Clear your Virginia record.

A court may seal a misdemeanor after seven years, and some felonies after ten, under Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-392.12. A charge that ended in an acquittal, a nolle prosequi or a dismissal may be expunged under Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-392.2. It also covers a charge made in your name by someone else, and a conviction undone by an absolute pardon or a court's writ.

Some records seal with no petition at all. The State Police find them and a court orders them sealed. The law lists a few misdemeanor convictions that seal on their own. They seal seven years after the conviction if you have no new conviction in that time, under Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-392.6. A misdemeanor charge that ends in an acquittal, or a dismissal with prejudice, is sealed by the court that decides it under Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-392.8. You can object to that. Traffic infractions are left out. After a felony acquittal or a dismissal with prejudice, you can ask the court right then to seal it. The court seals it if the attorney for the Commonwealth agrees. Virginia's sealing framework took effect July 1, 2026.

When a record does not seal on its own, you file a petition. It goes to the circuit court for the county or city where the case ended. The court may hold a hearing. You pay no court fee to file.

The court reads your record. A Class 1 or 2 felony conviction, at any time, bars a sealing petition. So does a felony that can carry life in prison. So does a Class 3 or 4 felony in the past 20 years. Any other felony in the past 10 years bars it too. You may have two sealing petitions granted in your lifetime. Say you had no record before, and the charge was a misdemeanor or a civil offense. Then the law entitles you to expungement unless the Commonwealth shows good cause.