Can I get my criminal record sealed in the state of Arizona?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Arizona has allowed people to petition to seal their arrest, conviction, and sentencing records under A.R.S. § 13-911 since the end of December 2022, which is a meaningful step beyond the older set-aside process that leaves a conviction visible. Sealing is available after arrests that never produced charges, dismissed cases, acquittals, and most completed sentences, subject to waiting periods running from two years for a minor misdemeanor to ten years for a class 2 or 3 felony. A defined list of offenses, including dangerous offenses and dangerous crimes against children, cannot be sealed at all.

Yes, in most cases. For decades the honest answer in Arizona was no — the state had no general expungement law, and the best available remedy left the conviction on the record with a notation attached. That changed at the end of December 2022, when A.R.S. § 13-911 took effect and created a petition process to seal criminal case records.

It applies retroactively. A person arrested, convicted, or sentenced before that date is eligible on the same terms as someone charged last year, which means decades-old cases are on the table. The criminal defense attorneys at Griffen & Stevens expound below.

Who Can Petition to Seal a Criminal Record in Arizona?

The statute recognizes three paths:

• You were convicted and have completed every term and condition of the sentence, including all monetary obligations and restitution to all victims
• You were charged and the charge was dismissed, or you were found not guilty at trial
• You were arrested and no charges were ever filed

All fines, fees, and restitution must be paid in full at the time the petition is filed. This is the requirement that stops the most petitions, and it is worth confirming the balance with the clerk before anything else.

How Is Sealing Different From a Set Aside?

Arizona's older remedy under A.R.S. § 13-905 releases a person from most penalties of a conviction, but the conviction stays visible on the record with a notation that it was set aside. An employer running a background check still sees it. Sealing restricts access to the record entirely, subject to defined exceptions.

A narrower true expungement exists for certain marijuana offenses under Proposition 207, addressed separately in our breakdown of how the recreational marijuana law changed criminal cases. Offenses vacated through that route qualify for sealing immediately.

How Long Is the Waiting Period?

The clock starts after you complete the nonmonetary conditions of probation or sentence and are discharged by the court:

• Ten years — class 2 or class 3 felony
• Five years — class 4, 5, or 6 felony
• Three years — class 1 misdemeanor
• Two years — class 2 or class 3 misdemeanor
• Immediately — petty offenses, and offenses vacated under A.R.S. § 13-909

Whether your case was a misdemeanor or a felony, and which class, therefore determines the entire timeline. If a person whose records were sealed later commits a felony, the waiting period for that new offense is extended by an additional five years.

What Does a Sealed Record Let You Say?

This is the practical payoff. If the petition is granted, you may state in all instances that you were never arrested for, charged with, or convicted of that offense — including on employment, housing, financial aid, and loan applications. An employer who hires you is protected from negligent hiring liability on that basis.

There are carve-outs. The statute lists specific situations where disclosure is still required, including applications requiring a fingerprint clearance card, jobs with law enforcement agencies, prosecutors' offices, courts, probation departments, or corrections, and certain job-and-offense pairings: theft or burglary convictions when applying for in-home service work, child abuse or aggravated assault convictions when applying for work with minors, and DUI-related convictions when applying for commercial driving positions.

Where Sealed Records Still Surface

Sealing is not erasure. A sealed conviction can still be alleged as an element of a later offense, used as a historical prior felony, used to enhance a subsequent sentence, used for impeachment at a later trial, and pleaded and proved in a later prosecution. Law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, probation departments, the Department of Child Safety, and corrections agencies retain access for official purposes.

Firearm rights follow a separate track. Sealing a record does not by itself restore gun rights, particularly where federal prohibitions apply. The broader long-term effects of a domestic violence conviction similarly do not all disappear with a sealing order.

Which Offenses Cannot Be Sealed?

The statute excludes a defined set:

• Dangerous offenses as defined in A.R.S. § 13-105
• Dangerous crimes against children under A.R.S. § 13-705
• Serious offenses and violent or aggravated felonies under A.R.S. § 13-706
• Any offense with the discharge, use, or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument as an element
• Any offense with the knowing infliction of serious physical injury as an element
• Sex trafficking under A.R.S. § 13-1307
• Class 2, 3, 4, or 5 felony sexual offenses and certain offenses against children and vulnerable adults

How the Petition Process Works

You file in the court that handled the case — the convicting court, the court where the charge was filed if it was dismissed, or the court of initial appearance if no charges followed. A separate petition is required for each case number, and filing in the wrong court usually results in dismissal without a ruling.

The clerk forwards the petition to the prosecutor, who may respond and request a hearing. Victims who requested postconviction notice have the right to be present and heard. The court cannot rule for 60 days unless both the prosecutor and any noticed victims confirm they do not object, and it grants the petition if sealing is in the best interests of the petitioner and public safety. The Department of Public Safety prepares a criminal history report for the court. If a petition is denied, a new one cannot be filed for three years — which is the strongest argument for getting the first one right.

Petition and order forms are published by the Arizona Judicial Branch Self-Service Center. Older convictions are frequently affected by statutes that have been amended since sentencing, and an old underage drinking or alcohol-related case may be treated differently than the disposition paperwork suggests.