Utah Expungement: How to Clear Your Criminal Record for Good
A Utah expungement seals your criminal record from public view — employers, landlords, and background-check companies no longer see the arrest or conviction, and with limited exceptions you may lawfully answer that the event never occurred. Utah’s expungement statute, Utah Code Chapter 77-40a, is one of the more generous in the country, and the state’s Clean Slate law now clears many minor records automatically. But the petition process is technical, the waiting periods are strict, and small mistakes cost months. Cardon, Stuart & Associates handles expungements for clients across Utah from our Ogden office — often for people whose original cases we defended — and this guide walks through eligibility, timing, and the process step by step, current for 2026.
Who Qualifies: Eligibility Basics Under Utah Code 77-40a
Two kinds of records can be expunged. Non-conviction records — arrests that never led to charges, dismissals, and acquittals — are broadly expungeable, generally after at least 30 days from the arrest with no pending proceedings (and dismissals without prejudice may require the limitations period to run). Conviction records are expungeable if the offense is eligible, the waiting period has passed, and your overall record is not disqualifying.
Some convictions can never be expunged by petition, including capital offenses, first-degree felonies, violent felonies, felony DUI, and offenses requiring sex offender registration. Beyond that, Utah caps the total number of convictions on your record: too many separate convictions (the limits in § 77-40a-303 vary by offense level, with drug possession offenses given extra allowance) can make you ineligible until enough time passes or a pardon is obtained. Unpaid restitution and pending cases also block eligibility.
Waiting Periods: How Long You Must Stay Clean
The clock runs from when the case ends — conviction or release from probation, parole, or incarceration, whichever is latest. Current petition waiting periods:
- Infractions and class C misdemeanors — 3 years
- Class B misdemeanors — 4 years
- Class A misdemeanors (including class A drug possession) — 5 years
- Felonies (eligible ones) — 7 years
- Misdemeanor DUI and impaired driving — 10 years
You must have no new convictions during the waiting period and no pending criminal cases when you file. If you are still on probation, the clock has not even started — which is one more reason to finish probation cleanly (see our probation violation page).
Clean Slate: Utah’s Automatic Expungement Law in 2026
Utah’s Clean Slate law (part of Utah Code 77-40a) automatically expunges qualifying records with no petition, no fee, and no application. It covers acquittals, qualifying dismissals, and convictions for most class B and C misdemeanors, minor regulatory offenses, infractions, and class A misdemeanor drug possession. The automatic waiting periods are longer than the petition periods — 5 years for class C misdemeanors and infractions, 6 years for class B misdemeanors, and 7 years for class A drug possession — and you must have paid restitution and have a qualifying overall record.
Clean Slate never covers felonies, DUI, or most pleas in abeyance — those still require a petition. And because the automatic process depends on complete, accurate court data, records with clerical quirks routinely slip through. Do not assume; verify.
The BCI Petition Process, Step by Step
- 1. Apply for a Certificate of Eligibility from the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI). The application fee is $65, and BCI reviews your complete criminal history. Processing commonly takes weeks to months depending on backlog.
- 2. Pay for and receive your certificates. If you qualify, BCI charges an additional fee (currently $65) for each certificate issued — one per case you intend to expunge. Certificates expire 90 days from issuance, so timing matters.
- 3. File the petition in the court where the case was handled, attaching the certificate.
- 4. Prosecutor and victim response. The prosecutor (and any victim) may object or ask for a hearing; many petitions go unopposed.
- 5. Hearing, if needed, and the order. If the court grants the petition, the expungement order is distributed to BCI and the agencies holding the records, which then seal them.
Done correctly, the whole process typically runs several months end to end. Done incorrectly — wrong court, expired certificate, missed disqualifier — it can take a year or more, and each false start costs new fees.
What an Expungement Actually Does — and Doesn’t
Once the order is entered, the courts, BCI, police agencies, and jails seal their records, the case disappears from Utah’s public court index, and you may generally respond to employers, landlords, and most applications as though the arrest or conviction never happened. What expungement does not do: it does not erase private data already sold to background-check vendors (though the major vendors update against sealed records, and demand letters fix stragglers), it does not remove news articles or mugshot sites, and certain government entities — law enforcement, licensing boards in some contexts, and federal agencies for purposes like immigration and firearms checks — can still access sealed records. For most jobs and housing in Utah, though, an expungement is transformative: the record simply stops appearing. Clients who put it off for years routinely tell us the same thing afterward — they should have done it the day they became eligible.
Not Eligible Yet? The 402 Reduction Alternative
Utah Code § 76-3-402 lets a court reduce the degree of a conviction — a third-degree felony to a class A misdemeanor, for example — after successful completion of probation or parole. A “402 reduction” (one degree, or two with the prosecutor’s consent) can restore rights, help licensure and employment, and, critically, convert an offense into a lower class with a shorter expungement waiting period or into eligibility it lacked entirely. For clients with felony records, the sequence is often: 402 reduction first, expungement second. It is one of the most underused tools in Utah criminal law.
Why Hire an Attorney for Something You Can File Yourself?
You can file an expungement pro se, and some people should. But most of our expungement work is repair and acceleration: reading a messy multi-county record correctly against the § 77-40a-303 conviction limits, choosing what to expunge in which order when the limits allow only some cases, pairing 402 reductions with petitions, responding to prosecutor objections, and fixing applications BCI rejected. We also handle the hearings. A record you have carried for years — from an old drug possession case, a theft charge, or worse — deserves a clean, one-pass process. Cardon, Stuart & Associates offers free consultations, and attorneys Brady Stuart and Kelly Cardon will tell you honestly whether you qualify now, later, or need a different path such as a pardon. Learn more about our Utah criminal defense practice and the Utah court system, or call (801) 627-1110 — 24/7. Se Habla Español.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to wait to expunge a conviction in Utah?
From when the case fully closes: 3 years for class C misdemeanors and infractions, 4 years for class B misdemeanors, 5 years for class A misdemeanors, 7 years for eligible felonies, and 10 years for misdemeanor DUI, under Utah Code 77-40a. You must have no new convictions or pending cases.
What is Utah's Clean Slate law?
Clean Slate automatically expunges qualifying records — most class B and C misdemeanors, infractions, and class A drug possession convictions — without a petition or fee, after 5 to 7 years. The automatic system resumed operation on January 1, 2026 after a pause, so records expected to clear during the pause should be verified.
How much does an expungement cost in Utah?
BCI charges a $65 application fee for the Certificate of Eligibility and a $65 fee for each certificate issued (one per case), plus any court filing costs and attorney fees. Clean Slate automatic expungements are free but only cover minor offenses.
Can felonies be expunged in Utah?
Many can. Eligible felonies can be expunged by petition 7 years after the case closes, but capital offenses, first-degree felonies, violent felonies, felony DUI, and registerable sex offenses cannot. A 402 reduction to a misdemeanor can sometimes open a path for records that don't qualify as felonies.
What is a 402 reduction?
Under Utah Code 76-3-402, a court can reduce a conviction's degree — for example, a third-degree felony to a class A misdemeanor — after successful probation. It restores opportunities immediately and can shorten or unlock expungement eligibility.