Is Your Record Truly Expunged? Understanding 991 and 1819 Expungements
Have you recently finished probation for a deferred sentence and are wondering how to ensure that your record is completely expunged? My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a criminal attorney in Tulsa, and I’d like to talk to you about the differences between a partial and a full expungement of your criminal record.
So at the end of a deferred sentence, whether it’s one year, two years, or seven years deferred, assuming that you’ve met all the conditions of your probation, paid your fines, and taken whatever classes you need to take, the court should enter what’s called a 991 expungement or a partial expungement. What this does essentially, it closes the case file with the court clerk. It will withdraw your plea of guilty from your record, reinstate your plea of not guilty, and then the case will be dismissed. Now, 99 times out of 100, that works fine.
When a Partial Expungement May Not Be Enough
But in certain situations, people need a little bit more. If there’s some sort of employment issue that you have or something like that, that requires an OSBI background check. OSBI will still show that for whatever reason, you were arrested, charged with a crime, you plead not guilty, and that crime was dismissed. Sometimes that’s not enough. Depending on if it’s a job situation where you need like squeaky clean background or something like that, that could end up being a factor. There are ways around that though.
Considering a Full Expungement for Complete Peace of Mind
You can do what’s called a section 1819 expungement or a full expungement. Typically, it takes another year or two after you finish probation to be eligible for it. But what that does is it sends it to OSBI, it sends it to the arresting agency, the judge, the court clerk, the prosecutor, gets everyone on board and understanding that this is over, it’s done with, and assuming that all parties sign off on it, at that point, your case will be completely expunged and it won’t even show up on your OSBI background check.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
If you find yourself in a situation where you think you might need more than a 991 expungement or if you have questions about the differences between them, please feel free to call a expungement lawyer in Tulsa at 918-879-1681. You can also visit us at MakeLawEasy.com or Wirth Law Office, and my name is Carl Birkhead. Contact a Tulsa attorney today for a low-cost initial strategy session to discuss your options.
