How the process works

1. Certification. Before anything can be filed, you need an expungement certification from the Administrative Office of the Courts: a $40 report, built from court and state police records, listing every case on your record and whether it qualifies. One certification covers all your cases. It is good for thirty days, so we order it when we are ready to file.
2. Filing. Each case is filed where it was decided: felonies as a motion in the original Circuit Court case, misdemeanors in District Court. Felonies cost $50 to file; misdemeanors $100 per case, $50 refundable if denied; dismissed and acquitted charges are free.
3. The prosecutor's turn. The clerk serves the Commonwealth's Attorney or County Attorney, who has sixty days to respond. If there was an identified victim, the prosecutor notifies them. Most of the time there is no objection.
4. Decision. With no objection, the court can grant the expungement without a hearing. With an objection on a felony, a hearing is set within 120 days of filing where you show by clear and convincing evidence that expungement is consistent with public safety, that your conduct since supports it, and that the interests of justice warrant it. You and your lawyer must be present.
5. The order. For felonies, the $250 expungement fee is due when the order is entered, with an installment plan available over at least eighteen months. Once paid, the court and every agency holding the record, including the state police, delete it. The court will respond to any inquiry by saying no record exists.

After the order

You may answer "no" when a job, housing, or credit application asks about the expunged matter. Your voting rights are restored. Private background-check companies that cached the old record sometimes lag; a certified copy of the order fixes that quickly.

What we do versus what you do

Clark + Harris pulls the record, orders the certification, drafts and files every petition in every county, handles the prosecutor, and appears at any hearing. You give us accurate information at the start and show up if there is a hearing. Most clients never set foot in a courthouse. We work statewide; travel fees may apply where an in-person appearance is required outside Central Kentucky.