Am I Eligible For An Expungement?
Under Indiana law, there are three main requirements that must be met before filing for an expungement:
- You don’t have any pending criminal charges;
- All court costs, fines, fees, and restitution must be paid; AND
- The relevant waiting periods must be met.
Pending Charges
Indiana law does not allow anyone to file for any type of expungement if they have pending criminal charges against them.
Court Costs, Fines, Fees, And Restitution
Indiana law requires all outstanding court costs, fines, fees, and restitution be paid before you file an expungement.
It can be difficult to pay outstanding costs, but it is required before you can file for an expungement. If you can start paying a bit each month, that will eventually help you when you file for expungement. To find out how to make a payment, call the County Clerk’s Office where you owe money.
If you have still not paid off the fees by when you are otherwise eligible for an expungement, you may be able have those fees waived.
Waiting Periods
The law says you can’t file for an expungement until a certain number of years after a conviction or sentence. The number of years you must wait depends on the type of conviction. You should not file for an expungement until you meet the waiting period requirements for ALL your convictions.
There are two waiting periods you must meet before you can file for an expungement.
The first waiting period begins on the day you are convicted of a crime. Ask yourself, “has it been X years since the conviction date for that crime?”
The second waiting period looks backward in time from the present date. Start with today’s date, and ask yourself, “has it been X years since I was convicted of ANY crime in ANY state?”
If the answer to either of those questions is no, you are not currently eligible for an expungement.
| Type of Conviction | Waiting Period 1 | Waiting Period 2 |
| Arrests or charges that were dismissed | 1 year from date of conviction | No second waiting period |
| Misdemeanor or Class D/Level 6 Felony that was reduced to a Misdemeanor | 5 years from date of conviction | 5 years since conviction of ANY crime |
| Class D/Level 6 Felony that did not result in bodily injury | 8 years from date of conviction | 8 years since conviction of ANY crime |
| Class A-C/Level 1-5 Felonies and Class D Felony that did not result in serious bodily injury | 8 years from date of conviction OR 3 years from completion of sentence, whichever is later | 8 years since conviction of ANY crime |
| Class A-C/Level 1-5 Felonies and Class D Felony that | 10 years from date of conviction OR 5 years from completion of | 10 years since conviction of ANY crime |
| resulted in serious bodily injury | sentence, whichever is later |
There is an exception to the rule that you must wait a certain number of years since your most recent conviction to petition to expunge your conviction records. If you get written permission from the County Prosecutor stating that you may file a petition before the waiting period, then you may file a petition sooner.