Every January 1st, we are reminded that the New Year can be a fresh start for us, a chance to do something different or make changes for the better. People make resolutions to get healthy, or set goals like finding a new job or work on improving their relationships or even decluttering their house. An expungement might just be what you need!
The North Carolina General Assembly continued to offer relief for those trying to rebuild their life in 2021. Many changes were made to the rules for criminal record expungements and many of those changes went into effect in December of 2021.
The Second Chance Act is a bipartisan “clean slate” bill that automatically expunges your criminal charges that are dismissed or disposed “not guilty” starting in 2021, and allows individuals to petition for expungement of all nonviolent misdemeanor convictions after 7 years of good behavior at the end of 2020.
A North Carolina criminal expungement is a legal process that petitions the Court to remove a criminal conviction or a criminal charge from a person’s record and to destroy the state’s record of the arrest, charge, and/or conviction.
The Second Chance Act was signed by Governor Cooper and is now in effect. The new law allows many North Carolinians to remove old criminal convictions.