Expungement or Expungment? Which is it? What is it?

In Illinois, an Expungement is the removal from police and court files records of arrests and charging information. These records, even if exonerated, can still keep one from being judged unfairly by prospective employers, dates, voters, and others. After an expungment , the records are sent to you for your disposal, display on your refrigerator , posting on you Myspace page, or perhaps the turnover to your spouse for their “permanent record” on you. An expungement of an arrest record or court file is available for only those persons who have not been convicted of a criminal offense or ordinance violation.
Therefore, assuming you have never been previously convicted of a crime or ordinance violation:
*If you were arrested, but never charged, the arrest record can be expunged.
*If you were arrested or charged, but the case was dismissed, the arrest or case can be expunged,
*If you were charged with a crime, went to trial and were acquitted, the arrest and case can be expunged.
*If you were sentenced to and successfully completed court supervision, your case and arrest can be expunged. Some types of charges require waiting five years after successful completion of court supervision, such as retail theft. Generally, most cases require waiting 2 years after the expiration of court supervision before an expungment can be granted.
You cannot get an expungment if you were convicted, or received a sentence of probation, or conditional discharge. You can get an expungment following dismissal of a case following successful competition of special types of probation, such as TASC probation or first offender probation for certain drug offenses.
If you cannot obtain an expungement, you may want to explore “sealing of records” or a pardon by the governor or president, in which case being friends with the executive branch of government or making a large contribution to a political campaign is highly advisable.

For more information, because this stuff is complicated, please call Joe Borsberry at (309) 637-9000.

Also, for the record, it is expungement.