Clear your Iowa record.

You apply in the court that handled the case. For a dismissed or not-guilty case, you, the prosecutor or the court itself can ask for the order. It covers any public offense. You must have paid what you owe the court. And 180 days must have passed since the verdict or the dismissal. The court can waive that wait for good cause, such as identity theft or mistaken identity. The case must not have ended with a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. You must not have been found incompetent to stand trial. The court gives the parties time to object first.

For a misdemeanor, you apply in the county where you were convicted. More than eight years must have passed since the conviction. You must have no pending charges. You must have paid all court costs, fees, fines and restitution, and any other sum the court ordered. And you cannot have been granted two deferred judgments before. The law lists the misdemeanors it will not expunge.

A deferred judgment takes a different path. Under Iowa Code § 907.9, when you are discharged from probation, the court's record of the deferred judgment is expunged. So are the counts it dismissed in that case. But not until you have paid what you owe in that case. A related charge dismissed in another case needs a court order that names it. And a dismissed count stays if a count in the case ended in a conviction that was not expunged. A finding of contempt does not count.

You get one expungement under Iowa Code § 901C.3 in your lifetime. One application can cover more than one misdemeanor. They must have arisen from the same transaction or occurrence. Iowa Code § 901C.2 sets no such limit.