May 26, 2013
Expunging Your Permanent Record
Here is your nightmare. You are in your 40s or 50s. The job you faithfully held for 20 plus years just let you go. You have to start over again. You apply for a new job, they do a background check and discover something on your record you had since forgotten. Application denied! It was a mistake from your youthful past and frankly, it should no longer be on your record? Although Missouri is not an expungement friendly state, there are certain circumstances where you can get an old conviction expunged. If it was a felony the conviction must be over 20 years old. If a misdemeanor conviction, it must be over 10 years old.
There are certain convictions that can be expunged. These include:
Driving while under the influence (one offense only)
- Minor in possession
- Felony or misdemeanor offense of: passing a bad check, fraudulently stopping payment of an instrument, or fraudulent use of a credit or debit device
- Misdemeanor offenses of: Negligently burning or exploding, tampering in the second degree, or property damage in the second degree
- Trespass in first degree
- Gambling
- Private peace disturbance
- Public drunkenness
- Any class B or class C misdemeanor offense involving peace disturbance
If you can, take advantage of Missouri’s new expungement law.
We handled a case where a 50-year-old man pled guilty (without a lawyer to advise him) to a crime he committed when he was a teenager. Unfortunately, he lost his job when his company downsized. While applying for a new job, he was turned down because he pled guilty to a misdemeanor that he couldn’t have expunged before 2012. We were able to get his conviction expunged off his record and he is happily employed and no longer paying for the sins of his youth.
An expungement is paper intensive and it can be very difficult to get done. At the law office of Daniel Miller, we are very experienced in dealing with expungements and we can help you with the paperwork and the process. Give us a call today at (816) 875-0470.