How it works in North Dakota

The steps

1. Request your record

   Ask the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation for your own criminal history record. Complete and sign the Record Request Form and mail the original with the fee to the BCI, by check or money order payable to ND Attorney General — no cash by mail; at the Bismarck office exact cash is accepted. A name-based search needs your full name, every former name or alias, your date of birth and your Social Security number; a fingerprint-based search needs your prints instead and finds a record filed under another name. The BCI does not confirm receipt, so use certified mail or a tracked delivery if you want proof; it takes about seven to ten business days. Your petition must list your criminal history in this state, any other state, federal court and any foreign country, so get the record before you draft it.

   Record request fee: $15.00 — Request for Criminal History Record Information, by check or money order payable to ND Attorney General — no cash by mail, exact cash at the Bismarck office; $5.00 for an eligible nonprofit charity on an approved Application for Reduction in Fee.

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. Gather the petition's details

   Gather what the petition must contain under N.D. Cent. Code Ch. 12-60.1: your full name and every other legal name or alias you have used; your addresses from the date of the offense to the date of the petition; the reasons the petition should be granted; and your criminal history in this state, any other state, federal court and any foreign country — every earlier or pending charge, every charge with a deferred or stayed sentence or one continued for dismissal, and every earlier request anywhere for a pardon, return of arrest records, expungement or sealing, granted or not. The chapter requires no certified copies; if you want a certified copy of the judgment or an order for your own file, the clerk charges a flat fee per document, with no per-page charge.

   Certified copy fee: $20.00 — Per certified copy of a judgment, order or other paper filed with the clerk, with no per-page charge; additional copies of the same document $10.00; electronic copies free.

4. Verify the final documents

   Check each item against your record and the court's file: the names, the addresses, the dates, and every charge and request listed. The court must find by clear and convincing evidence that you completed all terms of imprisonment and probation and paid all restitution ordered for the offense, so keep proof of both with your copies.

5. Prepare your petition

   Write the petition to seal a criminal record under N.D. Cent. Code Ch. 12-60.1; the Legal Self Help Center has no form for it, so you draft your own, with the contents listed above and redacted as Rule 3.4 of the North Dakota Rules of Court requires. You may file if you pled guilty to or were found guilty of a misdemeanor and have not been convicted of a new crime for at least three years before filing, or of a felony and have not been convicted of a new crime for at least five years before filing, or the governor granted you an unconditional pardon of the conviction. The chapter does not apply to a felony offense involving violence or intimidation while you are ineligible to possess a firearm — ten years from the conviction or from release from incarceration, parole or probation, whichever is latest — or to an offense for which you were ordered to register as an offender. The courts' guide says a conviction for driving under the influence cannot be sealed under this chapter; section 39-08-01.6 carries its own rule for it. Draft the proposed order with the petition: the court must find, by clear and convincing evidence, that you showed good cause, that the benefit to you outweighs the presumption that the record is open, that you completed all terms of imprisonment and probation, that you paid all restitution ordered, that you demonstrated reformation warranting relief, and that the petition complies with the chapter — and the order must state that you are sufficiently rehabilitated but subject to section 12.1-33-02.1, the law on licensing after a conviction, and that the court releases the information when an entity has a statutory obligation to run a criminal history background check.

6. Finalize your petition

   Assemble the filing: the petition, the proposed order, and proof of service on the prosecutor. N.D. Cent. Code Ch. 12-60.1 requires the petition to be served on the prosecuting official under Rule 49 of the North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure — for a district court case the state's attorney of the county, for a municipal court case the city's prosecuting official — and the courts' guide says an affidavit or declaration of service, or a sheriff's certificate of service, is the proof. Keep a copy of the complete package for your file.

7. File your sealing petition

   File the petition, the proposed order and the proof of service with the clerk of court in the existing criminal case for the offense — a North Dakota district court or municipal court case. The courts' guide says a filing fee may apply at the time of filing and to ask the clerk to confirm the amount, if any; the court's fee schedule lists no fee for a petition to seal. If your case ended in a dismissal or an acquittal of every charge, use the court's Petition to Close Nonconviction Records instead for an order of nonconviction dated before August 1, 2025 — no filing fee, and the court enters the closing order within ten days if you meet the section's requirements; for an order dated August 1, 2025 or later the court closes the record on its own after sixty-one days. The closing rule does not apply if the dismissal came from a plea agreement with a conviction on another offense, the court dismissed the case on a finding that you were not fit to proceed, the verdict was not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, or the case went to appeal.

   Filing fee: Varies by court — the court's fee schedule names no fee for a petition to seal, and the courts' research guide says a filing fee may apply at the time of filing — ask the clerk of court for the amount, if any. No filing fee may be charged for a petition to close nonconviction records, or for an appeal of a municipal court's denial to the district court.

8. Work with the court

   Under N.D. Cent. Code Ch. 12-60.1, a hearing may not be held earlier than forty-five days after the petition is filed, and the courts' guide warns it may be much later; the clerk may serve the notice of hearing, or you may have to prepare and serve it. Once served, the prosecutor must, to the extent practicable, notify and seek input from law enforcement, witnesses, victims and correctional authorities familiar with you and the offense, and the court weighs their recommendations and the victims'. The prosecutor may also stipulate to sealing without a hearing, or sooner than the chapter provides. At the hearing you carry the burden — clear and convincing evidence of each finding — and the prosecutor may challenge your evidence and present its own. Either side may ask to appear by phone or other electronic means; the judge decides.

9. Receive the court's order

   If the court grants the petition, N.D. Cent. Code Ch. 12-60.1 requires the order to state that you are sufficiently rehabilitated but subject to section 12.1-33-02.1, and that the court releases the information when an entity has a statutory obligation to run a criminal history background check. If the petition is denied, a district court may, for good cause stated in the order, bar a new petition for up to one year; you may appeal a district court's denial, and a municipal court's denial goes to the district court for de novo review with no filing fee. Keep a certified copy of the order for your files.

10. Verify the record is sealed

    Under N.D. Cent. Code Ch. 12-60.1, the seal covers the court record and the prosecution record of the case: neither may disclose the record's existence or contents unless a court order allows it, and the records themselves remain. The seal never reaches your criminal history record — the arrests, charges, dispositions, sentencing and supervision the Bureau of Criminal Investigation holds — or the state's criminal justice data sharing system, and the Attorney General says a conviction stays on that record no matter how many years have passed. The court also releases the sealed information when an entity has a statutory obligation to run a criminal history background check. Confirm with the clerk of court and the prosecutor's office that their records show the seal, and keep your certified copy of the order as your authoritative reference if a background-check provider later produces an outdated report.

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.