Expungements

How do you get an expungement? 

You file a new civil case in the county in which the incident occurred by paying the filing fee and filing a Petition with the Court Clerk. You must then set a hearing with the assigned Judge at least 30 days out and provide notice to all interested parties. At the hearing you must show the Judge you have followed all required procedures and that you are eligible and deserve to have your record(s) expunged. If the Judge agrees, you then present a proposed order to the Judge for their signature. If you get the Judge to sign off on an Order, then you file it with the Court Clerk and get certified copies of the Order. You then provide certified copies of the Order to all interested parties along with any necessary expungement processing fees. 

How long does the expungement process take?

It takes approximately 30-60 days to finalize an expungement once the case is filed.

What does an expungement do?

An expungement seals public records associated with a past criminal incident. The records sealed normally include any record of the arrest/citation, charge(s) and court disposition. Once you receive an expungement, you can legally state the incident never occurred and don't have to disclose it on an employee application or during a job interview.

Pardons

How do you get a pardon? 

You get a pardon by submitting a pardon application to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. The application is very extensive and requires a lot of additional documentation to be provided with it. Once the Board receives the pardon application, they have a pre-hearing investigation conducted to check to make sure all information in the application is accurate and that no information was left out. The investigation may include a home visit by an investigator. Once the investigation is complete, the Board will set you on the next available docket for a pardon hearing. Pardon hearings occur once a month. At a pardon hearing, you will have approximately 5 minutes to present your case to the 5 Board members that you deserve a pardon. The Board votes right there whether or not to recommend you to the Governor to receive a pardon. If at least 3 out 5 Board members recommend you, then the request moves forward to the Governor. The Governor has 90 days to either grant or deny the pardon request. 

How long does the pardon process take?

The pardon process can take anywhere from 6 months to a year from the time a pardon application is submitted. 

What is a pardon?

A pardon is an official sign of forgiveness from the State which allows you to regain certain civil rights such as the right to own a firearm.