New Year, New You!

We’ve all been inundated with the advertising slogan: “New Year: New You!” But in our case, we’d actually like to help give you a blank slate. The new year is a great time to think about clearing up a criminal record.

In Louisiana, people convicted of most misdemeanors and certain felonies can be eligible to have their convictions removed from their public record under certain circumstances:

(1) If that person was originally sentenced pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Article 893 or 894 and has successfully completed their probation; or

(2) after remaining arrest-free for 5 or 10 years (depending on the seriousness of the offense).

If the person meets one of these requirements and an expungement is not excluded for some other reason (i.e.: the person has already received an expungement for another charge within the last 5 or 10 years, the offense is a violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, certain sex offenses, or certain crimes of violence), then that person may be eligible to have the arrest expunged.

An expungement in Louisiana does not “make it like it never happened,” but for many purposes, it will allow the person to say when asked that they have not been arrested or convicted for the offense which has been expunged.

Expungements are great tools for first-offenders or those who have an old criminal record that may be causing them difficulties when job-hunting or apartment-hunting.

If you or someone you know is interested in cleaning up a criminal record this new year, give us a call at (318) 459-9111! And happy new year from us at Gilmer & Giglio!