Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

how to get record esponged in MN. my husband has a couple of gross misdemeaners that are all over 10 years old. how do I go about getting these esponged?


Asked on 1/07/10, 10:02 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Maury Beaulier612.240.8005 Minnesota Lawyers

Thank you for the post. Under current law, I am afraid that it cannot be effectively expunged.

Expungements are only allowed by statute where there has been a determination in your favor. That means, ultimately, the charges must have been dismissed. If that occurred, you may erase any and all court or administrative records.

There are also Judicial expungements. Such an expungement is entirely up to the Judge as to whether it should be granted. This is an important distinction since a Court cannot expunge anything but judicial records with a judicial expungement unless there is an overiding basis that requires the expungement in the interests of justice. The courts have ruled that seeking better employment or promotions would not be a basis to expunge adminstrative records.

Administrative agencies generally are the plces where background checks are performed. Criminal records are also maintained by Administrative Agencies such as the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. This is an executive agency. As a result, the criminal records, if held by the BCA, would never be expunged in a Judicial expungment.

Since you were convicted, a judicial expungement is not possible.

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Answered on 1/12/10, 10:56 am


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