The New Indiana Second Chance Laws are seeing some positive transformations. What is considered to be a very unpopular law among several interest groups and lobbyist parties is now being improved upon. Before this year, orders of protection were not eligible for expunction, but now they are. If someone took out a protection order against you in the past, and you wish to have this record concealed from the general public, you would be wise to take advantage of the Indiana criminal record expungement laws while they are still in effect.

Continue reading to learn what you need to know about expunging protection orders and restraining orders, including how to get started on your petition.

Expungement for Protection Orders

The Indiana legislature has recently expanded the scope of the state criminal record expungement laws by now allowing protection orders to qualify. Qualifications for this type of expungement are laid out in Indiana Code 34-26-7.5, Petitions to Expunge Protection Orders, which states, “if (…) a protection order was issued to the plaintiff, but is subsequently terminated due to the:

(A) dismissal of the petition before a court hearing on the protection order;
(B) denial of the protection order upon the order of the court; or
(C) failure of the plaintiff to appear to the court hearing on the protection order.
(2) A protection order was reversed or vacated by an appellate court.”

Criminal Record Expungement
Indiana Code § 35-38-5-1

Before you can qualify to expunge a protection order, you must first be eligible for criminal record expungement altogether. To qualify for expungement, you must meet certain strict criteria. These include but are not limited to:

▷ A specific amount of time has passed since the initial date of arrest or indictment;
▷You were never actually charged with the crime;
▷Your charges were later dropped as a result of 1) mistaken identity, 2) no crime was actually committed, and 3) there was no probable cause to believe you committed a crime;
▷You have no pending criminal charges;
▷Your offense was not a sex crime;
▷Your offense did not result in serious bodily injury or death;

Note: If your conviction was later reversed and your case dismissed, you may also be eligible to have your DNA profile expunged from the state DNA database. See Indiana Code § 10-13-6-18.

How to Get Started on Your Petition

Call David E. Lewis, Attorney at Law at 317-636-7514 to learn more about sealing or expunging your criminal records in Indiana. He is eager to help you get the fresh start in life that you deserve! Best of all, his services start as low as $850, so you can afford to clean up your record just as much as the next guy. Call 317-636-7514 to schedule a free initial consultation, today.