How it works in Arizona

The steps

1. Get fingerprinted

   Visit your local police or sheriff's station and have your fingerprints taken.

   Cost: Set by the agency that takes your prints — the Department of Public Safety's page names no fingerprint fee and sends you to a law enforcement agency for the prints; it is the source for the Record Review Packet

2. Request your record

   Complete and submit your application to request an official copy of your criminal history record.

3. Review your record

   Confirm there is no disqualifying information in your history. If there is something incorrect, follow the process to challenge the issue. If everything is accurate, make a copy for your file and keep the original somewhere safe.

4. Request certified documents

   Collect certified copies of relevant documents. These include a copy of the disposition of the case from the clerk of court that handled the original case and the arrest record from the arresting agency. If you had probation or parole, had to take classes, had to pay fees, or had any other obligations, you also need certified proof that you completed the requirements.

   Certified copy fee: $35.00

5. Verify the final documents

   Review each document for accuracy. Confirm each one is certified and clearly shows you completed your obligations. Make copies of every original.

6. Prepare your petition

   Complete the petition based on the type of charge and outcome you are seeking. For a conviction, Arizona's sealing law sets a wait that runs from the day you finished the nonmonetary terms of your sentence and the court discharged you: ten years for a class 2 or 3 felony; five years for a class 4, 5 or 6 felony; three years for a class 1 misdemeanor; two years for a class 2 or 3 misdemeanor; and none for a petty offense or an offense vacated under section 13-909. If your records were sealed before and you were later convicted of another felony, add five years to that felony's wait. All fines, fees and restitution must be paid before you file. A marijuana expungement petition under Ariz. Stat. § 36-2862 has no waiting period.

7. Finalize your petition

   Take the completed petition from Step 6, the documents collected in Step 4, and the background check from Step 2, and put them together in a complete package. Double-check every file in the package is the original and ensure you have a copy of the complete package for your personal file.

8. File your expungement petition

   File the petition with the court that handled the case. Arizona's filing fee is set by statute and varies by county. The Department of Public Safety may charge its own fees as well: under Ariz. Stat. § 13-911, a fee determined by its director for the investigation and, if your petition succeeds, a fee determined by its director to research and correct your criminal history record — neither one if you are indigent, or if you were found not guilty or the case was dismissed or not prosecuted and you filed under the statute's subsection C, paragraph 2 or 3; and under Ariz. Stat. § 36-2862, unless you are indigent, a reasonable fee determined by its director to research and correct your criminal history record if your petition succeeds.

   Filing fee: $35.00 — Maricopa superior court's 'Seal a Court File' line; justice and municipal courts have their own schedules

9. Decide on a hearing

   Arizona offers a hearing on request. If you want the court to hear argument before ruling, file your request for a hearing along with the petition.

10. Receive the court's order

    Once the judge rules, the court issues a written order either granting or denying your petition. Review the order's terms carefully — they spell out exactly which records are covered. Keep a certified copy for your own files.

11. Verify the record update

    Arizona law directs the Department of Public Safety to mark the case records sealed — or, for a marijuana record, to seal and separate it — and the arresting and prosecuting agencies to mark their files the same way. If a background-check provider later produces an outdated report, your certified copy of the order is your authoritative reference. Under Ariz. Stat. § 13-911, once your records are sealed you may say you were never arrested for, charged with or convicted of that crime — on job, housing, financial-aid and loan applications included — except in the cases the statute lists: an application for a fingerprint clearance card; a class 2 or 3 felony under title 13, chapter 34; certain offenses when the job matches them (work inside homes after a burglary or theft record; care of minors after child abuse or aggravated assault; care of vulnerable or older adults after vulnerable-adult abuse; driving, boating or flying for work after a listed vehicle offense; handling another person's money after a listed property or fraud offense); a position with a law enforcement agency, a prosecutor's office, a court, a probation department, a child welfare agency, the Department of Child Safety, the Department of Juvenile Corrections or the state Department of Corrections; a background check to place a child in the Department of Child Safety's custody with you; and any disclosure a state or federal law, or Medicare, Medicaid or another federal health care program's integrity rules, require. Under Ariz. Stat. § 36-2862, once a marijuana record is expunged you may say you were never arrested for, charged with, adjudicated or convicted of, or sentenced for that crime.

If you have to mail anything, remember to keep a copy of whatever you send and to use a method with a tracking number like the USPS Flat Rate Envelope.