Felony Expungement/Vacating Lawyer Vancouver, WA

Under Washington law, some felony convictions can be removed from your record through an expungement process. Said another way, not all convictions can be removed. In order to have a felony conviction vacated under Washington law, the person must first have been discharged under RCW 9.94A.637 What this means is that they have received a certificate of discharge from the court, which is a document that states that the person has completed all the requirements of his or her case. This is a required prerequisite before a vacation of a felony can occur. Once this certificate of discharge is received, the person applying for the discharge can apply assuming they can meet the test below.

A person may not have the record of conviction vacated if: (a) there are any criminal charges pending in any court of this state or another state, or in any federal court against the person applying to have their offense vacated (b) the offense was a violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 (c) the offense was a crime against persons as defined in RCW 43.43.830 (d) the person has been convicted of a new crime in this state, another state, or federal court since the date of the offender’s discharge under RCW 9.94A.637 (e) the offense is a class B felony and less than ten years have passed since the date the applicant was discharged under RCW 9.94A.637 (f) the offense was a class C felony, other than a class C felony described in RCW 46.61.502(6) or 46.61.504(6), and less than five years have passed since the date the applicant was discharged under RCW 9.94A.637 or (g) the offense was a class C felony described in RCW 46.61.502(6) or 46.61.504(6).

Once the court vacates a record of conviction, the fact that the person has been convicted of the offense shall not be included in the person criminal history for purposes of determining a sentence in any subsequent conviction, and the person shall be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense. For all purposes, including responding to questions on employment applications, the law allows the person to state that he or she has never been convicted of that crime. ​