How To Get a Felony Expunged in Indiana 

Whether you’ve been simply arrested, charged, or convicted of a felony in Indiana, your criminal record is going to have a negative impact on your ability to lead a normal life. Not only can it prevent you from owning a firearm or voting, but it can also affect your job prospects and professional licensure, your ability to apply for loans, or make it difficult to obtain quality housing. Fortunately, you can get a felony expunged in Indiana, which will make it much easier for you to turn the page and begin the next chapter in your life.  

If you’re wondering how to get a felony expunged in Indiana, you’ll need to enlist the services of an experienced Indiana expungement attorney. They can help you determine your eligibility, navigate the expungement process, and ensure all the paperwork is filed in a timely and sufficient manner. If you want to seal your criminal records and move forward with your life, the Indiana expungement attorneys at Keffer Hirschauer LLP are available to speak with you. Call us today at 317-857-0160 or complete our online contact form.  

What is Felony Expungement in Indiana?  

Felony expungement in Indiana is the legal process of sealing your criminal records, ensuring that they are only viewable in limited circumstances, by limited persons or agencies. Indiana is unique in the fact that it provides broader expungement relief than many other states In fact, it is one of just several states that provides a process for getting most felonies expunged. In Indiana, the only offenders who are not eligible to petition for criminal expungement are those convicted of official misconduct under Indiana Code 35-44.1-1-1; homicide, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter; two or more offenses involving the use of a deadly weapon that were not committed as part of the same episode of criminal conduct; or those classified as sex or violent offender under Indiana Code 11-8-8-5. official misconduct under Indiana Code 35-44.1-1-1; homicide, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter; two or more felony offenses involving the use of a deadly weapon that were not committed as part of the same episode of criminal conduct; or those classified as sex or violent offender under Indiana Code 11-8-8-5. 

Felony Expungement Eligibility in Indiana 

If you want to get a felony expunged in Indiana, you’ll need to be eligible. Expungement eligibility in Indiana is determined by the type of crime you were convicted of, the level of the conviction, and the amount of time that has passed since the conviction or since you’ve completed your sentence.  

Per Indiana Code 35-38-9-3, those convicted of a Level 6 or Class D Felony, are eligible if:  

• Eight years have passed since the conviction 
• They are not a violent or sex offender 
• No charges are pending against them 
• All fines, restitution, and court costs are paid 
• There has been no other criminal conviction in the prior eight years 
• They have two or fewer felony convictions involving the use of deadly weapons 
• They have no felony conviction resulting from a bodily injury to someone else 

 

Per Indiana Code 35-38-9-4, those convicted of less serious felonies may be eligible for expungement if: 

• Eight years have passed since the most recent conviction or three years since the completion of their sentence (the later of the two) 
• They are not a violent or sex offender 
• They have no conviction for a felony that caused serious bodily injury to another person 
• No charges are pending against them 
• All fines, restitution, and court fees are paid 
• They have two or fewer felony convictions involving the use of deadly weapons 

  

Per Indiana Code 35-38-9-5, those convicted of a serious felony, may be eligible if:  

• They are not a violent or sex offender 
• It has been ten years since the conviction, or five years since they completed their sentence (the later of the two) 
• No charges are pending against them 
• All fines, court costs, and restitution are paid 
• They have no additional convictions within the past ten years 
• Use of a deadly weapon was not involved in two or more of their convictions 
• The prosecuting lawyer provides written consent to the expungement 

How to Get a Felony Expunged in Indiana 

To get a felony expunged in Indiana, you’ll need to first prepare your petition. Not only is this petition complicated to fill-out, it’s bound by strict guidelines and requires an array of documents supporting your expungement request. To complete your petition, you’ll need to research your entire criminal history and collect all relevant case records and court documents. You’ll then need to properly attach those to your various petitions, which will each be filed with the county clerk’s office where the arrest, charge or conviction was entered, and pay any related fees. Upon completion and payment, the court will assign a case number and set a hearing date. 

While there are no fees for filing a Section 1 petition for expungement, there can be fees associated with conviction petitions for expungement. However, the fees depend completely on both the records involved and the county where the records are located. Given this, it’s important to speak with your attorney about each respective county’s fee structure prior to filing.  

 It’s not uncommon for individuals to attempt to file an expungement petition on their own. However, this is very risky. In Indiana, a person can only request an expungement once in their life, and the expungement process is strict and complex. For example, if you have a criminal record in various counties, you must file expungement petitions in each individual county within one year of the first filing. However, there are two exceptions to the one expungement filing and one-year rule:  

• When the court has denied a mandatory expungement petition, the individual may file an amended petition once the individual meets the eligibility requirements, but only records included in the first petition may be included in the amended expungement filing 
• Within one year of filing a petition for expungement, an individual may file a new petition to expunge a conviction not included in the original petition if the conviction was left off the original petition due to negligence or conditions not under the petitioner’s control 

 If you meet all the eligibility criteria and the prosecutor doesn’t object to your petition, your felony expungement can be granted without a hearing. However, some counties always set evidentiary hearings expungements, and will certainly do so if there is an objection. 

 Navigating the Indiana expungement process in a precise and correct manner is vital to having your records sealed. If you’d like the help of experienced Indiana expungement attorneys, call Keffer Hirschauer LLP at 317-857-0160 or complete our online contact form to schedule your free consultation. We’d be happy to help you determine your eligibility and, if possible, get your felony expunged in Indiana.  

The Benefits of Getting a Felony Expunged in Indiana 

If you have a felony on your criminal record, potential employers, landlords, courts, and licensing organizations can ask you questions about your criminal past or access your record through background checks or sources such as the state’s online case history portal. However, as stated earlier, if you get a felony expunged in Indiana, that record will generally not be available to the public. Some convictions may get expunged, but not sealed. In situations such as those, the records will be clearly marked as expunged 

Beyond sealing the records, Indiana expungement law allows for the restoration of your voting rights and eligibility to run for public office and participate in jury service. Furthermore, felony expungement can also restore your right to possess a firearm. However, this only applies to individuals who lost the right to own or possess a firearm due to being deemed not a proper person under Indiana law. 

 Furthermore, when you get a felony expunged in Indiana, you are no longer required to acknowledge that you’ve been arrested or convicted. For example, if a job application asks, “have you ever been convicted of a felony?” You can simply answer, “no.” In fact, per Indiana Code 35-38-9-10, it is unlawful in Indiana for anyone to ask about expunged felonies or discriminate against a person based on a person’s conviction that has been expunged, except when the individual is applying for a job in law enforcement or community corrections. 

 It should be noted that expunged records can be released by court order or to law enforcement officers acting within their official duty. However, if a criminal history provider discloses an expunged conviction, they may be subject to penalties in accordance with Indiana Code 24-5-0.5-4 

Seeking Expungement Assistance in Indiana? 

If you need assistance getting a felony expunged in Indiana, you’ll want to hire the most experienced attorney possible. The Indiana criminal defense attorneys at Keffer Hirschauer LLP routinely assist clients by answering common questions about expungement, evaluating expungement eligibility, and ultimately, guiding them through the expungement process. We help our clients research their criminal history, gather case records and necessary court documents, prepare their expungement petition and file their expungement petition in a correct and timely manner, across all relevant jurisdictions. If a court date is filed, then we’ll be in court, arguing on behalf of our client; and when the expungement is granted, we make sure to distribute a notice to all relevant state agencies.  

Keffer Hirschauer LLP is so confident in the skills of our Indiana expungement and record sealing attorneys that we offer a no-risk, 100 percent money-back guarantee on our felony expungement services. In other words, if we don’t get your conviction expunged, you won’t have to pay us for the service. Why should you pay for legal assistance that did not produce the outcome you desire? Our attorneys pride themselves on obtaining positive results for our clients, as we feel that it is only fair that you only pay us when we get the job done.  

 Ready to turn the page and start the next chapter in your life? Call the expungement attorneys at Keffer Hirschauer LLP today at 317-857-0160 or complete our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with a member of our team.