Expungement is the legal process whereby a person who has been previously convicted of a crime has that criminal conviction take off of their record. This is oftentimes very crucial for people who made a mistake when they were young, but now the older, more responsible citizen is finding that employers, landlords, housing associations, professional associations and others are digging in their past and using that old conviction to prevent them from being all they can be. (There was recently a case where a parent, convicted 8 years ago of a shoplifting charge, was denied a role in managing a little league team as a result of that conviction).

Thus, the Legislature of Oregon has created a means by which people who have been good since getting into trouble can “erase” that terrible indiscretion from their record and begin to live a full, fruitful, productive life free from the oppression of being labeled a criminal.

Under Oregon law, expungement does not erase the crime from your record. It does provide an order by which you can honestly say that “it never happened”. Specifically, Oregon law states “the applicant … shall be deemed not to have been previously convicted, or arrested, as the case may be.” ORS 137.22(3). This “conviction, arrest, or other proceeding shall be deemed not to have occurred, and the applicant may answer accordingly any questions relating to their occurrence.” ORS 137.225(4). We prefer to call it “Sealing” of your record rather than erasing.

Bottom line: once your criminal record is expunged, you are deemed to have not ever have been convicted or arrested and the arrest or conviction is deemed to have never occurred.

HOWEVER…. The arrest and conviction are still there on your record.

Expungement is not a complete erasing of your record. For example: If you apply for a job as a Bookkeeper, your prior conviction for theft will not show up to any prospective employer or in a background check. If, however, you apply to be a Tax Auditor for the federal government, it is highly likely that your conviction will show up.

Because Oregon law permits you to say in honesty that you were never convicted or arrested, the federal government will be able to say that you did acts which would have led to a conviction, and thereby deny you a job. In fact, it is not certain that any other government than the State of Oregon and its political subdivisions are obligated to honor the expungement statutes. Thus, someone trying to expunge a prior crime to avoid trouble with INS (ICE) may find that despite the relief in State court, the feds don’t recognize this and will continue with their proceedings. (If this describes you, you should see a highly qualified Immigration attorney immediately).