Clear your Idaho record.

Expunging is for an arrest or summons with no charge filed within one year. It is also for a case where you were acquitted of every offense, or all charges were dismissed. You send a written request to the Idaho State Police. The official court file can be sealed too. A case dismissed after a guilty plea or a finding of guilt, like a withheld judgment, does not qualify.

Shielding is for an arrest, a prosecution, or a conviction. The crime must be a misdemeanor that is not on the law's list of assaultive or violent ones, or felony possession of a controlled substance. You file the petition in the same case. You must wait five years after you finish your sentence. That includes probation, parole, fines and restitution. In that time you must have no new conviction, no pending case, and no restraining order against you. The court holds a hearing. There is no filing fee.

Shielding does not destroy the records. It keeps them from public view. Police and prosecutors can still see and use them. It does not change the laws on civil rights after a prison term or on having a firearm after a felony. After the order, the law treats the case as if it never happened, except in court or in peace officer licensing. You may answer that way. You get one shielding in your lifetime. It can cover one offense, or several from a single incident or transaction.