KRS 431.078 governs misdemeanor expungements in Kentucky. In order to expunge your misdemeanors under KRS 431.078 each conviction must meet a certain set of criteria: (1) you can’t have any pending misdemeanor or felony charges, (2) you can’t have any had misdemeanor or felony convictions in the past 5 years, (3) it must be 5 years since the completion of your sentence, (4) a minor can’t be the victim of the misdemeanor crime, (5) the crime can’t be a sex crime, and (6) the offense can’t currently be enhanceable.

When you’re trying to figure out if you meet these criteria it’s important to keep several things in mind. First, there are some traffic convictions that are actually misdemeanors, such as Excessive Window Tinting and License to be in Possession. A pending traffic violation, like Speeding 10 Miles Over and Failure to Wear a Seat Belt, won’t hold you back from getting your record expunged unlike a pending traffic misdemeanor. So, if you have a pending traffic case, you’ll need to make sure that it’s a violation before you can expunge your misdemeanor conviction. You’ll also want to keep this in mind when you are calculating whether you have had any misdemeanor convictions in the 5 years prior to applying to expunge a misdemeanor.

Second, when you are calculating whether it’s been 5 years since the completion of your sentence you need to remember to include any parole, probation, and restitution in that calculation. For example, if you were convicted of a misdemeanor and ordered to pay a fine, you must count 5 years from the final payment of that fine to determine the date you are eligible to expunge your conviction. If you were sentenced to two years of probation, you would count 5 years from the day you were release from probation.

Finally, regardless of how old the conviction is or whether it is the only thing on your criminal record, sex crimes, including misdemeanor sexual assault, are not eligible to be expunged. If the victim of the crime was a child it is most like not eligible to be expunged, but there may be some exceptions such as conviction for a parent failing to send a child to school.

If you have a misdemeanor on your record that is holding you back, visit Unconvicted.com and use our free app to determine whether you are eligible to expunge your misdemeanor record. We have expunged hundreds of cases, from Paducah to Pikeville, and we are ready to clear your record.