Next year, some Virginians with past convictions will be eligible to apply for their criminal records to be sealed — meaning long-past convictions won’t show up on background checks.
The process stems from a 2021 law that underwent several years of changes before its delayed implementation.
Virginia Mercury reports:
Starting next summer, people with some misdemeanor and felony convictions will be able to petition to have their records sealed. For felonies, people need to have had no new convictions for 10 years to be eligible, while people with misdemeanor convictions need to have no new convictions in seven years. People with Class 1 or 2 felony convictions, typically violent crimes, or charges that carry life sentences are not eligible. And petitioners must not have been convicted of a Class 3 or Class 4 felony within 20 years.
For people with misdemeanors that might have been dismissed but still appear on records, expungement of records is a separate process they can seek out through their local circuit courts.
While expungement has been a limited option for people in Virginia, record-sealing is new.
The 2021 law’s rollout has been slowed down to give circuit court clerks time to prepare for waves of people who would seek a sealing, determine how far back in court records would be permitted (prior to the 1980s, most courts weren’t digitized), and compromise on the types of crimes that are eligible.
