Can You Get Your Criminal Record Sealed in Arizona?

Can you get your criminal record sealed in Arizona?

Often, yes. Arizona lets you petition a court to seal the case records from an arrest, a conviction, and a sentence, and eligibility reaches three groups: people who were convicted and finished the whole sentence, people whose charges were dropped or who were acquitted, and people who were arrested but never charged. What you wait depends on the class of offense.

The word to be careful with is sealed. It is not the same as erased, and the statute is unusually explicit about what survives. Understanding that gap is the difference between a realistic expectation and an unpleasant surprise years later.

Who can petition to seal a record?

A.R.S. § 13-911 names three situations:

1. You were convicted and have completed all the terms and conditions of the sentence the court imposed, including payment of all monetary obligations and restitution to all victims.
2. You were charged and the charge was later dismissed or resulted in a not guilty verdict at trial.
3. You were arrested and no charges were ever filed.

Money is a gate on the first route, and a separate provision reinforces it: a petitioner must have paid all fines, fees, and restitution ordered by the court at the time of filing to be eligible at all.

One provision that is easy to miss sits in the sentencing itself. The court is required to tell a convicted person, on the record and in writing, that they may later be eligible to petition. If you were sentenced and heard nothing about it, that does not change your eligibility.

How long do you have to wait?

The clock starts when you complete the nonmonetary conditions of probation or your sentence and the court discharges you, not from the date of the offense or the date of conviction.

Bottom line: the two categories with no conviction have no waiting period at all, which is the part most people do not know. If a case against you was dropped years ago and the arrest still shows up, nothing about the calendar is stopping you.

One extension is worth knowing. If you have already had records sealed and you then commit a subsequent felony, sealing the newer offense requires the waiting period for that offense plus an additional five years.

Which offenses cannot be sealed at all?

Six categories are excluded outright, no matter how much time has passed:

• A dangerous offense as defined in § 13-105
• A dangerous crime against children as defined in § 13-705
• A serious offense, or a violent or aggravated felony, as defined in § 13-706
• Any offense with an element involving the discharge, use, or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, or the knowing infliction of serious physical injury on another person
• Sex trafficking under § 13-1307
• Class 2, 3, 4, or 5 felony offenses in chapters 14 or 35.1 of the criminal code

A conviction from another state that would not be an offense in Arizona cannot be used against you, and out-of-state offenses are classified as they would be if committed here.

What does sealing actually let you say?

This is the practical payoff, and the statute states it broadly before narrowing it.

Once records are sealed, you may state in all instances that you have never been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of that crime, including in response to questions on employment, housing, financial aid, and loan applications.

Then come eleven exceptions where the answer must still be truthful. The ones most likely to affect someone:

• Any application requiring a fingerprint clearance card
• Jobs involving supervising, educating, or caring for a minor, where the sealed record involved child abuse or aggravated assault
• Jobs involving care of a vulnerable adult or someone 65 or older, where the sealed record involved vulnerable adult abuse
• Jobs involving the commercial or private operation of a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane, where the sealed record involved a DUI or related offense
• Jobs involving handling or managing another person's money, where the sealed record involved fraud or a related financial offense
• Jobs entering and working inside a residence, where the sealed record involved burglary or theft
• Positions with law enforcement, a prosecutor's office, a court, probation, a child welfare agency, the Department of Child Safety, juvenile corrections, or the Department of Corrections
• Any case where state or federal law requires disclosure

The pattern is that sealing does not follow you into work that touches the thing the offense was about. It is also worth knowing that an employer who hires someone with a sealed record gets a liability protection of its own under the same section.

What can a sealed record still be used for?

Sealing closes the record to the public. It does not remove it from the criminal justice system, and the statute lists exactly what still counts. A sealed record may be:

• Alleged as an element of an offense
• Used as a historical prior felony conviction
• Admissible for impeaching any party or witness in a later trial
• Used to enhance the sentence for a subsequent felony
• Used to enhance a sentence under Arizona's DUI statutes, §§ 28-1381 and 28-1382
• Pleaded and proved in any later prosecution by the state
• Used as a conviction wherever it would have been admissible unsealed

That fifth item matters to anyone with a DUI on their record. Arizona counts prior DUI offenses within an 84 month window, and sealing does not stop that clock or hide the prior from the court. Sealed and gone are different words.

Sealed records also stay available to a specific list: you and your attorney, the victim if they exercised victims' rights, and law enforcement, prosecutors, probation, courts, child safety and juvenile agencies, and corrections, for their official duties or internal hiring.

How is sealing different from setting aside a conviction?

They are separate remedies, they do different things, and people routinely ask for one meaning the other.

Setting aside is the older and lighter-touch remedy: the court considers the nature of the offense, your compliance, prior and later convictions, victim input, elapsed time, and your age at the time. It is a statement that you completed what was asked. Sealing is what changes who can see the file.

What does the process look like?

Roughly five steps, and the timing is set by statute rather than by the court's calendar.

1. File in the right court. The court that convicted you, or where the charges were filed and dismissed, or where you had an initial appearance if no charges followed, or the superior court in the county of arrest if there was no initial appearance at all.
2. The prosecutor is served and may respond. The clerk provides a copy, and the prosecutor may respond and request a hearing. A victim who has exercised their rights has a right to be present and heard.
3. DPS prepares a report on your state and federal arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for the court.
4. The court waits at least 60 calendar days before granting or denying, unless it receives notice that neither the prosecutor nor any victim objects. A hearing happens only if someone asks for one.
5. The court decides whether granting the petition is in the best interests of the petitioner and the public's safety.

That last standard is the reason eligibility is not the same as a grant, and it is worth being clear-eyed about. Meeting every requirement on paper gets the petition considered, not granted.

If a petition is denied, you cannot file a new one for three years, which is a long time to lose to a filing problem. That, plus the exclusion list and the eleven disclosure exceptions, is why people with anything complicated in their history usually talk it through with a criminal defense attorney before filing rather than after a denial.

Frequently asked questions

Does Arizona expunge criminal records?

Arizona uses sealing rather than expungement for most adult criminal records. A court order under the sealing statute closes the case records to the public and to most background checks, but the records continue to exist and remain available to the courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, and several other listed entities. Expungement in the sense of destruction is not what this statute does.

How long after a conviction can you seal a record in Arizona?

It depends on the class of offense, and the clock starts when you complete the nonmonetary conditions of your sentence and are discharged by the court. The statute sets ten years for a class 2 or 3 felony, five years for a class 4, 5, or 6 felony, three years for a class 1 misdemeanor, and two years for a class 2 or 3 misdemeanor.

Can you seal a record if you were arrested but never charged?

Yes, and there is no waiting period for that category. The statute allows a petition from someone who was arrested for a criminal offense where no charges were filed, and from someone who was charged where the charge was dismissed or resulted in a not guilty verdict at trial.

Can you seal a DUI in Arizona?

A standard first DUI is a class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a three year wait after completing the nonmonetary conditions of the sentence. Two limits matter. A sealed DUI can still be used to enhance the sentence on a later DUI under Arizona's DUI statutes, and someone applying for a job involving the commercial or private operation of a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane must still disclose it.

Do you have to tell an employer about a sealed record in Arizona?

Usually not. The statute says a person whose records are sealed may state in all instances that they were never arrested for, charged with, or convicted of the offense, including in response to questions on employment, housing, financial aid, and loan applications. It then lists eleven exceptions, including applications requiring a fingerprint clearance card, certain jobs involving minors, vulnerable adults, money handling, or vehicle operation, positions with law enforcement and several state agencies, and anywhere disclosure is required by state or federal law.

Is sealing a record the same as setting aside a conviction in Arizona?

No. They are separate remedies under separate statutes. Setting aside a judgment of guilt is available on fulfilling the conditions of probation or sentence and discharge, has no filing fee, and results in the court setting aside the judgment, dismissing the charging document, and releasing the person from certain disabilities. It does not close the record to public view. Sealing does that, but carries the waiting periods.

How much does it cost to seal a record in Arizona?

The statute does not set a single figure. The court notifies the Department of Public Safety and requests a report on the petitioner's arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, and the DPS director may charge a fee for that investigation, and another to research and correct the criminal history record if the petition succeeds. Those fees do not apply if the petitioner is indigent, or was found not guilty, or the case was dismissed or never prosecuted. All fines, fees, and restitution ordered by the court must already be paid at the time of filing.

What happens if the court denies your petition to seal?

You cannot file a new petition until three years after the date of the denial. The court decides whether granting the petition is in the best interests of the petitioner and the public's safety, so eligibility on paper is not the same as a grant.

Sources

• A.R.S. 13-911, sealing of arrest, conviction and sentencing records · Arizona State Legislature · checked 2026-08-24
• A.R.S. 13-905, setting aside judgment of convicted person on discharge; certificate of second chance · Arizona State Legislature · checked 2026-08-24

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