Ohio Senate Bill 337 was enacted on September 28, 2012. The new law will broaden the pool of those eligible to have their criminal records expunged, i.e. sealed.
Under the old law, only first offenders were eligible to have a conviction sealed. A first offender was anyone who had been convicted of only one offense. If you had two convictions, even if they were only misdemeanors, and several years apart, you could not expunge your record.
Under the new law, courts have discretion to seal an applicant’s criminal record even when there is more than one offense present. A party may be eligible for a record expungement under three sets of circumstances: 1) where there is one felony conviction, 2) where there are one or two unrelated misdemeanor convictions, or 3) where there is one felony and one misdemeanor conviction
If you have been convicted of a felony and three years have passed or you have been convicted of a misdemeanor and one year has passed, you may be eligible to have your record sealed. A good attorney can help you determine your eligibility and make application to the court to permanently seal your records. Read more about protecting your rights on our website www.godbeylaw.com.
Stefanie N. Brunemann, Esq. Godbey & Associates