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Expungement Tool Kit

Not everyone qualifies for Petition-based Expungement. Find out more by answering eligibility questions to see if you are ready to apply

We highly recommend that you use a computer (not a mobile device) to complete the forms on this website. Salt Lake County libraries can assist you with WiFi, computer access, and printing needs. 

  • Expect this process to take approximately 6 months to complete.
  • There is a $65 application fee associated with the expungement process.

Resources

Office of Homelessness & Criminal Justice Reform

385-468-7092

2001 South State Street , Ste S2-100
Salt Lake City, Utah 84190

Before You Begin

    • This guide is intended as a community resource that provides assistance with the petition-based expungement process. You are free to use other resources instead if you choose. 
    • This guide assists individuals in expunging their eligible Utah Adult Criminal Records. It does NOT help to expunge juvenile, federal, or criminal records from another state.
    • If you are NOT a U.S. Citizen, you should seek legal advice from an Immigration Attorney about whether to expunge your criminal records.  The FBI could have records of a criminal case, even if a state court expunged its records. For more information on the immigration process, please visit United for Citizenship.
    • Expungement does not guarantee you can have your gun rights back, although it may increase your chances. It does NOT entitle you to be able to possess a firearm if you have lost that privilege. 
United For Citizenship

Steps to Expungement

A man writing on a whiteboard.

The below instructions tell you how to complete an Expungement Application Form and submit it to the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI).

Expungement Step 1

Step 1 has two parts - Apply and Purchase Certificates. You must complete both parts.

The first part of getting an expungement is to get a certificate of eligibility from BCI. You have to submit an application to do this. BCI will conduct research to determine which incidents are eligible for expungement. Check your eligibility to get more information about whether you are ready to proceed with the application.

  • Print out the application:
    • After electronically signing the application, you will receive an email with a completed application for you to print off 
      • Note: The first email you get will be from Adobe Sign (adobesign@adobesign.com) requesting confirmation of your email address. This does NOT electronically file the application with the BCI. You MUST still complete the fingerprint portion. If you don't see the email in your inbox, be sure to check your "Junk and/or Spam" folder.
      • The second email you get will be from SALT LAKE COUNTY UTAH (adobesign@adobesign.com) that contains the application as a pdf attachment. DO NOT click on "Open agreement" in the body of the email. Instead, open the attached pdf and print the copies.
  • Get your fingerprints taken:
    • Print out and bring the application to a law enforcement agency such as your city police department or county sheriffs office. Request that they print the four fingers of your right hand on the space provided. Make sure the law enforcement official who takes your fingerprints fills out the portion of the application labeled "OFFICIAL TAKING PRINTS." The fingerprints may also be taken at the Bureau of Criminal Identification, 3888 West 5400 South, Taylorsville, Utah.
  • BCI is moving January 13, 2023 to the new state office building. The new address will be 4315 South 2700 West Suite 1300 Taylorsville, Utah 84129

Use the Third party release form (Only if you wish to have your documents from BCI sent to someone other than yourself.)*  

Submit your application to BCI (detailed instructions on how to do this is on the application instructions.)

If you request to have the BCI information/documents sent to you via email, you will NOT receive the BCI documents via regular mail.

It can take several months for BCI to process your application -- typically over 90 days from the date you submit your application. When you get a response, you will either receive a Letter of Eligibility or Denial.

If denied, you may want to pursue a pardon. Pardons are only available if five years crime-free has passed since your last probation, parole, or incarceration ended.

Check Your Eligibility
Application for Certificate
Application Instructions
Third Party Release Form
Pursue a Pardon

As of May 4, 2022, until June 30, 2023, the "Certificates of Eligibility" fee has been waived by the Utah State Legislature. 

  • BCI will automatically send you all Certificates of Expungement Eligibility that you qualify for.  They will also tell you the reasons behind any Utah criminal records ineligible for expungement.

If you chose to have your responses sent to you via email, it can be confusing to access the documents, make sure to follow the instructions in the link below.

Check your spam/junk folders often 90 days after submitting your application.

  • Certificates will expire within 180 days from the dates you receive them.

You must Purchase Certificate(s) AND File Petition(s) within 180 days from date BCI responds to your application

Purchase Certificate Instructions

Expungement Step 2

Step 2 is the most time consuming part of the process. You can do it!

Complete Tasks A - D outlined below for each certificate of expungement eligibility you received.

  • Task A and B helps you determine which type of form packet you will need to fill out and which Court it will be filed in.
  • Task C helps you fill out the form packet that corresponds with your certificate.
  • Task D tells you how to deliver your paperwork to the Court.

You must Purchase Certificate(s) and File Petition(s) within 180 days from date BCI responds to your application

Determine which type of form packet to file for each eligible certificate.

Each row on the certificate list you received from BCI indicates a different certificate.

Start by looking at your certificate list and determine the TYPE of certificate you have, whether it is a “regular” or a “special” certificate. (You will need this information to determine which form packet to use in Task B).

Below are examples of each:

  • Certificate 126397 is a Regular Certificate. You would need to fill out a Regular Certificate packet in Task C.
  • Certificate 982315 is a Special Certificate. This person would need also need to fill out a Special Certificate packet in Task C.
  • You might have multiple certificates that are Regular or Special. You would need to fill out a packet for each individual certificate.
Certificate Type Examples

Determine where you will need to file your form packet.

You will need to know the court address, judicial district, and county for the court you will file your form packet with. You can use the court directory link below to make this determination for each certificate listed you want to expunge.

Below are the examples of how to determine where to file. 

Location to File - Examples
District Court Locations

Once you determine which packet you should use (see below), use the instruction files below to fill out the packet forms:

Important: If your certificate lists a case number that is shorter than a 9 digit number, leave the entry for case number blank when filling out your form packet. Old cases that have letters or less than 9 numbers will be assigned a new case number by the court when you file your form packet.

Based on the information gathered in Task A, determine which packet below to fill out. 

Note: You must proceed to Task D after filling out the packet. Packets are not submitted electronically.

If you received a Regular Certificate fill out the Regular Certificate Packet. 

If a certificate is a "Special Expungement Certificate" fill out the Special Expungement Certificate Packet .

Answer honestly and to the best of your ability based on the records you have. 

If you leave any requested information blank, you can still proceed and file the petition but it may delay processing and a court clerk may reach out to you for additional information.

Instructions to Fill out Packets - English
Instrucciones para llenar Paquetes en Español
Regular Certificate Packet
Special Expungement Certificate Packet

Send your completed form packet to the Court: 

You must file these documents before the expiration date listed on the Certificate List. (Otherwise, you will need to start the application process over.)

  1. Access your completed forms by opening and downloading all attachments sent to you by email from "SALT LAKE COUNTY UTAH adobesign@adobesign.com." If you don't see the email in your inbox, be sure to check your "Junk and/or Spam" folder. 
  2. Print all downloaded attachments(single-sided only) or you can file your court documents via email.
  3. File the necessary documents with the Courts:
    • Documents can either be hand-delivered or sent by mail. Find the court address using the directory link below.
    • If you had to leave the case number blank on the form packet (due to 9-digit numbers not being assigned to very old cases and where charges were never filed), you may want to hand-deliver the form packet or verify with the court clerk that they received your mailing. Save copies of your form packet and call the court to verify they received your petition and to be informed of your new assigned case number.
  4. Make sure you file each form packet with the corresponding court location. You cannot submit all form packets to the same court unless they were all listed as that same particular court.
How to File by Email
District Court Locations

Once petition packets are received by the appropriate court, a few things need to happen before the Court can grant your expungement Order. 

We highly recommend that you keep track of your case on the Utah Courts free MyCase service. You can use MyCase to view the record of what is happening in your case and view the papers that have been filed in your case.

This is a great way to check to make sure the court received your form packets.

MyCase - Utah Courts

Expungement Step 3

Respond to Possible Objection & Attend any Court Hearing

After the Court and Prosecutor receive your documents, your petition might be granted without further action.

Other times, the Prosecutor might object and a hearing may be scheduled.

What happens next depends on how the Prosecutor responds to your Petition Request. Using the Utah Courts free MyCase Service, you can track what is happening with your case and if the prosecutor has responded.

Sometimes your old defense attorney is still being listed as your attorney, and the court sends notice to them instead of to you!

Checking MyCase weekly is a great way to make sure you know what is going on in the case if this happens.

  • If there was no victim in the case, the Court can grant and issue an Expungement Order without further action needed.
  • If there was a victim in the case, the court has to wait 60 days from the date you filed your original petition with the court to allow the victim time to file their statement.
If the 60 days passes with no response, the Court can grant and issue an Expungement Order.

If the prosecutor does nothing and you never hear from them:

  • The court has to wait 60 days from the date you filed the original petition to allow the prosecutor and/or victim time to file their statements.
  • If 60 passes with no response, the court can grant and issue an Expungement Order.
  • If the court never hears from the prosecutor, the court will likely schedule a hearing. If a hearing is scheduled, you should attend. You are not required to submit any documents at the hearing. 

If the Prosecutor objects, or if the victim objects, or if AP&P respond:

You may file a reply only if the victim or the prosecutor has filed a statement.  This form is optional, meaning you can file it, but do not have to. 

  • If you choose to file a reply, you must do so within 14 days after the victim's statement or the prosecutor's statement was served on you. 

  • The Court might order the Division of Adult Probation and Parole (AP&P) to file a written response to the petition. 

    The response will include the reasons probation was terminated, and whether you have completed all requirements of sentencing, probation, or parole. 

    AP&P will serve the response on the petitioner, the prosecuting attorney and the victim.  You may file a reply to the AP&P response within 14 days after receiving it. 

  • Regardless of whether you file a formal Reply, the Court will set a hearing, which you MUST be sure to attend, otherwise your Petition will automatically be dismissed.

  • Explain to the court why the interests of the public would not be harmed by granting the expungement.

  • Be sure to bring to the hearing any other documents you have not already filed.

Note: In very rare cases, the court can set a hearing even if the prosecutor or the victim does not object.

In these instances, you MUST be sure to attend the court hearing and be ready to explain to the court why expunging the records is not contrary to public interest.

The court will notify you if the Expungement Petition was granted or denied.   

  • If the Petition is granted and an Order is issued, you MUST proceed to the next Step to complete your expungement. 

  • If the Petition is denied, you may want to speak to an attorney about filing an appeal.  

  • If the court denied your petition due to you still owing fees, not enough time having passed, or having an open pending criminal matter, you can start again at the beginning of Step One and submit a new application to BCI when the issue has been remedied.
Form Instructions - English
Instrucciones del formulario - Español

Expungement Step 4

Step 4 had two parts - Purchase Certificates and Distribute Expungement Orders. Both of these steps are now obsolete.

However, you still need to know the following

Purchase Certificates:

This step has been removed as of May 4, 2022 thanks to SB35 which originated in the Salt Lake County Expungement Workgroup!

However, you will still want to make sure you get at least one certified copy of the Expungement Order from the court before they expunge your case. The court is required to provide to you certified copies of the expungement order, so contact them immediately if they fail to do so.

If you wait too long, you would have to go in person to the courthouse to get a certified copy of the order.

A petitioner in an expunged case may obtain certified copies of the expungement order and the case history upon request and in-person presentation of positive identification. Otherwise, no one may access a sealed court record except by order of the court.

Distribute Expungement Orders: 

This step has been removed as of May 4, 2022 thanks to SB35 which originated in the Salt Lake County Expungement Workgroup!

However, if you do not receive a confirmation of Expungement completed from BCI after 90 days has passed since the court ordered your expungement, you will want to contact BCI and provide them with your certified copy of the expungement order so that you can get a copy of your BCI expungement confirmation letter.

The BCI expungement confirmation letter is more important than the court expungement order!

Expungement Complete

له. ره

Congratulations! Your expungement is now complete.

What happens after my expungement is completed?

  • When the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) receives a certified copy of the Order, they will expunge your record from the Utah Criminal History database and notify the FBI to expunge their record(s). 
  • A letter will be sent to you indicating removal of BCI records and notification to the FBI to remove their records. You do not need to deliver a copy of the expungement order to the FBI. 

Note:  If you appealed your case to the Utah Court of Appeals or the Utah Supreme Court, you may also want to expunge your appellate records. 

This requires a separate process and does not happen automatically just because the trial court expunged its' records.  Learn more about Expunging Appellate Records at the link below.

Expunging Appellate Records

What you should know now that your record is expunged

Successfully expunging your record means you can honestly and lawfully state that this criminal incident never occurred on job applications and rental applications. Your record should not show up in general background checks.

Be aware that your expunged records can still be viewed by governmental entities for limited purposes. For example:

  • If you are later charged with a felony, a court may order expunged records to be opened and admitted into evidence for sentencing. At the end of the proceeding, the court will order the records resealed.
  • BCI may use the information in expunged records in determining whether to issue a permit to carry a concealed firearm.
  • The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is allowed to use any record it had previously in its possession prior to the expungement in determining your right to own or operate a firearm.
  • Since government agencies may still be able to require you to disclose information regarding expunged records, you may be interested in what is required of you if you are seeking an occupational or professional license

Moving Forward After Expungement

A road with a sign on it.

The Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL), oversees the issuing of licenses for certain professions. Criminal records, including expunged records, may affect eligibility for certain licenses.

DOPL can assist you in understanding whether you may qualify for an occupational or professional license. Some of their resources are listed below or you can contact them directly. 

The Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing

Strengthening trust in Utah's professional workforce through effective licensing, balanced regulation, and consumer engagement to facilitate informed decisions
What Crimes Affect my Path to Licensure?

It depends on the license you wish to obtain. A few licenses do have specific prohibitions that will result in the automatic denial of the license.
Frequently Asked Questions

See specifically FAQ #18: "What factors regarding criminal history will DOPL consider relevant to a licensing decision?"
How do I apply for a determination?

Some licensing laws prohibit certain criminal histories. You may submit this application at any time BEFORE applying for a license (even before completing any training or education for the license).