You must take several steps to have your criminal record sealed or expunged.

The first step is to get your criminal history report. If the police arrested you, you definitely have a criminal record. You’ll need information on all your cases, including the agency that arrested you, your case numbers, the dates of any arrests, and how each case ended.

Next, you have to determine whether you’re eligible for expungement or sealing. Only certain offenses are eligible for sealing under Illinois law, so you need to make sure that your case qualifies.

Something important to note: You cannot expunge your record if you were convicted of a crime. However, even if you’re not eligible for expungement, you could still be eligible for criminal record sealing, which prevents most people from seeing it.

If you’re eligible for expungement or sealing, you must file the proper petitions with the right courts and pay filing fees. These fees vary by county.

You don’t have to do this on your own, though. XpungeChicago can file for you, as well as give proper notice to the clerks of court, prosecutors and agencies involved in your case.

The state’s attorney will get a chance to object to your petition to expunge or seal. The state’s attorney can also inform the court that his or her office will not object. If no agency objects to your petition, your case can move forward immediately.

If the state’s attorney’s office objects, it will usually state the grounds of its objection. This could happen if you have a long criminal record or if your criminal record includes certain types of crimes, such as sexual abuse or murder.

In such a case, you may be entitled to a hearing. The Law Offices of Matt Fakhoury can represent you at your hearing. We can present supporting evidence that shows the court that you deserve criminal record sealing or expungement.

When a judge agrees to seal or expunge your criminal record, he or she issues an order to the Illinois State Police and the agency that arrested you, as well as to other agencies that hold your records. If your record is expunged, the agencies will destroy your records or return them to you. If your record is sealed, the agencies will block most people from accessing them.

What if you were charged with a crime, but you beat the charges with the help of a good defense attorney? Or what if the cops arrested you, but let you go without charging you?

Do those things mean that you have a criminal record? Unfortunately, yes, they do.

The court doesn’t have to convict you of a crime. The police don’t even need to charge you with something. The bottom line is that if you’ve ever been arrested in Chicago or elsewhere in Illinois, you have a criminal record.

This is true even if the state dropped the charges or the court eventually dismissed your case. Unless a judge orders your record sealed or expunged, the charges will stay on your record.

That means anyone who does a background check on you will be able to see your record. Potential employers. Landlords. Lenders. Even people you ask out on a date could search for criminal records before deciding to get to know you better.

But if you qualify, you may be able to ask the state to expunge your criminal record.

As you may imagine, this is not a quick process – it may take several months for the court to issue an order that seals or expunges your criminal record. In complicated cases, the process could even take longer.

We know it can be tough to find a job, a good place to live or to get credit, even without a criminal record. That can all be so much harder if you have a criminal record.

If you’re tired of your criminal record holding you back, we may be able to help you. Get in touch with experienced Chicago expungement attorney Matt Fakhoury at XpungeChicago for a free case review – all you have to do is take the first step.