When is a Pardon Required Before a Petition for Okmulgee Expungement Can Be Filed?

Expungement Helps You Move On With Your Life

Getting an expungement of your criminal records can do wonders in helping you move on after a scrape with the law. Criminal records can and do interfere with your life long after you have finished your sentence and repaid your debt to society. But sometimes you must get a pardon first.

The Oklahoma legislature has recently amended their expungement laws to make it easier to get an expungement of your criminal records. An expungement acts like an eraser; it seals your records from public view. The requirements and eligibility waiting times vary from one type of conviction to another. Some types of convictions, such as violent felonies, are not eligible at all.

In many cases you can file for an expungement after waiting the required amount of time after the completion of your sentence as long as there are no other charges pending against you.

When You Need to Get a Pardon First

In some cases however, you must obtain a Governor’s pardon before you file your petition for expungement. If you have been convicted of one or two non-violent felonies and received and completed a sentence other than a suspended or deferred sentence, you will have to file for and receive a Governor’s pardon before you may file for expungement. Okla. Stat. tit. 22 § 18

There are other requirements in these cases as well. If you have been convicted of one nonviolent felony and received and completed a sentence other than a deferred or suspended sentence, you must have received the pardon, not been convicted of any other felony, not been convicted of a misdemeanor in the past 15 years, have no pending misdemeanor or felony charges pending against you, and at least 10 years must have passed since the conviction.

If you have been convicted of two non-violent felonies, you must get a pardon for both offenses, have no other pending charges, and have waited at least 20 years from the last conviction.

The rules and procedures regarding pardons and expungements are complex. But getting an expungement after a felony conviction can be life-changing. Bring your concerns and questions to your experienced Okmulgee criminal pardon and expungement attorney. Start changing your life for the better today.