How it works in Delaware

The steps

1. Get fingerprinted

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

   Fingerprint fee: $72.00 — may be a little more depending on where you have it done

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 those requirements.

   Certified copy fee: $10.00

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. Note the timing rules: a court petition for one case of misdemeanors needs three years; misdemeanors on the statute's special list, or a felony, seven years; violations or misdemeanors across more than one case, five years. Each clock runs from the conviction or your release from incarceration, whichever is later, and you must have no other convictions, with the exceptions the statute lists.

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. The court summarily rejects a petition that does not include your State Bureau of Identification criminal history, so make sure it is in the package.

8. File your expungement petition

   Once you have confirmed you have everything, file the petition in the Superior Court for the county where your most recent case ended — or in the Family Court there, if every charge and conviction you are expunging was handled in Family Court. A Court of Common Pleas or Justice of the Peace case is filed with the Prothonotary in Superior Court.

   Filing fee: $75.00

9. Work with the court

   After you file, serve a copy of the petition on the Attorney General, who has 120 days to answer or object. The court decides most petitions on the papers; it holds a hearing only if it believes one is necessary. Watch for anything the court asks for and respond promptly.

10. Receive the court's order

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

11. Verify the record update

    Under Del. Code tit. 11 § 4372, the court must remove the records from its files within 60 days of the order and place them with the State Bureau of Identification or keep them closed to public inspection; the Bureau then notifies every court and law-enforcement agency that holds records of the case, and each must complete the expungement and confirm it to the Bureau in writing. The expunged records are destroyed, segregated or held by the Bureau and are not released except as the law allows for law enforcement, and when anyone outside law enforcement asks, every court and law-enforcement agency must answer that there is no record. Confirm with each agency that its records reflect the order. If a background-check provider later produces an outdated report, your certified copy of the court's order is your authoritative reference.

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.