Oregon Expungement Guide

The Importance of Expungement in Oregon

In Oregon, certain crimes are eligible to be expunged, or set aside. Once an arrest or conviction has been expunged, it is as if the arrest/conviction never occurred. In essence, it creates a judicially authorized lie. As a practical matter, this can have a very serious impact. Many applications for jobs and housing ask questions about criminal histories. For example, a person’s eligibility for certain benefits, such as Section 8 housing, can be affected by a felony criminal conviction. A person’s right to possess a firearm is restricted when that person has a felony conviction or a conviction for a crime of domestic violence under the Violence Against Women Act.

Many convictions for sexual offenses require a person to register as a sex offender and have far-reaching implications. Thus, it can be very important to get arrests and convictions expunged; or have the record of such things set aside.

Eligibility

ORS 137.225 creates eligibility requirements and parameters for the expungement of arrests and convictions.

Arrests

Records for arrests and charges that were dismissed may be eligible for expungement. Traffic offenses, unfortunately, are not eligible to be expunged. You also must not have other pending charges at the time you file your motion to expunge your record of arrest.

There is a time eligibility requirement that must be met for expunging a record of arrest. You must not have any other arrests within the last 3 years, no convictions in the last 10 years (excluding traffic infractions).

There is no waiting period for dismissed charges, however, you must wait 1 year to expunge an arrest when there is an uncharged incident (i.e. no complaint) in order to allow for police investigation.

TIME ELIGIBILITY ARRESTS/DISMISSED CHARGES ORS SECTION
Acquittal/Dismissal of charges (no waiting period).  137.225(1)(b)
1 year waiting period for an uncharged incident (i.e. no complaint)  137.225(1)(b)
   
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

 
Person may not have any other convictions within the 10-year period immediately preceding the filing of the motion, excluding motor vehicle violations 137.225(7)(b)
Person who currently is under charge of commission of any crime is not eligible 137.225(7)(c)
Person who has been arrested or criminally cited for or charged with an offense within the three-year period immediately preceding the filing of the motion, except for motor vehicle violations is not eligible 137.225(8)(a)
Person arrested or cited for DUII if the charge is dismissed pursuant to successful completion of diversion 137.225(8)(b

Assuming all of the above conditions have been met, your arrest should be eligible for expungement contact us. We can help clear your arrest history.

Convictions

Time Eligibility for Convictions

The first step in determining if a crime is eligible to be expunged is establishing a timeline. There must be no other charges pending at the time a motion to expunge is filed. If there are no other charges pending, then you must determine if it has been at least 3 years since the date of conviction.

If this hurdle is met, then you must determine if there are any other convictions within the last 10 years. If there is only 1 conviction, then this conviction is expungable. Then you must establish you have not been arrested within the last 3 years. If there were an arrest within the last 3 years, only that arrest is eligible.

If there are no other convictions within 10 years and no arrest within 3 years, then the time period requirement is met.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER

ELIGIBILITY/ORS SECTION
Pending Charges Not eligible; 137.225(7)(c) (no pending charges)
Any convictions in last 3 years Not eligible; 137.225(1)(a) (3-year waiting period)
2 or more convictions in last 10 years Not eligible; 137.225(7)(b) (no other convictions within last 10 years)
Exactly 1 conviction in last 10 years No other charges eligible (no other convictions in last 10 years)
Sentence for which the person had probation revoked  ORS 137.225(1)(c) (10 year wait period from the date probation was revoked)

Crime Type Eligibility for Convictions

If the time requirements have been met, you must then determine if the crime is one that may be expunged. While many crimes of conviction are eligible to be expunged, there is a long list of crimes that are not expungable.

OFFENSES NOT EXPUNGABLE

ORS SECTION ESTABLISHING INELIGIBILITY
Sex offenses triggering registration requirement 137.225(6)(f)
Traffic Offenses (anything in traffic code) 137.225(7)(a)
Criminal Mistreatment 1/Endangering Welfare of a Minor if constituting child abuse 137.225(6)(b) and 137.225(6)(c)
Criminal Mistreatment 1 and Criminal Mistreatment 2 if the victim at the time of the crime was 65 years of age or older 137.225(6)(a) and 163.225(6)(b)
 if the victim oat the time of the crime was 65 years of age or older 137.225(6)(b)
A Felonies; B Felonies if classified as person crimes or involve firearms used in a felony 137.225(5)(a)

Compliance With Sentence and No Other Charges Pending

Once you have determined whether the conviction is one that is eligible to be expunged, there are a few more steps to determine when it may be expunged. For a crime to be expungable, full compliance with the sentence of the court must be established. Thus, if probation is continuing or has been extended, the crime is not yet expungable. There also must be no other charges pending in any jurisdiction, including outside of the United States.

Assuming all of the above conditions have been met, your criminal arrest should be eligible for expungement contact us. We can help clear your criminal arrest history.

B Felonies Eligible for Expungement After 20 Years

Even though ORS 137.225(5)(a) states Class A felonies and B felonies if classified as person crimes or involve the use of a firearm are not expungable, they still may be. If a person has been convicted of a Class B felony involving a person crime or involving firearm used in a felony, that person may apply have their conviction expungement if:

B PERSON FELONIES AND OFFENSES INVOLVING A FIREARM ELIGIBLE FOR EXPUNGEMENT IF:

ORS SECTION ESTABLISHING ELIGIBILITY
20 or more years have elapsed since the date of conviction or release from imprisonment, whichever is later 137.225(8)(a)
No conviction of or arrested for any other offense, other than motor vehicle violations, after the date the person was convicted of the offense sought to be expunged 137.225(8)(b)

Assuming all of the above conditions have been met, your criminal arrest should be eligible for expungement contact us. We can help clear your criminal arrest history.

Fees for Expungement in Oregon

Unfortunately, there are fees you must pay to file a motion to expunge a criminal history. If you are filing a motion to expunge an arrest subsequent to a dismissal (other than dismissal through DUI Diversion) or acquittal, there are no court or filing fees required. However, if you are filing a motion to expunge a criminal conviction, you must pay an $80 fee to the Oregon Department of State Police for a background check. You also must pay a filing fee established by the Standard Filing Fee Schedule.

Currently, the filing fee is $281 payable to the State of Oregon.

Contact us. We can help you clear your Oregon criminal history.

Rob Crow
Rob Crow
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Licensed to practice law in all State & Federal Courts in Oregon.
Join The Conversation
Richard Lamotte 02/21/2018 07:04 PM
So no class "A" felony can be expunged ?
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Rob Crow 02/21/2018 07:13 PM
Richard, exactly, unfortunately A Felonies are not expungable.
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Charles 02/26/2018 07:15 PM
Can a class c felony sex offense from 1991 and you did all that was required including relief from reporting no other criminal episodes can you get that expunged
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Lavon 04/02/2018 07:11 PM
So a DUII with a successfully completed Diversion will still show up on job employment background checks, even if you have moved to another state like Arizona? Forever?
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Kristina 04/16/2018 02:07 PM
I Oregon if someone has a class C felony (attempt to commit a class B felony) which is not a sex crime, but as part of the plea deal agreed to be on the sex offender registry, and then 15 years later the C felony gets expunged, does that expungement automatically remove that person from the sex offender registry and end that requirement in the guilty plea, or does a separate petition need to be filed to remove the person from the sex offender registry?
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James S 04/18/2018 05:56 AM
Can a Criminal Mistreatment 1 (reduced to a misdemeanor) be expunged. The charge is over 12 years old.
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Patrick Burke 05/21/2018 07:03 PM
How do I know what "Class"Felony I was convicted of? It was a Domestic Violence charge that happened in the year 2000.
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Amber 05/22/2018 05:48 PM
Can one get a Driving While Suspended expunged from their record? I recently had a background check run for a job and this came up (it's from 2009.) I had completely forgot about it till now. I feel like getting it dropped may lower my insurance so I'd like top know if the process is the same?
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Robert Crow 05/23/2018 05:58 PM
Driving offenses, such as driving while suspended are NOT expungable. So, unfortunately, if someone has been convicted of driving while suspended, that charge is not expungable.
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William greene 06/26/2018 10:22 PM
I have been out of prison for 18 years with out and other convictions since my charge was a rob2 I would like to have expunged can you help me
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Robert Crow 06/27/2018 03:20 PM
Robbery 2 is a B Felony and becomes expungable 20 years post conviction assuming all other conditions for eligibility are met
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William greene 06/27/2018 03:37 PM
Sir I was convicted in 1995 released 2002 with 2 year post prison have had no convictions since. So you say after 20 years they are expungable how do I go about that to make that happen
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William Gardner 06/28/2018 10:53 PM
The law is messed up. I got caught with over the 25 pill ecstasy limit and they gave me a Class A felony. So I'm screwed for life for experimentation during college. I was a kid still and now I'm 42 and no one will hire me or rent to me because they think I'm a monster or something.
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Robert 07/07/2018 03:34 PM
I have 4 felonies all class c and one misdemeanor. Can you have charges expunged with more than one felony?
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Karen M 07/22/2018 02:29 PM
I received a Class 4 Assault Charge along with reckless driving, DUI, and a possesion charge - Incident happened 9/15/15. The assault charge was because my car & another car were involved in an accident. I ran a red light and other car ran into me. No one was seriously injured - thank God! But this is my question - I'm considering going to school to get my Bachelor's in Social Services, am I able to get the Assault charge expunged because it will hurt my opportunities of getting work due to background checks. Thanks for any advice!
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Robert Crow 07/30/2018 12:45 PM
William Greene: If you have non other convictions, or arrests, since the Robbery 2 conviction, then you should be eligible to file for expungement. I would be happy to speak with you more about getting this done. William Gardner: I agree, the law makes it very difficult for people who have indiscretions with drugs when younger and get convicted of A felonies. As you say, you are kind of screwed right now. Perhaps we can get the law changed for the better. Robert: As long as the felonies and misdemeanors are crimes that are eligible to be expunged, it does not matter that there is more than one you are wanting to expunge. I have filed many expungements in which we file motions on multiple cases all at once. Karen M: The DUII and reckless driving are not expungable because driving offense are not expungable. However, the PCS and Assault would be expungable. Unfortunately, you have to wait until 9/15/25 to file a motion. This is assuming no other arrests or convictions.
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Jay Moss 08/02/2018 10:40 PM
i have four felonies, three of them were class c back in 2000-2001 my biggest one i think im screwed on is the class b felony del/manufacture scheduled 2 back in 2000. then my 4th felony was 2010 i believe for felon poss of firearm. can i have these expunged? no violent crimes and completed my probation is there any hope? if so im looking to move forward asap.
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ERIC W TEMPLE 08/08/2018 05:45 PM
I have an A Misdemeanor from 1994. I have had not been arrested since. What is the over all cost of this? Also I am no longer an Oregon resident.
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Robert Crow 08/08/2018 06:01 PM
Jay Moss: unfortunately you are right about the B Felony is not expungable. The 2010 felony would be expungable now. The other crimes eligible for expungement would not be expungable until 2020.
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Robert Crow 08/08/2018 06:03 PM
Eric: there is a fee of $265 that must be paid to the court for filing the paperwork. The Oregon State Police requires an $80 fee to do a background check. You will need to get a fingerprint card done which usually costs between $10-$25. My fees vary based upon the complexity of the filing.
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Jacob 08/10/2018 10:07 AM
I have 3 arrests (all pertaining to assault) in Portland, each one resulting in no complaint. Do I have to file expungement for each individual arrest and send in 3 fingerprint cards? Or will one motion cover all 3?
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Robert Crow 08/10/2018 02:58 PM
Jacob, we could file all of the expungements at once. You would need a motion for each one. However, if we were to file them together, then we could use one fingerprint card.
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Kristin 09/12/2018 12:18 PM
I plead guilty two misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a minor in 2015, I was using drugs in a house that a minor child lived at. I also was given a suspended sentence on 5 felonies, 2 of them were drug charges and 3 hindering charges. I completed my probation of 36 months (3 years) and was convicted of NO FELONIES. I want to know if the endangering the welfare charges can be expunged so I can go on field trips and volunteer and my son's school. I have been totally clean from drugs since 2015. Is this possible?
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Robert Crow 09/12/2018 03:54 PM
Kristin, first, because there are 2 convictions, you would have to wait 10 years from the date of conviction before being eligible for expungement. Your second issue...there are limited circumstances in which endangering the welfare of a minor can even be expungable.
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Alex Nord 09/13/2018 09:41 PM
I have a Class A Misdemeanor in July 2008 and a Violation Class A (both theft) from around the same time. I also have an arrest (although the case was dismissed) from october 2016. Can I get my thefts expunged? Do i need to do anything with the arrest? do i have to do 2 seperate expungements for the theft charges?
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Steven 09/16/2018 01:31 AM
I was convicted of a Sex Abuse 2 class C in 2007 and i'm trying to figure out how to get it reduced is there any way this can be odne?
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Rob Crow 09/24/2018 01:50 PM
Alex, the arrest will make it so other convictions are not expungable until 3 years after the arrest.
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Rob Crow 09/24/2018 01:52 PM
Steven, there are a few avenues you might want to explore. We definitely could file a motion to reduce it from a felony to a misdemeanor. The other thing you likely will want to do is file for relief from registration and if that is granted to then file to expunge it.
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James 09/28/2018 08:09 PM
Hi i have a class C felony for a uumv can that be expunged
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Robert Crow 09/29/2018 03:01 PM
James, UUMV is expungable. This is a common question and a bit confusing. Driving offenses are not expungable. Even though UUMV obviously involves a vehicle, the crime falls under ORS chapter 164 which is property crimes. It is a property crime that is expungable. Feel free to contact us if you want more assistance. Rob Crow
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Brandy Parker 09/20/2019 05:36 PM
I had a child neglect 1 and a possession of methamphetamine back in 2012 have not had anything new completed all required to get off probation and hadn't previously had any new charges since 2008 which was misdemeanor. I live in oregon and am trying to at least get one expunged if able to is that possible
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Robert Crow 10/01/2019 12:29 AM
Brandy, unfortunately, if you were convicted of 2 separate crimes in 2012, then neither is expungable until 2022.
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Gary 10/13/2019 01:41 AM
I was charged with a c felony of strangulation constituting domestic violence in 2014. I have not been arrested since then. I have had no further criminal convictions since except a driving while suspended. That is the only felony I've ever been convicted of. I have had prior misdemeanors within the 10 year requirement. Are misdemeanors looked at in this instance?
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Lynette Dyas 01/16/2020 12:26 PM
I have a class A misdemeanor for menacing from 2013. Can that be expunged?
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Rob Crow 01/16/2020 01:13 PM
Gary, If you have a driving while suspended conviction within the last 10 years, then the 2014 conviction would not be expungable...yet. When applying for an expungement, you cannot have another conviction within the last 10 years. Lynette, menacing is a charge that would be expungable. The key is if you meet all of the other qualifications.
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Charles 02/11/2020 12:13 AM
Can you get a Sex abuse 1 class c felony at the time 1991 expunged if you applied and received relief from registration and no convictions at all and it’s been 23 years since I finish PPS.
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Melissa 02/26/2020 07:21 PM
My husband was convicted of multiple Class C (theft and burglary) felonies and some misdemeanors in 2015. He hasn’t been arrested for anything since. When would he be eligible for expungement and is the cost per charge or something different?
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Robert Crow 02/28/2020 02:10 PM
Melissa, assuming your husband has no other arrests or convictions since his 2015 conviction, he would be eligible in 2025 to file for expungement
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Robert Crow 02/28/2020 02:11 PM
Charles, the C Felony Sex Abuse would be expungable. I'd be happy to speak with you about the process and to make sure it satisfies all other requirements.
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Jackie 03/25/2020 03:12 PM
Mr Crow: I shot and killed my abusive husband 20 years ago. We ended up with an Alfred Plea, Class C felony, criminal neglect with a firearm, time served and 5 years probation; with community service and family counseling, I had 2 small children. Fulfilled my requirements. No arrests or troubles since. Am I eligible for an expungement of my record? Other things I've been reading about are Pardons, Restoration of Rights and reduction of a charge. What is your opinion? Thanks.
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Robert Crow 03/25/2020 03:36 PM
Jackie, a little more information would be helpful. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] or give me a call at 503-765-5511 and I'd be happy to talk more specifically with you.
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