How Can I Clear My Arrest Record?

S

seep

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Messages
1,347
Not my criminal record, but my arrest record: i.e. the information that employers and colleges get when they run a background check through private data mining firms.

I'm in the U.S. I was arrested some years back with heroin. When booked, I was charged with sale. The charge was downgraded to possession the next day and I completed a year of drug court, so the disposition of the case was Nolle Prosequi. I am eligible for expungement.

When I apply for jobs, however, the background checks run through data miners (not FBI background checks) return something like ARREST: HEROIN SALE/MANUFACTURE/POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE. This makes me think an expungement is pointless, as the data miners aren't necessarily gonna update their databases (I mean after all these years, they still haven't downgraded my original charge.

The irony is that the possession thing has disappeared from the background check reports because of the Nolle Pros, but the arrest for selling heroin remains, even though it never really existed!
 
Hmph!

I've found an article related to this. You can review the article here: http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/Web_Public_Stories/expunging.html

In that article it states that one or two of the major providers of this type of data will remove your information from their files if you contact them and can prove to them that you have a legitimately modified conviction.

I'm wondering about is if prospective employees who consent to allowing their criminal background to be investigated by a prospective employer are offered the opportunity to receive a copy of the results of their criminal background check. I know that when a person applies for something on credit or a loan, and their credit history is checked, more often than not, they're offered a copy of the report, why shouldn't people be apprised of what's on their criminal background investigation reports, too?

If there's not a whole lot of that going on, maybe there needs to be some sort of change in legislation as far as getting copies of those reports for the people who are authorizing them, because I believe private citizens have the right to know what information is ON any and ALL of their records, especially if it means the difference between becoming a productive member of society, or being forced to live a life of crime. I agree with the attorneys in the above-referenced article who said that data mining is an invasion of privacy. It makes the process of attempting to conceal or erase your criminal convictions and having a "second chance" useless. For all the talk about second chances, and the rehabilitation of criminal offenders, what kind of message are apartment complexes, universities, hiring companies and all the people who enable them really sending to people who may have "checkered pasts?"

I realize that this is the age of information and that information has never been so easy to obtain. But when you get arrested, and go to jail or prison, or court mandated treatment facilities, there's all this talk about "paying your debt to society." Nothing makes me angrier than that sequence of words, because those words in that order mean nothing in this day and age. If you're a felon, you're screwed, basically. If you happen to get arrested often, or have any other regular interaction with law enforcement, it's public record, and anyone who has the resources can and will have access to that data.

I completely sympathize with you on this, seep. I was arrested for manufacturing and discharging "dangerous" explosives within the city limits a long time ago. I took the case to trial, and I got acquitted. Regardless of that fact, every single time I get pulled over or questioned by LE, they've gotta call the bomb squad, the fire department, the ATF, the DEA, the state police, the sheriff, at least ONE ambulance, and about three deputies (and one has to be female) and any city police who aren't busy to attend my routine traffic stop event... There will literally be, like, at least 10+ emergency vehicles on the scene if I get stopped because that stupid arrest still shows up on my NCIC, [arrest record] some 10 years later. I can't even begin to imagine how much it costs the taxpayers in community resources for all those civil servants to be at ONE traffic stop. It's totally retarded. I was never even CONVICTED of the shit. Some agencies can even SEE that I was acquitted, yet every single wise ass cop STILL smirks and asks me if I have any explosives on my person or in my vehicle. It's fucking embarrassing.

The only other thing I've thought about doing is contacting the county where I was arrested for that and asking them to remove the record of my arrest, or, at the very least, do something about how the charge is listed. Since I had a jury trial, there's a transcript of the proceedings and the findings of the jury. There should also be a record of them having to refund me my bond money since I was found to be "not guilty,"of the charges against me for what that's worth. So maybe that would be one way of getting that cleared up.

Personally, I think it's nothing short of FUCKED UP that, I have to tell the COUNTY that I'm INNOCENT when they paid for my trial. I don't understand why they're so eager to log and document arrests, indictments, and convictions but there's literally no rush (TEN YEARS) to update modified or correct / destroy erroneous records. It seems to me that keeping those kinds of files current and up-to-date would be one of the more PRESSING issues for the clerks of court and whoever else. I think if they're going to initiate the storage of this information, the least they can do is keep it up to date, no matter WHO it benefits.

I also wanted to mention that many times arrest data is not accurate or comprehensive. The standards for the completion of paperwork in some counties probably isn't what it should be. This is another reason why I think anyone who is having their criminal background investigated needs to know what others are seeing. I'd be willing to bet that at least 25% of the data dealing JUST with arrests is either false, inaccurate, misspelled, dated incorrectly, or somehow otherwise disputable. I've had times when I've been arrested and they couldn't think of anything to charge me with so they held me as long as they could-with no bond, might I add, until they absolutely HAD to let me go. Do you think they tore up my booking record, fingerprint card, and mugshots? Somehow, I don't think so.

I wonder what those show up as...
 
get the expungement!!!!

There are other situations where you are asked if you have ever been arrested and expungement would allow you to answer no. Such as when entering Canada or at really any other border crossing or visa situation.
I failed to expunge a minor pot arrest and mentioned it, as a was supposed to, when entering Canada. It caused a 5 hour delay at the border. I have since gotten the arrest expunged.

Have you discussed the issue of the incorrect info present on the data miners sites with a lawyer? Is there any way to fix it?
 
An expunction is an order of the court that has jurisdiction in your case. It would seem to me that if you provided a copy of an Order to Expunge to a company that holds a record of your arrest, they would be under an obligation to comply with that Order. I'm not sure where you are from, but the Orders I propose direct the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to "forward a copy of this order to any agency that that their records reflect has received the instant criminal history record information."
 
I forgot I posted this.

Hey, what the fuck...2 of the 4 responses reference Florida. My arrest was in Miami. Maybe the problem is worse here than elsewhere.

Methlehem, that sounds like a real pain in the ass, especially since "explosive" can mean so many things. I'm sure you weren't enriching uranium or trinitrating toluene.

Lawyers have been contacted and they unanimously have offered to help me with the expungement, which I can do on my own. They don't want to help me initiate any kind of libel lawsuit as it's not demonstrable that libel took place.

My fear is with residual data stores, as I'm sure there are thousands of copies of everyone's criminal record out there, and HR firms are gonna contract with the cheapest DB available.

Once they find out you've been arrested for selling heroin, you're scarred. You can tell them "I was acquitted" until you're blue in the face, and show them exculpatory documentation signed by the Pope, the Dalai Lama and the Pharaoh: an arrest is tantamount to a conviction in the eyes of most.

It looks like I'll have to write thousands of letters and make thousands of calls, and even then I'll just be reducing my vulnerability. Just Say No indeed.

Thanks.
 
It's a fucked up situation that I deal with on a regular basis.

Have you applied for a certificate of eligibility from the FDLE yet? If you have any questions about the process, feel free to contact me as I have extensive experience in sealing/expunging court records in the State of Florida.

Before the record is expunged, you should contact the Miami-Dade County Clerk and inquire as to who has obtained information from the file on your case. You should also contact the arresting agency, as well as Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation and ask the same of them.

Once the record is expunged, you can then go about contacting everyone that has a copy of your record. I would send certified copies of the Order to Expunge along with a letter indicating that your record was expunged pursuant to Section 943.0585, Florida Statutes. You should request that they comply with the Order of the Court and destroy any records they have in reference to the case.

I would imagine that they would comply pretty willingly in order to limit their exposure to any potential liability.
 
I was arrested for marijuana with intent to distribute and it wad dismissed with my lawyers motion..... The judge refused to throw it completely out and they can bring the charges back anytime in 7 years. Well its been 6 years and after the 7 years I would like to get it expunged. I now live in a different state...I have heard 1 charge can be expunged (if it isn't violent... and I was never convicted) I need this arrest expunged, would it be possible to pay my lawyer to take care of it without me being present. Or would I have to appear in Wisconsin court where it happened?

I also was arrested for two dui's and never convicted in a different state. Can either of these arrest records be expunged? It is screwing me over when I apply for jobs!
 
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