I was arrested six years ago for assault. The judge dismissed the charge (never went to trial). It came back to haunt me this week when a potential employer ran a background check and found it. While the application form only asked for convictions, not arrests, it is still delaying their decision.

I read on the courts website about expunging an arrest and it appears that I qualify. Are there any upstanding FU citizens out there who have gone through this process successfully? Should I do it myself, or go with a lawyer? Does anyone know a lawyer who does this well?

Go to the local law library at the courthouse. There you should be able to find all you need, its more of a "common sense" procedure, especially with this time frame. In fact, a letter to a judge, can often get the ball rolling.

I'll give you an expunge bath ;)

Youre probably going to need a lawyer.

You should get an attorney, because you never know what might happen. These expungements can be contested by the Commonwealth's attorney. If the judge agrees with the CA, then there is no expungement. If you file the action on your own and screw it up, you might be stuck with that decision for life.

It is best to pay the legal fees and get the expungement, because the negative information doesn't help when you're looking for a job.

My kid is going through the expungement process and if you're in a hurry to get this done, you're not going to be happy. It's been 8 months since he filed via an attorney, and the hearing isn't happening until the end of this month. You'll have to get fingerprinted and have your lawyer submit those with the expungement request. YES, HIRE A LAWYER. It's a necessary evil.

My lawyer handled mine and it was worth every penny

Kevin Wright

Pikrallidas Law Offices 703 267 2600

^anonymous Kevin Wright post.

What are the basic requirements for expungement?

In Virginia, specifically Fairfax. Im not looking for a generic google answer here.

Oh, also a lawyer once told me that even if your court record is successfully expunged, you will still have an arrest record (with the police department) forever and that it cannot be removed.

Is this true?

When they expunge the court records, they expunge the arrest records. It's part of the action. The records are actually sealed and would require court order to view. They don't come up on background checks even by the FBI. However, for jobs that require security clearances, you must answer truthfully durning your background investigation. Otherwise, you are lying and could be prosecuted for another crime about lying on a security investigation.

I have heard that if the records are expunged, legally it did not happen. Hence the correct legal truthful answer for a security clearance is "no". I haven't been in the situation though and would read the wording of everything very carefully and get qualified legal advice first.

There is a similar situation created when the courts make a mistake. For example a court once incorrectly reported the outcome of some tickets to the DMV, and the DMV suspended my license. After I got it straightened out, the suspension magically disappeared completely. So there is a theoretical question, what is the correct answer to "has my license ever been suspended?" But I digress.