and qualifying lower-level felonies, the court may be required to grant relief when every statutory condition is satisfied.

Other felony expungements are discretionary. In those cases, eligibility only gets the person through the courthouse door. The petition may still need to persuade the judge that expungement is appropriate.

Relevant considerations may include:

• The nature and age of the conviction
• Conduct since the conviction
• Employment and educational history
• Treatment and rehabilitation
• Community and family responsibilities
• The reason expungement is being requested
• The position of the prosecutor
• Any statement submitted by a victim

A discretionary petition should do more than recite the statute. It should present a credible account of the person’s life since the conviction and explain why continued public use of the record no longer serves a fair purpose.

What Expungement May Not Fix Automatically

An expungement can provide substantial relief, but it does not resolve every consequence of a criminal case.

Separate analysis may be required for:

• Firearm restrictions
• Commercial-driver records
• Immigration consequences
• Professional licensing matters
• Prior disciplinary proceedings
• Sex-offender registration
• Driver’s-license suspensions
• Records held by private background-check companies
• Online articles or information copied before the expungement
• Records from another state or federal court

A person should not assume that an expungement automatically restores firearm rights or eliminates every effect of a conviction. The particular conviction and the particular consequence must be reviewed.

My Approach to Indiana Expungement Cases

I begin with the record, not assumptions.

My review ordinarily includes:

• A statewide criminal-history search
• Every known Indiana cause number
• Charging information and judgments of conviction
• Sentencing and discharge information
• Payment of fines, costs, fees, and restitution
• Pending cases or unresolved warrants
• Prior expungement petitions and orders
• Convictions in multiple counties
• Reduced or converted felony convictions
• Related arrest and collateral-action records
• Any need for prosecutorial consent

I then identify which records are eligible, which are not yet eligible, which may never qualify, and whether filing now would jeopardize the ability to address another conviction later.

For discretionary cases, I evaluate what evidence should accompany the petition and whether the matter is ready to present.

Honest advice may mean recommending immediate filing. It may mean waiting until another conviction becomes eligible. It may also mean explaining that a particular record cannot legally be expunged.

Information Needed for an Initial Review

The following information is helpful:

• Full legal name and prior names
• Date of birth
• Current address
• Every county in which an arrest or case may have occurred
• Known cause numbers
• Offenses of conviction
• Approximate arrest and conviction dates
• Date the sentence was completed
• Information about unpaid balances
• Copies of prior expungement petitions or orders
• The reason expungement is being sought

Incomplete memories are common, particularly when the cases are old. That is why the process should include an independent record review rather than relying only on a list supplied from memory.

Strategy Before Filing

Indiana’s Second Chance Law can remove significant barriers created by an old criminal record. But the benefit depends on identifying every relevant case, selecting the correct statutory category, and coordinating the filing properly.

Expungement deserves the same approach as any other important legal matter:

A strategy—not a script.



Contact Brian J Johnson Law at 317-718-7000 to request a confidential Indiana expungement evaluation.