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Expungements


Expungements in Delaware

Clearing, or “expunging,” your criminal record isn’t as easy as 1-2-3. Read on to learn about expungements in Delaware. Or scroll down for ways to get assistance.

There can be a lot of steps in figuring out who can get an expungement. We created the tools below to help you understand those steps.

Guides

Use our online guides to help you figure out your possible eligibility.

Click the button to go to the guides.

Events

Meet with an attorney at a free expungement clinic.

Click the button to see upcoming events.

Contact

Complete the form on this page for us to get back to you.

Click the button to go directly to the form.

No.

Your criminal history does not automatically go away when you turn 18, even if you were not convicted or not adjudicated delinquent. In Delaware, a criminal history is never destroyed or sealed.

An expungement is the only way to remove arrests, charges, and adjudications of delinquency from a criminal background history.

Delaware passed The Clean Slate Act, which will take effect in 2024 and creates a process for automatically expunging some records.

This is good news, but it is far from perfect.

  • The automatic expungement will not apply to all criminal records that could be eligible for expungement. It is only for records that qualify for a certain type called “mandatory expungement.”
  • Even after the law goes into effect, it will take time for the state to identify and then process the eligible records.
  • It’s possible that the state could fail to identify some records that are eligible.
  • The state isn’t required to inform you when it has or hasn’t automatically expunged your criminal record.

For now, if you were charged with a crime in Delaware and want to remove it from your record, you must obtain an expungement to remove the arrest, charges, convictions, or adjudications.

Upcoming events

Meet with an attorney at a free expungement clinic to find out about your expungement options and next steps.

    No events

View all events

Contact us for expungement assistance

Use this form to get in touch with our special group that works on records and expungements.

Guides

There can be a lot of steps in figuring out who can get an expungement. We created these guides to walk you through it based on your record.

Adult

Please contact the ODS Expungement Hotline at
302-577-5142

Juvenile

This survey is for juvenile records.

Stay safe online

Chatbot (adult): This guide does not collect, save, or transmit your responses. Only your device will know what you entered. Once you close the chat tab, your chat and the information will no long exist. You have the option to save your chat to your own computer or phone before you close the tab if you want to keep a copy for yourself.

Survey (juvenile): This guide is created on Google Forms. If you are logged into Google while answering the survey, then Google saves your “progress” (meaning your responses and how far you got in the form). They do this to make it easier for you to pick up where you left off; but be aware that this means that if someone else uses your device to open the same form (which they could find in your browser history), then your answers will be visible to them. If privacy is a concern for you: Log out of Google before you begin the survey.

Extra precaution: To help prevent someone else from seeing that you opened the guides, clear your browser history right away after you close the chat tab or survey tab.

Juvenile expungements

Watch to learn about juvenile criminal record expungement.


Special “thank you” to Dawn Mosley and Productions for Purpose for producing this video.


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