Expungements
Can I have my criminal record expunged in Oklahoma if I’ve had multiple felony convictions? Hi, I’m Oklahoma City Attorney Aaron Easton and that’s the question we have before us today and the answer is there is a path forward for you and that path is under Title 22, Section 18 of the Oklahoma Statutes which deals with criminal expungements.
There are several different subsections within that statute that talks about the way to get a criminal record expunged based on the specifics of your arrest record, your criminal history and what you’re trying to get expunged. But today we’re talking about those clients that have multiple felony convictions or I’m going to put the caveat or felonies that resulted in a deferred sentence and those, the criteria for that expungement of your felonies, multiple felonies are covered under subsections 13 and 14 of the statute and whether or not they resulted in imprisonment or deferred sentence, their criteria is pretty much the exact same.
And so looking at those subsections, we have five criteria, five elements that have to be met in order for you to get those felony convictions expunged. And so first and foremost, whether it’s deferred sentence or conviction that resulted in imprisonment, you can have no more than two felonies. So under either of those subsections, that’s the first criteria. If you’ve got more than two felony convictions, the path forward for you gets pretty thin and we deal with that in another video regarding a pardon. But again, no more than two felonies, you can qualify potentially under these subsections.
Criteria for Expungement of Multiple Felony Convictions in Oklahoma
The second criteria is that neither of the felony offenses can fall under Title 21, Section 13.1 of the Oklahoma statutes and that is the statute in Oklahoma that deals with what’s commonly referred to as the 85% crimes, the crimes that you have to spend 85% of your conviction in prison before you can be released. And those are some pretty serious offenses including first degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, some sex crimes, things of that nature. But again, neither of your convictions can fall under that statute.
The third criteria you have to meet is that neither of the convictions would cause you to register as a sex offender in the state of Oklahoma. So again, can’t fall under the 85% crimes, can’t result in a registration of a sex offender.
The fourth element is that you cannot have any felony or misdemeanor charges pending against you at the time that you try to get your record expunged. And fifth is 10 years have to have passed since either the completion of your term of imprisonment or the completion of your deferment. And either one of those would include paying any associated court fees, costs, fines, things of that nature. So once the case is completely done with, 10 years have to have passed. And then of course those other elements.
Get a Initial Consultation for Expungement of Your Criminal Record
Some pretty intricate things there in that statute, but the takeaway is if you have more than one felony conviction, it is possible you can have those records expunged in Oklahoma, which as you might guess can be life changing in your pursuit of future employment, things of that nature.
If you think you may qualify for an expungement of your criminal record in Oklahoma, you’re going to want to speak to an attorney privately and confidentially about the specifics of your case, the convictions you’ve had. And to do so with an attorney with my firm for low-cost consultation, you can reach us by phone at 405-888-5400 or online at postconviction.lawyer.