Clear your South Dakota record.

You can ask one year after the arrest if no accusatory instrument was filed. You can ask one year after the prosecutor dismisses the whole case on the record. You can ask at any time after an acquittal. To ask sooner after a dismissal, you must show compelling necessity. None of these grounds is a conviction.

You file a motion in the court that would hear the case for that arrest. The prosecutor gets a copy and may contest it. The court may hold a hearing unless you, the prosecutor and the victim waive it. The court may grant the order if you show, by clear and convincing evidence, that it serves the ends of justice. It must also serve the best interest of the public and of you.

Two paths need no motion. The first is diversion, under SDCL §§ 23A-3-35 to 23A-3-37. A state's attorney does not have to offer it. If you finish the program, you then need one year and thirty days with no new charges, other than petty offenses or minor traffic citations. The state's attorney then files a dismissal and a notice. The court grants the expungement with no motion.

Some cases leave your public record on their own after five years under SDCL § 23A-3-34. The top charge must have been a petty offense, a municipal ordinance violation or a Class 2 misdemeanor. You must meet all the court's conditions and have no new conviction in that time. Court staff, and anyone a court order allows, can still see the case. It can also be used to enhance a later charge.