How to Get Your Record Expunged in California (Penal Code 1203.4)

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 change your record so the case shows as dismissed instead of as a live conviction. That still helps a lot, mostly with jobs. But it is not a total clean slate. This page shows you exactly what it fixes and what it does not.

What expungement really does

When the court says yes, your case gets dismissed. The law then lifts most of the penalties that came from the conviction.

The biggest win is jobs. After a dismissal, most private employers cannot hold the conviction against you. On most private job applications, you can honestly answer that you were not convicted.

But the conviction does not vanish. It still exists. It just carries a “dismissed” status.

How you actually get it (it is mostly a form)

People picture a big, scary day in court. It is almost never like that. In real life, expungement is mostly paperwork. You fill out a form, you file it, and in many cases the court just mails you back an order saying it is done. No speech. No dramatic hearing.

And if you did everything you were supposed to do, the judge usually has to grant it. It is close to automatic.

Do you qualify? Quick checklist

You can usually get an expungement if you can check every box:

☐ You finished probation (or the judge ended it early).
☐ You are not in trouble right now. That means not charged with a new crime, not on probation, and not serving a sentence.
☐ Your crime is allowed. A few serious crimes, like certain sex offenses, cannot be dismissed this way.

If you finished probation cleanly and your crime qualifies, the judge is generally required to grant it. Lawyers call that relief “as a matter of right.” There is also a related law, Penal Code 1203.4a, for people who got a misdemeanor but were never put on probation. If you have done all the required items under that law, it is granted as a matter of right too.

Read more: the full rules on who qualifies

There are three ways to be eligible under Penal Code 1203.4:

You completed your entire probation term, or
The judge discharged you from probation early, or
The judge decides, in any other situation, that granting it serves “the interest of justice.”

Mandatory vs. up to the judge. This distinction matters. If you finished your full probation, the law says the court “shall” grant it. That means it is mandatory, a matter of right. If you are asking based on early discharge or the “interest of justice,” the grant is discretionary, so how strong your facts are makes a real difference.

You cannot be in the system right now. At the time you ask, you cannot be serving a sentence for any offense, on probation for any offense, or currently charged with any offense. Clear those up first.

Timing. You can file any time after your probation period ends. There is no deadline that runs against you, and generally the more time that has passed, the better it looks.

Owing money does not block you. Unpaid restitution or an unpaid restitution fine cannot be used to deny your petition, and it cannot be used to claim you failed to complete probation. You can owe the victim money and still get the dismissal.

Crimes that cannot be expunged under this section:

Certain sex and obscenity offenses, including Penal Code 286(c), 288, 287(c) (formerly 288a), 288.5, 289(j), 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, and 311.11.
A felony conviction under Penal Code 261.5(d) (unlawful sex with a minor under 16 by a person 21 or older).
Certain misdemeanors under Vehicle Code 42002.1.
Infractions do not qualify under this section.
Major traffic convictions listed in Vehicle Code 12810(a)-(e) are also excluded, but here the court can still grant relief in the interest of justice if you petition.

If you were never put on probation (Penal Code 1203.4a). For a misdemeanor or infraction with no probation, you generally need: at least one year since the judgment, full completion of your sentence, no current case or sentence hanging over you, and a clean, law-abiding life since the judgment. Meet all of those and, like the main statute, the dismissal is granted as a matter of right.

What we see in real cases

A few things make a real difference in whether these go smoothly:

Time helps. Judges usually grant these when a lot of time has passed since the conviction.
Clean probation matters. If you slipped up more than once while on probation, that can work against you.
Good behavior helps. A clean record and good deeds before your hearing make a judge more comfortable saying yes.
The DA may push back when the case had a victim, or when it involved repeated acts. Those are the cases where a prosecutor is most likely to object.

What expungement will NOT do

The two biggest misunderstandings: Expungement does not give you your gun rights back, and it does not automatically clear you for a professional license. People get these two wrong all the time. Read this section carefully if either one is your goal.

It does not restore your gun rights. If your conviction made you unable to own a firearm, a dismissal does not change that. People have been charged as felons with guns even after their felony was dismissed. If gun rights are your goal, this is the wrong tool.
It still counts as a prior. In any future criminal case, the old conviction can be used against you, even as a strike.
You still must disclose it sometimes. You have to admit the conviction when you apply for public office, for a state or local professional license, or to contract with the California Lottery.
It does not undo a DMV suspension. If the case cost you your license, a dismissal does not hand it back.
It does not cancel a restraining order. A protective order that has not expired stays in force.
Police still see it. The conviction stays on your state record for law enforcement, prosecutors, and licensing agencies. It is hidden from the general public, not from them.

Read more: the legal reason a “dismissed” case still haunts you

When your petition is granted, the court reopens the case, the plea or verdict is set aside, and the case is dismissed. The law then says you are released from “all penalties and disabilities” from the conviction. That sounds total, but it is not, and California courts have said so for decades.

Courts have repeatedly held that a 1203.4 dismissal does not “expunge” the conviction and does not turn it into a legal nullity. In plain terms, the conviction still legally exists; it just gets a dismissed status. That is why all of these remain true:

Future cases. The old conviction can be pleaded and proved against you in a later prosecution exactly as if it had never been dismissed, including as a strike.
Firearms. A dismissed felony still counts under the felon-with-a-firearm laws (Penal Code 29800 and related). Courts have upheld gun charges against people whose felonies were dismissed.
Licensing and public office. You must still disclose the conviction for professional licensing, public office, and state lottery contracts, and it can still disqualify you. For some jobs, like peace officer, a dismissal does not remove the bar at all.
Driver’s license. Under Vehicle Code 13555, a dismissal does not undo a DMV suspension or revocation, and the conviction still counts toward repeat-offender license actions.
Protective orders. An unexpired criminal protective order (for example under Penal Code 136.2, 273.5, 368, or 646.9) stays in full force despite the dismissal.
Who can see it. The conviction remains on Department of Justice records and stays visible to police, prosecutors, and licensing agencies. It is shielded from the general public, not from the justice system.

If your goal is one of these things (gun rights, a specific license, undoing a license suspension), expungement alone will not get you there, and you likely need a different tool or a combination. That is a conversation to have with an attorney.

Other tools that might fit you better

Expungement is just one option. Depending on your goal, a different one may be stronger.

Reduce a felony to a misdemeanor (Penal Code 17(b)). If your crime could have been charged either way (a “wobbler”), the court can lower it to a misdemeanor for all purposes. This is stronger than a plain dismissal, especially for professional licenses.
Seal an arrest (Penal Code 851.91). This is for an arrest that never led to a conviction. Careful: getting a conviction dismissed does NOT make that arrest eligible for sealing.
Automatic “Clean Slate” relief (Penal Code 1203.425, from SB 731). California now clears many old convictions automatically, with no petition. You may already have relief without filing anything.

Read more: how each of these other tools actually works

Penal Code 17(b) — reduce a felony to a misdemeanor. This applies to “wobblers,” crimes the DA could charge as either a felony or a misdemeanor. If the court reduces it, the crime becomes a misdemeanor for all purposes going forward. This is more powerful than a dismissal for licensing, because it removes the felony itself; California courts have held a 17(b) reduction can lift a licensing bar that a plain dismissal would not. One catch: it works going forward, not backward in time. Many people do a 17(b) reduction and a 1203.4 dismissal together.

Penal Code 851.91 — seal an arrest. This seals an arrest that did not lead to a conviction, for example when charges were never filed or were dropped without a plea. Important trap: if your arrest led to a conviction that was later dismissed under 1203.4, you are NOT eligible to seal that arrest, because the arrest did result in a conviction. Courts have said so directly.

Penal Code 1203.4a — no-probation misdemeanors and infractions. Covered above in the eligibility dropdown. One-year wait, full compliance, clean life since judgment.

Penal Code 1203.41 and 1203.42 — certain felony county-jail sentences. These cover felonies served in county jail under realignment (and cases that would have qualified for county jail). Relief is up to the judge and carries the same limits as a regular 1203.4 dismissal: still a prior, no gun rights restored, public office bar stays.

Penal Code 1203.425 — automatic Clean Slate relief (SB 731). The Department of Justice identifies eligible convictions and tells the courts to clear them, with no petition from you. The legal effect mirrors a 1203.4 dismissal, and the same limits apply, but the conviction is hidden from most non-justice entities. Because this can happen for free and without you lifting a finger, it is worth checking your record before you pay to file anything.

Here is the honest part: picking the right tool depends on your exact goal, and it is easy to guess wrong. This is the kind of thing to ask an attorney about before you file anything.

How the petition works

The basic steps are simple: you file a form after your probation ends, and the court handles it.

A few things to know about what really happens:

It can take a while. How long depends on how backed up your county’s court is. Some are quick, some are slow.
If you file it yourself, you will probably have to show up. If an attorney files it for a misdemeanor, the attorney can appear for you, so you do not have to go.
Often there is no hearing at all. When the form is filed, it usually goes to a part of the DA’s office that does not object. If nobody objects, no hearing gets set. The court just mails you a letter saying it is done.

Read more: the forms, the notice rules, and early termination

The forms. Most counties use Judicial Council form CR-180 (the petition) and CR-181 (the order the judge signs). You file the petition with the court and serve a copy on the district attorney.

The 15-day notice rule. The prosecutor must get at least 15 days’ notice of your petition. In practice the probation department notifies the DA, and notice is presumed once your proof of service is on file.

Why no-objection matters. If the DA gets proper notice and does not appear to object, the law says the prosecutor cannot later move to undo or appeal the dismissal. Once it is granted after proper notice, it is solid.

Still on probation? If you have not finished your probation term, you can ask the court to end probation early first, then request the dismissal. Ending probation early is up to the judge’s discretion and the interest of justice, and a clean track record helps.

Do you need a lawyer for this?

A simple expungement is something many people do on their own. If you finished probation cleanly, your crime qualifies, and you are okay filling out court forms, you can likely handle it yourself.

You should think about a lawyer if any of these are true: you want to end probation early, your crime might be on the excluded list, you have more than one case, you also want to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor, or your real goal is something expungement cannot do (like getting gun rights back). A quick call can also tell you if the Clean Slate law already cleared your case for free.

This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a California attorney about your situation.