At the time of sentencing, a judge may order that court records related to a person's conviction be expunged, or removed, if the person meets certain eligibility requirements and successfully completes the sentence. An expungement does not reverse or set aside the conviction; instead, it removes and seals all records relating to the conviction from the court's record system.

A court can order expungement (with a few exceptions) only if all of the following criteria apply:

• The person was under the age of 25 when he or she committed the offense.
• The offense has a maximum penalty of six or fewer years of imprisonment (i.e., only misdemeanors, Class H, and Class I felonies are eligible for expungement).
• The sentencing court determines that the person will benefit from having the record expunged.
• The sentencing court determines that society will not be harmed by the expungement.
• The person successfully completed his or her sentence, which means that the person has completed serving all ordered confinement time in jail or prison, has served all required time on extended supervision or probation, has not been convicted of a subsequent offense, completed probation without being revoked, and satisfied all financial obligations that were made a condition of probation or extended supervision during the supervision period.

For Class H and Class I felonies, the person must not have a prior felony conviction and the offense cannot be defined as a violent offense, stalking, intentional or reckless child abuse, sexual assault, or concealing the death of a child.

Expungement is not automatic even if the court permits expungement at sentencing. Upon completion of the sentence, there are several steps the person must take to effectuate the expungement.