Criminal defense
California has no remedy that erases a criminal record. It has several that change what the record says and who has to be told about it, and they are not the same remedy. Knowing which one fits your case is most of the work. The consultation is free.
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The honest answer
The word “expungement” is not in the California Penal Code, and the remedy people mean by it does not erase anything. Under Penal Code 1203.4, a person who has completed probation may ask the court to let them withdraw a guilty or no-contest plea, enter a plea of not guilty, and have the case dismissed. What results is a conviction that remains on the record with a notation that it was dismissed under 1203.4. The arrest, the charge, the conviction, and the dismissal all stay visible.
That is a real benefit and it is worth having. Labor Code 432.7 bars an employer, public or private, from asking about or using a conviction that has been judicially dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 and the related sections, subject to the exceptions the statute itself sets out for particular positions. It is not a clean slate, and any page that tells you the records are destroyed is describing a remedy that does not exist in this state.
Sources: Penal Code 1203.4(a)(1) — withdrawal of plea, dismissal, and the disclosure duty it preserves; Labor Code 432.7(a)(1) — employers may not ask about or use a judicially dismissed conviction; Monterey Superior Court, criminal court records — the court’s own statement that dismissal does not seal or destroy a record.
The limits
The statute itself lists the consequences it leaves in place, and these are the ones that catch people. A dismissed conviction must still be disclosed in answer to a direct question on an application for public office, for licensing by a state or local agency, or for contracting with the California State Lottery Commission. It may still be pleaded and proved as a prior in any later prosecution, with the same effect as if it had never been dismissed. It does not restore firearm rights where the conviction took them away. It does not end an unexpired criminal protective order. And it does not relieve anyone of a duty to register as a sex offender.
Two more limits matter in practice. A dismissal does not bind federal immigration authorities, which generally continue to treat the conviction as a conviction, so a non-citizen should never treat 1203.4 relief as an immigration fix. And law enforcement, the courts, and agencies running fingerprint-based state background checks continue to see the case in full.
Sources: Penal Code 1203.4(a)(1)–(4) — public office, licensing and Lottery questions, firearms, prior-conviction use, protective orders; Penal Code 29800 — felony firearm prohibition; Penal Code 290 — sex offender registration.
Eligibility
The core of 1203.4 is for people who were granted probation: relief is available after probation ends, provided you are not now serving a sentence, on probation, or charged with another offense. A court may also grant it in the interest of justice in other cases. Separate sections cover the situations 1203.4 does not: Penal Code 1203.4a for misdemeanors and infractions where no probation was granted, and Penal Code 1203.41 for qualifying felony sentences served in county jail or state prison.
Under Penal Code 1203.41, a court may grant dismissal in its discretion and in the interest of justice one year after completion of a split county-jail sentence, or two years after completion of a straight county-jail or state-prison sentence. The applicant must no longer be on parole or mandatory supervision and must not be serving a sentence, on probation, or charged with another offense. For a state-prison sentence, the felony must not have resulted in a sex-offender registration requirement. A prison sentence therefore does not by itself leave a certificate of rehabilitation or a pardon as the only options.
Some convictions are excluded from 1203.4 by statute, including specified sex offenses involving children and certain Vehicle Code offenses, and relief is not available for infractions under that section. One point is often gotten wrong: an unpaid restitution order or restitution fine is not a ground to deny the petition. The prosecutor gets 15 days’ notice and may oppose.
Sources: Penal Code 1203.4(b)–(d) — excluded offenses, notice to the prosecutor, restitution; Penal Code 1203.4a — cases that ended without probation; Penal Code 1203.41(a)(2)–(6) — dismissal for qualifying county-jail and state-prison felony sentences.
The other remedies
Sealing is the remedy that actually restricts access, and it applies to arrests, not convictions. Under Penal Code 851.91 a person arrested but never convicted, because no charges were filed, the case was dismissed, or there was an acquittal, may petition to have the arrest record sealed as a matter of right in most cases. That is a stronger remedy than 1203.4, and it is available to a different group of people.
Reduction is often worth more than dismissal. Penal Code 17(b) lets a court reduce a “wobbler” felony to a misdemeanor, which changes what the conviction is rather than adding a note to it, and can restore firearm rights that a felony took away. The usual sequence is to reduce under 17(b) first and then dismiss under 1203.4.
Automatic relief now exists and is the reason many people do not need to file anything. Penal Code 1203.425 directs the Department of Justice to identify eligible arrests and convictions and grant relief without a petition, on a schedule set by the statute, with significant exclusions including serious and violent felonies and offenses requiring sex offender registration. Automatic relief is not a substitute for checking your own record: it does not reach every case, and it has the same limits as any other relief on disclosure, firearms, and immigration.
A certificate of rehabilitation under Penal Code 4852.01 and a Governor’s pardon are separate forms of relief with their own eligibility rules and effects. Check eligibility for dismissal under 1203.41 even where the sentence was served in state prison; a certificate or pardon is not the only possible route simply because prison was involved. Neither a certificate nor a pardon erases the conviction.
Sources: Penal Code 851.91 — sealing an arrest that did not result in conviction; Penal Code 1203.425 — automatic conviction record relief; Penal Code 17(b) — reducing a wobbler felony to a misdemeanor; Penal Code 4852.01 — certificate of rehabilitation.
The process
Get your California Department of Justice record and the court docket for every case. Almost every wrong assumption about eligibility comes from misremembering what the disposition was, whether probation was completed, or whether a case was a felony or a misdemeanor.
Sealing, 17(b) reduction, 1203.4 dismissal, 1203.4a, 1203.41, certificate of rehabilitation, or nothing because automatic relief already applied. Often the answer is more than one, in a particular order.
Relief is granted by the court where the conviction happened, so a Long Beach case goes back to the Long Beach courthouse and a Downey case to Downey. The prosecutor receives notice and may oppose.
Many petitions are decided without argument. Where the grant is discretionary rather than mandatory, the showing is about what you have done since: work, schooling, treatment, service, and time. That is the part worth preparing.
The office
The office has practised criminal defense in Long Beach and across Los Angeles County for nearly three decades, and record relief is the part of the work that comes years after the case is over. The first step is always the record itself, because the right remedy follows from the actual disposition. Where a felony can be reduced before it is dismissed, it is. Where an arrest can be sealed outright, that is the better remedy. Where nothing is available yet, the honest answer is when it will be.
A non-citizen should not file anything without immigration advice first, because the federal consequences do not follow the state label. The firm has offices in Long Beach and Downey and speaks Spanish.
Frequently asked questions
Not without qualification. A 1203.4 dismissal lets most people answer questions from private employers without disclosing the conviction, and California law limits what private employers may ask about a judicially dismissed conviction. But the statute expressly preserves the duty to disclose in answer to a direct question on an application for public office, for state or local licensing, or for contracting with the California State Lottery Commission. It is also still usable against you as a prior in a later criminal case.
No. California has no remedy that destroys a conviction record. A 1203.4 dismissal adds a dismissal notation to a record that stays in place. Sealing under Penal Code 851.91 restricts access to an arrest record that did not lead to a conviction, which is the closest thing available, and it still does not destroy anything.
A dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4 does not. What can is reducing a wobbler felony to a misdemeanor under Penal Code 17(b), where the offense qualifies and the misdemeanor itself does not carry a firearm prohibition. Some misdemeanors, including domestic violence convictions, carry firearm bans of their own under state and federal law that survive a dismissal.
Sometimes. Penal Code 1203.425 grants relief to many people without a petition, but it excludes significant categories, including serious and violent felonies and offenses requiring sex offender registration, and it does not cover every case or every year. Checking your own Department of Justice record is the only way to know what it actually did.
Generally not, and it can be actively risky to assume so. Federal immigration authorities usually continue to treat a state conviction as a conviction after a 1203.4 dismissal. A non-citizen should get immigration advice about the specific conviction before filing anything.
Selected case results
A selection from 55 documented results
Criminal defense
Norwalk Superior Court
Not-guilty verdict
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Not guilty on all charges after three years in custody
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Westminster Superior Court
Charge dismissed at trial
Client experiences
“12 counts 2 felony charges DISMISSED … he got him out of jail FAST.”
“I just walked out of court a free man after getting my case dismissed.”
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“Best defense attorney in town. … He cares about his clients and takes every case seriously. The staff is friendly and caring.”
Meet your attorney
A Professional Law Corporation
The future of your case may depend on a successful outcome. It can be stressful to go through the legal process alone—but thankfully, you don’t have to.
The Law Offices of Patrick S. Aguirre will stand up for clients’ interests and rights, providing high-quality representation in personal injury cases and criminal defense matters throughout California from its Long Beach office.
We work with you and for your best interests. Our legal team is compassionate, hard-working, and tenacious—fighting to get the job done right when it matters most. No case is too complicated or insignificant for our full attention. Our clients may move forward into a brighter future free from worry about past mistakes.
We’re the legal team that never gives up. When you need an attorney who will fight for what’s right, turn to us, and we’ll do everything in our power to help. No matter how challenging your situation may seem, there is hope.
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