How it works in Mississippi

The steps

1. Request your record

   Request your Mississippi criminal history record from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety through its name-based background check. You must submit the request yourself — no third party can request it for you — and it can take up to 30 calendar days.

   Record request fee: $32.00 — A name-based check, requested by the individual only (no third party); by credit or debit card; up to 30 calendar days.

2. 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.

3. Request certified documents

   Collect certified copies of the documents the petition rests on. The Fourth District's District Attorney lists them: your charging document, proof of disposition or the sentencing order, and an account balance sheet showing a zero balance, each from the clerk's office where the charge originated. For a felony, Miss. Stat. § 99-19-71 requires that all fines and court costs in the sentence be paid before you petition, so the zero-balance sheet is your proof. If you had probation, classes or other obligations, get certified proof that you completed them — the three-year clock runs from the successful completion of all terms and conditions of the sentence.

   Certified copy fee: $1.00 — per certified document, plus $1.00 per page; some circuit clerks charge more

4. 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.

5. Prepare your petition

   Complete the petition for your type of charge and outcome. Under Miss. Stat. § 99-19-71, a first offender can ask the justice, county, circuit or municipal court where the conviction was entered to expunge a misdemeanor conviction that is not a traffic violation; the statute sets no waiting period. One felony conviction can be expunged three years after you complete every term and condition of the sentence, once all fines and court costs in the sentence are paid — the law allows one felony expunction per person, and convictions that arose from a common nucleus of operative facts count as one, as the court decides. Twelve classes of felony cannot be expunged: a crime of violence (section 97-3-2), first-degree arson, trafficking in controlled substances, a third or later DUI, felon in possession of a firearm, failure to register as a sex offender, voyeurism, witness intimidation, abuse, neglect or exploitation of a vulnerable person, embezzlement (sections 97-11-25 and 97-23-19), felony procuring prostitution, and promoting prostitution. No public official can expunge a conviction related to official duties. The three-year wait took effect July 1, 2026 (House Bill 1546); older guides still say five.

6. Finalize your petition

   Take the completed petition from Step 5, the documents collected in Step 3, and the background check from Step 1, 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.

7. File your expungement petition

   File the petition with the court that heard your case: for a misdemeanor or an arrest, the justice, county, circuit or municipal court; for a felony, the court in which you were convicted. Section 99-19-72 levies the filing fee on each petition to expunge an offense under section 99-19-71, collected by the circuit clerk. Mail or deliver a copy of the petition and your proposed order to the prosecuting authority for that court — the district attorney's office asks for it, and the statute requires ten days' written notice to the district attorney before any hearing on a felony petition.

   Filing fee: $150.00 — Levied on each petition to expunge an offense under Section 99-19-71 and collected by the circuit clerk (Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-72(1)): $100 to the Judicial System Operation Fund, $40 to the District Attorneys Operation Fund, $10 kept by the circuit clerk.

8. Work with the court

   After you file, the court decides how it proceeds. For a felony petition the court may hold a hearing, at its discretion; you must give the district attorney ten days' written notice before any hearing, and the court may grant the petition if it finds, on the record or in writing, that you are rehabilitated. For an arrest that ended in a dismissal, dropped charges, no disposition or a not-guilty verdict, the statute directs the court to expunge the record on your petition; for a first offender's misdemeanor, the court rules on the petition. Respond promptly to anything the court asks for.

9. Receive the court's order

   Once the judge rules, the court issues a written order either granting or denying your petition. If the court denies a felony petition, its findings must be identified specifically, not generally. Review the order's terms carefully — they spell out exactly which records are covered. Keep a certified copy for your own files.

10. Verify the record is cleared

    Under Miss. Stat. § 99-19-71, the order expunges the conviction or the arrest from all public records. The Mississippi Criminal Information Center keeps a nonpublic record of the order, used only to decide in a later case whether you are a first offender, and a district attorney's office may keep one for law enforcement purposes only. In the contemplation of the law you are restored to the status you held before the arrest or indictment, and you may answer an inquiry without reciting the arrest, indictment or conviction — except that a court may ask you, in camera, about the prior conviction and expunction when you are called as a prospective juror. An employer may still ask whether an order of expunction has been entered for you. Keep your certified copy of the order: if a background-check company later produces an outdated report, it is your authoritative reference, and confirm with the clerk of court and the arresting agency that their records reflect the order.

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.