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If you are looking to expunge a California criminal record fast and with the guaranteed lowest price, you have come the right place. We have expunged more than 5,000 criminal records in California— in fact, we helped write and define California's expungement related laws. Best of all, our expungement comes with a money-back guarantee.
A clean criminal record is more important than ever. The chances are that anyone looking to get hired or promoted, to travel internationally or to rent housing will be subjected to a criminal background check. Even friends, coworkers and neighbors can look you up online and find your criminal record for just a few dollars. Fortunately for former offenders, many of them are eligible to have their California criminal record expunged.
We are California's undisputed expungement leader. The law firm with the most cases expunged, that is us. The one with the most published expungement related appeals, that is us. The law firm that can get background check companies to update their reports within 14 days of your record being expunged, that is us. The legal team that helped write California's expungement related laws, that is us, too.
Please take our free online evaluation to quickly and confidentially determine if you are eligible to expunge your misdemeanor conviction.
California Penal Code 1203.4 enables people who have been convicted of most infractions, misdemeanors and felonies to have their case reopened, the finding of guilt withdrawn and the case dismissed (expunged). Once expunged, the conviction is removed from their record and they can lawfully say they were never convicted, in all but three very limited circumstances.
To be eligible for California expungement, you must have completed probation (or wait one year on low-level misdemeanors or infractions where no probation is given), paid all fines and restitution, and not be facing any other charges or serving any other sentence. This means that cases that ended in parole are not eligible for expungement.
If you violated any terms of your probation, you can still expunge your California conviction. While successfully completing probation with no violations makes the expungement process run a bit more smoothly, we also have had great success expunging cases that involved a probation violation.
If you violated your probation, the court will schedule a hearing, at which time the court has discretion to determine whether you should be granted the relief. The judge in making that determination will consider: the seriousness of the offense, your entire criminal history, how you behaved while on probation, and evidence you submit to prove you deserve the expungement (includes needing the relief for a job opportunity, family obligations, strong community involvement or volunteer work).
Offenses that are not eligible for expungement in California include violations of section 42002.1 of the Vehicle Code, Penal Code section 286(c), section 288, 288a(c), 288.5, 289(j), section 311.1, 311.2, 311.3 and 311.11. Also, not eligible are any offense that end in parole or in state prison time (not to be confused with time in the county jail).
Convictions of Penal Code 288 prior to 1997 are eligible in some circumstances. Also, convictions for Penal Code section 311.1, 311.2, 311.3 and 311.11 prior to 2012 (the year the law changed) should be eligible, but will likely require additional work and expense. Please call us to discuss such a case.
Once you sign up, we assign one of our expert lawyers to your case, conduct the research, prepare any evidence that is needed, file the motion and other paperwork with the court, respond to any opposition from the district attorney's office and attend any court hearings to argue your case to the judge.
Our expert expungement lawyers will go to court and fight for your expungement. Only in very rare cases will you have to come to court too. In fact, less than 2% of our California expungement cases require that the client come to court. Expungement hearings typically require hours of waiting court and then about 10 to 15 minutes for the hearing and entering of orders. Expungement hearings, like most motions, are much more informal that trials.
If the expungement is granted, the judge will sign a court order that changes your plea to not guilty and dismisses the case. You will receive a copy of this order for your records. The court will instruct other government agencies to update their records. Private sector background check companies will be updated when they do their periodic updates, which are usually done once a year.
However, if you would like us to proactively notify background check companies and thereby reduce the chances that your expunged record will appear on a private sector background check, see our optional Expedited Record Clearance Update service.
All infractions are eligible for expungement in California. Like other offenses, the person must have paid all fines, completed the sentence and not be serving any other sentence or facing any new charges. If probation was not given, then the defendant must also wait one year from the date of sentencing.
Infraction expungement, which is done pursuant to Penal Code section 1203.4a carries an additional benefit that is not provided to those who expunge misdemeanor or felony cases that involved probation. Once an infraction is expunged, the person can say they were not convicted in ALL circumstances. The three exceptions for felony and misdemeanor cases involving probation do not apply to infractions. So having an infraction expunged provides the greatest legal benefit possible under California expungement law.
Most felonies that did not result in a sentence that involved time being served in the California state prison system are eligible for expungement. We have expunged more than 1,000 felony cases in California. We can also reduce many felonies to a misdemeanor under section 17(b) of the California Penal Code. Once reduced, firearm rights are usually restored and the case is treated as a misdemeanor for all purposes. Having a felony expunged or reduced can provide life changing benefits.
Unfortunately, courts do not proactively notify private sector background check companies about expunged or sealed records. That is why we offer an optional service that goes beyond just clearing your record from government databases and web sites. With our exclusive Expedited Record Clearance Update service, after your expungement is granted we will update the leading background check companies to reflect changes to your criminal record in less than 14 days. If you do not take this step, it can be months and even years before these companies will update their information. The service even comes with a free background check from BackgroundChecks.com so that you can see that your background check was really updated.
California has a special expungement law (Penal Code Section 1170.9) for those who served probation for an offense that was caused by a mental health disorder or other disorder stemming from military service related trauma. See our article on this for more information.
We charge $725 for misdemeanor expungement cases, plus a $175 filing and processing fee. If the misdemeanor was an alcohol related driving offense, we charge $900, plus the filing and processing fee.
Felony cases are $1025, plus a $175 filing and processing fee. This includes having the felony reduced to a misdemeanor if you are eligible for a reduction. There is no extra charge for us to ask the court to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor prior to expungement.
The cost to have an infraction expunged is $725, plus a $175 filing and processing fee. Payment plans are available and we can start with a payment of just $49.
If there was a violation of any of the terms of probation, there is an additional charge of $300.
We do our best to keep our prices the lowest available, but if we missed something and you find a lower one, just let us know and we will be happy to match the price you found.
Having expunged more than 5,000 California records, we know how to get records expunged fast. We start working on the case as soon as you make your first payment. We also make sure your case gets cleared as fast as possible by doing several things. First, we start working on the case as soon as you make your first payment. Second, to help avoid mistakes that cause unnecessary delays, we have three people check the petition before it is filed with the court. Third, we always request and accept the first available hearing date. Cases can be done in as fast as 3 weeks, however most cases take between 1 to 4 months. The amount of time it takes to complete a case is largely determined by the complexity of the case and the court’s processing time.
We have a success rate of over 97 percent for our California expungement cases. While each case is different, we are confident that if your case is eligible, we will determine the strengths and weaknesses of your case and put forth the best arguments in favor of expungement. If your case was from a long time ago, you have many positive accomplishments since your conviction or you are experiencing great hardship because of the criminal record, you have a better chance of success. We would be glad to discuss the facts of your case and give you an idea of what we think your specific chances of success would be.
While some cases are easier to get expunged than others, we are so confident in our ability to win even the toughest cases that we offer a money-back guarantee on our California expungement cases.*
We are the most trusted name in California expungement. Our attorneys have formerly served as prosecutors, district attorneys and judges. We have nearly 100 years of combined experience. There is no doubt that we have what it takes to get you the maximum amount of relief possible and at a process that works for your budget. We have done so for more than 22,000 others nationwide. Let us do it for you.
If you have particular questions about the benefits of expungement, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Our exclusive Expedited Record Clearance Update service allows us to have the leading background check companies reflect changes to your criminal record in less than 14 days, instead of months and even years like our competitors.
| Misdemeanor Expungement | Our Law Firm | Typical Law Firm |
| Price* | $725.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Money-Back Guarantee** | 100% | No |
| Payment Plans | Yes | No |
| Low-Price Guarantee | Yes | No |
| Specializes in Record Clearing | Yes | No |
| Get started with $49.00 Plus 3 interest-free monthly payments of only $225.00. | ||
| Misdemeanor DUI Expungement | Our Law Firm | Typical Law Firm |
| Price* | $900.00 | $2,000.00 |
| Money-Back Guarantee** | 50% | No |
| Payment Plans | Yes | No |
| Low-Price Guarantee | Yes | No |
| Specializes in Record Clearing | Yes | No |
| Get started with $49.00 Plus 3 interest-free monthly payments of only $284.00. | ||
| Felony Expungement | Our Law Firm | Typical Law Firm |
| Price* | $1,025.00 | $2,000.00 |
| Money-Back Guarantee** | 100% | No |
| Payment Plans | Yes | No |
| Low-Price Guarantee | Yes | No |
| Specializes in Record Clearing | Yes | No |
| Get started with $49.00 Plus 4 interest-free monthly payments of only $244.00. | ||
| Infraction Expungement | Our Law Firm | Typical Law Firm |
| Price* | $725.00 | $1,000.00 |
| Money-Back Guarantee** | 100% | No |
| Payment Plans | Yes | No |
| Low-Price Guarantee | Yes | No |
| Specializes in Record Clearing | Yes | No |
| Get started with $49.00 Plus 2 interest-free monthly payments of only $338.00. | ||
* This price does not include the flat Filing and Processing fee, which is $175. If you violated any terms of your probation, there is an additional charge of $300 due to the amount of increased work. In some instances a report from the Department of Justice and/or FBI may be needed, which may require you to be fingerprinted and to pay an additional approximate $25.
If the case was prosecuted by the Anaheim or Long Beach City Attorney, or in Solano County, there are additional fees required to be paid to those agencies. This fee will be due at the time of filing and ranges from $150 to $280.
** 100% Money-Back Guarantee does not include the flat Filing and Processing Fee. There is a 50% money back guarantee for vehicle/traffic offenses and cases with a violation of the terms of probation.
| Benefits | RecordGone.com | Typical Attorney Site |
| More than 30,000 successful cases | Yes | No |
| "A+" rating with Better Business Bureau | Yes | No |
| Updates background check companies | Yes | No |
| Gladly offers to price match | Yes | No |
| Work starts with your first payment | Yes | No |
| Fastest possible results | Yes | No |
| 50+ combined years of experience | Yes | No |
| National law firm | Yes | No |
| Online case management system | Yes | No |
| Experts who helped create expungement law | Yes | No |
| Award-winning customer service | Yes | No |
| Interest-free payment plans | Yes | No |
Sign Up Online *
* You must first take our free eligibility test in order to sign up online.
“All I can say is I am beyond impressed. The firm immediately went to work, and initially we were told it would be over a year to see a judge, they were able to get the case heard in 6 months and were victorious on clearing my record.”
- Robert from Los Angeles
