Understanding Sealing vs. Expungement of Juvenile Records
What’s the difference between sealing and expunging juvenile records? Hi, my name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa criminal attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing family and criminal law for almost eight years now, and I want to help you make law easy by talking to you about the difference between sealing your records or expunging them.
So I’m going to talk about this in a broader sense, not just with juvenile cases, because this is something that I come across all the time, especially with my criminal cases. The difference is, it’s not huge, but it is there. If records are sealed, that means that they still exist. They’re still available at the court clerk’s office. They’re still in the case file for review, but they’re just not available to the general public.
Sealing Records: What You Need to Know
The attorneys in the case could go get them. The parties in the case could go get them. Your actual record, for background check purposes, stays there on that record. Now, expunging it is different. If you’re expunging a case, whether a 991 or a full Section 1819 expungement, it doesn’t just hide the records; it makes them go away. It takes the case entirely off of OSCN.
It pulls the case file out of the court clerk’s office. It makes it so that those records cannot be found by anyone for any reason, and it also takes the convictions or whatever happened during the course of that case and pulls it off of your background check. If you’re doing a Section 991 expungement, your OSBI background check would still show that you were arrested, pled not guilty, and the case was dismissed.
Expunging Records: A Comprehensive Solution
And if you’re doing a Section 1819 expungement, even that goes away, leaving no record of the arrest. So obviously, if you’re in a situation where you’re getting the choice between seal or expunge, definitely go for the expunge because it’s going to be a more thorough and more complete just erasure of whatever happened.
If you’re currently in this situation or considering trying to seal or expunge your records for any reason, please give me a call. My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy. Thank you.
Schedule Your Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session Today
If you are considering your options for sealing or expunging records, don’t hesitate to reach out. Schedule a low-cost initial strategy session with me, Tulsa felony attorney Carl Birkhead, at Wirth Law Office. Let’s discuss how I can help you take the next steps with confidence. Call me today at 918-879-1681.
