Minnesota Expungement Attorney for Criminal Convictions

Expungement of Criminal Convictions Under Minnesota Law and Inherent Judicial Authority.

This includes felonies and violent crimes, gross misdemeanors, misdemeanors, petty misdemeanors, petty offenses, traffic misdemeanors, traffic infractions, DUIs, DWIs, and any other crime you have been convicted of in Minnesota.

There are six circumstances of criminal conviction expungement and sealing of record:

1. Expungement of Certain Controlled Substance Offenses in Minnesota Under Chapter 609A.02, Subd. 1, and Minn. Stat. § 152.18 (Discharge & Dismissal);
2. Expungement of Juveniles Prosecuted as Adults in Minnesota Under Minn. Stat. § 609A.02, Subd. 2;
3. Expungement of Certain Criminal Proceedings Not Resulting in Conviction in Minnesota Under Minn. Stat. § 609A.02, Subd. 3;
4. Expungement of Records Relating to Identification Data and Information held by Minnesota Law Enforcement Under Minn. Stat. § 299C.11;
5. Expungement of Criminal Convictions Under Minnesota Law and Inherent Judicial Authority; and
6. Expungement of Petty Misdemeanor Convictions Under Minnesota Law.

In this section, we will discuss number five, Expungement of Criminal Convictions Under Minnesota Law and Inherent Judicial Authority.  This is the section that most people think of as criminal expungement.  This is the section that deals with expunging and sealing actual criminal convictions! This section does not deal with trying to clean up a person’s arrest record or getting rid of lingering records after a person has been found “not guilty” by a jury.  This section does not deal with trying to clean up a person’s record after a case was dismissed because the person complied with their terms and conditions of probation based upon a plea agreement entered into by the person, the prosecution, and the court.  For many people, this is the most important section they can read about removing actual criminal convictions from their criminal history record.  In other words, this section deals with the ultimate question people have:  can a person get an actual criminal conviction expunged from the person’s criminal history record and then have it sealed so that others will not know about it?   The answer is almost always a resounding YES!  And it is does through the inherent judicial authority of the courts in Minnesota.

A judge or court may consider expunging any person’s criminal record based upon the inherent judicial authority granted to judges and the judiciary by state and federal constitutions.  In Minnesota, such powers have been limited only by the legislative limits imposed for crimes involving mandatory registration requirements under Minn. Stat. § 243.166.  See Minn. Stat. § 609A.02, Subd. 4.  What this means is essentially that a person may petition the court to expunge and seal ANY criminal conviction on the person’s record – except for those crimes listed in Minn. Stat. § 243.166 that require a person to register.

Through this excellent inherent power of the judiciary, Minnesota judges can (with only a few exceptions) expunge and seal up ANY criminal conviction a person has from the person’s past.  This is true regardless of how much time has passed and regardless of the severity of the offense (again, with a few exceptions).

In order for the court to grant an expungement of any criminal conviction on a person’s record, the court must determine that either one of the following two things have occurred:

First, the court may use its inherent judicial authority to expunge a criminal conviction and seal the record where the person’s constitutional rights may be seriously infringed if the criminal conviction is allowed to stay on the person’s criminal record;  and second, the court can expunge and seal the criminal conviction where there is no infringement of the person’s constitutional rights, but the court finds that the expungement will nonetheless yield a benefit to the person commensurate with (1) the disadvantages to the public from the elimination of the record and (2) the burden on the court in issuing, enforcing, and monitoring, the expungement order.

Thus, the court should grant the expungement and sealing of a criminal conviction on a person’s criminal record when there is clear and convincing evidence that the many advantages to the person from sealing the criminal conviction are commensurate with (or equal to) the burden to the public and public safety or to the courts.  In this case, however, it is worth noting that only the judicial branch records may be sealed by the courts, and other such databases may continue to maintain such records unless further legal action is taken.

Further, the court should deny the expungement and sealing request when the person has not shown by clear and convincing evidence that such advantages to the person resulting from the expungement and sealing of the record are commensurate with (or equal to) the burden (if any) to the public and public safety or to the courts.  Again, the exception to this rule is for those convictions that maintain registration requirements under Minn. Stat. § 243.166.

Attorney Jesse Hall at Twin Cities Law Firm, LLC
Contact Attorney Jesse Hall to arrange your NO-OBLIGATION consultation today:  612-293-5245.
Jesse Hall is an experienced criminal record expungement attorney in Minnesota.  He will fight for your right to be free of your past.  Every person makes mistakes.  Not every person’s mistakes have to follow them through life.  As an attorney and as a law firm, Jesse Hall and the attorneys at Twin Cities Law Firm strongly believe that people should not be judge by their worst mistake in life – often having occurred years prior!

Contact Attorney Jesse Hall to determine your legal option for expunging and sealing any or all of you prior criminal convictions.  Your record is worth it, and you deserve to have people judge you by your current actions – not your past!

For detailed information on Juvenile records in Minnesota, please go to Minnesota Juvenile Law Attorney.