Oregon Expungement

Oregon Expungement
According to Oregon law, any individual who has been granted expungement of a criminal conviction can legal answer that he or she has no criminal record. In Oregon when an expungement is granted the arrest records are sealed and cannot be accessed by the public. Since the records are sealed they are not destroyed unless under certain circumstances in juvenile court. Three years after a conviction termination, certain records can be fully eliminated. However all the records of the judgment and records held in the law enforcement agencies will be sealed and persevered. According to Oregon law, destroying records does not mean that they are expunged.

Oregon has the option of setting aside an arrest along with expungement and record sealing. Setting aside an arrest does not completely close the records. The court can motion to open the record under justifiable circumstances. If an individual does not qualify for expungement, he or she may qualify for record sealing or setting aside a conviction instead. When a record is expunged all probation records, parole records, court records, prison records, jail records, and police records are expunged under Oregon law 137.225. At times police investigation records can also be expunged. The court has the power to order expungement of juvenile records, either the complete record or portions of the record, if it is in public interest.

Oregon Expungement Eligibility
Only certain cases qualify for expungement in Oregon. These include, in juvenile circumstances, cases where five years have passed since the person's termination; those who have not been convicted of a Class Misdemeanor or a felony since the termination date; those not seeking adjudication or criminal conviction; and those who have not violated laws under 419B.100 a, b, c, and f of delinquency cases.

Anyone over the age of eighteen who has been convicted of a crime is subject to adult jurisdiction. These records can be set aside if at least one year has passed since the arrest or the case dismissal or acquittal; at least three years have passed since the conviction date; all requirements have been fulfilled as stated by the court--restitution payment and sentences--no outstanding charges have been filed for any other crime; and no subsequent convictions have followed within then years of the conviction, except minor traffic violations. Any conviction that is to be set aside cannot be a municipal traffic offense or a state offense. Previously set aside convictions are used as priors in pending conviction setting aside cases, and if these were set aside in the ten-year time period they will be included as priors.

Different setting aside petitions exist and include second degree attempted assault, child abandonment, third degree assault, coercion, first degree criminal mistreatment, first degree attempted escape, incest for victims under the age of eighteen, unlawful use of a weapon, first degree intimidation, second degree attempted kidnapping, second degree attempted robbery, third degree robbery, and supplying contraband. Crimes that cannot be set aside in Oregon include any sexual crimes, child abuse, first degree criminal mistreatment, endangering a minor, most Class C Felonies, violent misdemeanors and felonies, and other specific cases.

See also:
Oregon Misdemeanor External link (opens in new window)
Oregon Felony External link (opens in new window)
Oregon Gun Laws External link (opens in new window)