The possibility of having a criminal record expunged or dismissed may exist for you if a single, simple mistake resulted in the record existing in the first place. After all, having a criminal record can, unfortunately, impact your housing, careers and daily needs on unprecedented levels.
In addition, as someone with a professional license, you face ever more challenges with a criminal record than other citizens. You could end up denied licensure or get put on legal probation with a criminal record. But what if the charge on your record gets dismissed?
Expunged records in and out of state
California State Law puts it simply: they cannot deny you a license based on any dismissed cases. This also applies to records you have that got expunged in other states or any other form of comparable expungement or dismissal.
So what is expungement or dismissal, then? When you get your case dismissed, the information related to your conviction then becomes unavailable for public viewing. This is also known as “sealing” your criminal record and goes by other names in different states, such as expunctions or expungements.
Proving your expungement occurred
Note also that if the Department of Justice will not provide proof of this dismissal, you may have to provide the board with extra information proving this expungement occurred. This makes it both valuable and beneficial to work together with legal help in order to determine the best path toward licensure.
Do not let an expunged record stop you from continuing to pursue your career and goals. Do not let the repercussions of one single mistake hold you back indefinitely, especially as you move forward and keep that record clean in the future.