Expungement, sealing an arrest, reducing a felony, and California’s automatic Clean Slate law. Plain-English guides to what each option really does and how to start.
Last reviewed: August 2026 Not every California felony has to stay a felony. A large group of them can be turned into misdemeanors by a judge, and when that happens the law treats the crime as a misdemeanor from then on. This page explains which crimes qualify, when you can ask, what the change really…
Two new paths to firearm rights opened in 2026: California’s new out-of-state rule and the federal Justice Department application. Neither one touches a California felony. Here is what each does.
You were arrested. The charges were dropped, or never filed, or you went to trial and won. You did not get convicted of anything. And yet the arrest is still sitting on your record, and employers and landlords running a background check can see it. That is the problem this fixes. You fill out one…
Did you finish probation on a California case? If so, you can probably ask the court to dismiss that conviction. Most people call this getting your record expunged. Here is the good news and the honest news together. Expungement in California does not erase your conviction. It does not delete it. What it does is…