Filing a Petition to Expunge or Seal a Criminal Record
Beginning July 1, 2012, a person may be able to have the record of a Vermont conviction or charge either
expunged or sealed under certain limited conditions. There are several different types of expungement and the
conditions are somewhat different for each type:
1. Requirements for Expungement of a Criminal Conviction if You Have Not Been Convicted of Any New
Crimes:
• The crime for which you were convicted must be a qualifying crime (see below);
• At least 10 years have passed since the completion of any sentence imposed as a result of your
conviction. For example, if you were placed on probation, at least 10 years must have passed since you
were successfully discharged from probation or, if your probation period was for an indeterminate
length, 10 years from the date you completed all of the terms and conditions of probation; and
• You have not been convicted of another crime since your conviction for the crime you are seeking to
expunge; and
• If you were ordered to pay restitution as a result of the conviction, you have paid restitution in full; and
• The Court finds that expungement or sealing is in the interests of justice.
2. Requirements for Expungement of a Criminal Conviction if you have been Convicted of another crime
• The crime for which you were convicted must be a qualifying crime (see below);
• At least 20 years have passed since the successful completion of any sentence imposed as a result of
your conviction. For example, if you were placed on probation, at least 20 years must have passed
since you were successfully discharged from probation or, if your probation period was for an
indeterminate length, 20 years from the date you completed all of the terms and conditions of
probation; and
• You have not been convicted of a felony offense since your conviction for the crime you are seeking to
expunge and you have not been convicted of a misdemeanor during the past 15 years; and
• If you were ordered to pay restitution as a result of the conviction, you have paid restitution in full; and
• The Court finds that expungement or sealing is in the interests of justice.
3. Requirements for Expungement of Criminal Records when there is No Conviction
In order to expunge the criminal record of a charge that was never brought by the State or a charge that the
Court dismissed, the crime must be a qualifying crime (see below) and ONE of the following must be true:
• No criminal charge was filed by the State and the statute of limitations has expired; OR
• A charge was filed with the Court but the Court did not find probable cause or dismissed the charge at
arraignment AND the statute of limitations has expired; OR
• The charge was dismissed by the court prior to trial “with prejudice”; OR
• The charge was dismissed by the court prior to trial “without prejudice” and the statute of limitations
has expired; OR
• You and the prosecutor have a signed agreement stipulating to expungement of the criminal records
related to the charge.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a qualifying crime?
Crimes that qualify for this process are:
• All Misdemeanor offenses (a crime with a maximum punishment of 2 years or less) except the
following crimes:
o Stalking
o Domestic assault
o Reckless endangerment
o Violation of abuse prevention order, order against stalking, or a protective order concerning
contact with a child
o A prohibited act under 13 V.S.A. §2632
o Abuse of a vulnerable adult
o Unlawful restraint or confinement of a vulnerable adult
o Neglect of a vulnerable adult
o A predicate offense1 (e.g. driving while intoxicated or DUI)
o An attempt to commit any of the above misdemeanor offenses
• The following felony offenses are included
o Unlawful mischief with damage exceeding $1,000
o Grand larceny
What does expungement mean?
Expungement means that all of the records related to your criminal charge are physically destroyed by court
order. This includes all information documenting your contact with the criminal justice system including police
reports, records in the prosecutor’s office and court records. The court will keep a special index of offenses
that have been expunged so that the court can reissue your certificate if you ever need a copy of this
document; but the index is not open to the public and only lists your name, date of birth, the criminal offense
and the docket number if a case was filed with the court.
What is the difference between expungement and sealing?
Sealing and expungement are similar in many respects. In either case:
• You must be treated as though you had never been charged or convicted of the offense.
• You cannot be required to answer questions about your criminal history record in employment or
license applications.
• You cannot be required to answer questions about the offense or incident if called as a witness.
• If the court or law enforcement agency receives a question about a record which has been expunged
or sealed, the response mandated by law is: “No record exists.”
• You will receive a certificate from the court stating that all records of arrest, conviction and sentence
have been annulled.
The major difference between expungement and sealing is what happens to the records themselves. If the
criminal history record is expunged all records in the possession of the court, law enforcement and the
prosecutor must be physically destroyed as described above. If your criminal history record is sealed, the
1
A “predicate offense” is an offense where the law imposes increasingly harsher penalties for subsequent convictions for the same offense.
The offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI or DUI) is the most common example. The penalty for a second DUI is harsher than the penalty
for the first DUI.
records are placed in a confidential file, but are not physically destroyed. The entity in possession of a sealed
record, such as law enforcement or a prosecutor, can use the records for future criminal investigations.
What is the process for filing a Petition to Expunge or Seal?
1. Request your file from the Court:
Before filing a petition to expunge, you should review the information in your criminal file at the court.
You can request to see the file by contacting the court and giving the court clerk your name and any
other information you have about the charge or conviction. A docket number is very helpful. You will
be asked to put the request in writing to the court. Your file may be in Public Records in which case,
the clerk will have to make a request for Public Records to send the file to the court. This will take a
few weeks. Please be patient. The clerk will notify you when your file has arrived at the court and is
available for you to review.
The charge for retrieving a record that is stored in public records is $7.50. If you send a written request
to the court for your file, you should also include a check or money order for $7.50 made out to the
Vermont Superior Court. You should also include a phone number so that the clerk can notify you
when your file arrives.
2. Review the documents in your file
You may review the documents in your file at the court house. The court will contact you when the file
is ready for review. The file will contain much of the information that is necessary for you to
determine whether your criminal case history qualifies for expungement. If you believe that you
qualify, the clerk will provide you with a petition form.
3. Fill out and File a Petition to Expunge or Seal Criminal History
The petition is a court form that can be obtained from the clerk. The filing fee for a petition is $90.00.
You must pay the fee when you file your petition.
4. File a copy of the Petition with the Respondent
The respondent in an expungement case is the prosecutor who brought the criminal charge . In most
cases the prosecutor will be the State’s Attorney for the county where the charge was brought.
Occasionally, the prosecutor is the Attorney General. The Clerk will provide the respondent with a
copy of your petition.
5. Response from Prosecutor
The prosecutor is entitled to file a response to your petition. If the prosecutor agrees with your
request for expungement, your petition may be granted without a hearing. If the prosecutor is
opposed to your request, the court will schedule the matter for a hearing. You must attend any
hearings scheduled in your case. Failure to attend a hearing could result in the dismissal of your
petition.
6. Response from Victim
The law requires the Prosecutor to make a reasonable effort to notify any known victims of the offense
which you are seeking to expunge. A victim of the offense has the right to provide a statement to the
prosecutor and the court.
7. If your Petition is Granted
If your petition is granted, the court will issue a certificate which can use in the event you need to
prove that the offense has been expunged or sealed. For the effect of expungement or sealing, please
see the previous section entitled: “What does expungement mean?”
8. If your Petition is Denied
If your petition for expungement is denied by the court, you may not bring another petition for at least
five (5) years.
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