Expungement and Record Sealing Lawyer in Merrillville Gets You a Clean Slate

New Changes to Indiana’s Expungement Law Effective July 1, 2021

• Record sealing cases in which you were arrested but you were never charged or in which you were arrested but the case was dismissed
• Also restores your State and Federal constitutional rights- except Domestic Battery type cases require a separate petition
• Can clean up your driving record- except if you have a CDL it does not get removed
• The record exists and can be viewed by law enforcement but cannot be used against you in hiring or licensing processes
• Can legally state that you have not been arrested or convicted of a criminal offense
• Record sealing also applies when a person is arrested and never charged

We represent clients in Gary and throughout Lake County and Porter County, IN

Computer-based record keeping and background searches make it very important to monitor the information public and private organizations collect about your life. That’s especially true if that information is part of a criminal record. It may be an old and misleading part of your past, but just its presence can make it difficult to get a new job, secure a loan or rent an apartment.

Your past doesn’t have to continue roadblocking your future. Under certain circumstances, Indiana allows the expungement or sealing of juvenile court and adult criminal law court records. At the Law Office of Weiss, Schmidgall and Hires, P.C., we know that your records don’t offer an accurate account of who you were then and especially not of who you are now. So it’s unfair that people use them to judge you. Our Merrillville attorneys can protect your future by getting your record expunged or sealed.

What’s the difference between expungement and record sealing?

Because criminal records are kept as paper files and computer data, there are two main ways to prevent their information from becoming available.

• Expungement, as it currently exists in the law, are charges that lead to a conviction which you are seeking to expunge the record of your conviction.
• Record sealing are cases in which you were arrested but there was never a conviction and the case was dismissed.
• In both Expungement or Record sealing, it restricts access to a person’s record so that employers, landlords, loan officers and college admissions personnel cannot view it. However, the record still exists, so criminal justice agencies like the Merrillville police can access it.

The specific circumstances of your situation will determine which one may be available. Except for expungements in juvenile cases, which are discussed separately below, to qualify for an expungement or record sealing in Indiana the following must be true:

Record sealing

Arrest record seal-seals arrests when there is no conviction.  The rules vary based on whether there was a conviction entered. But in either case, our Merrillville attorneys can help seal many records including:

• Drug offenses
• OWI
• Theft or conversion

Expungement

We can try to get your record permanently sealed if you have a conviction entered against you.

Expungement of juvenile offenses

Juvenile records are considered sensitive and are generally kept restricted, but in some cases it may be best to have the entire record cleared with an expungement. Indiana allows the juvenile court to expunge a record by weighing a set of factors that evaluate the offense, the person’s age at the time, their conduct during court-ordered services and what’s happened in their life since. Our Merrillville lawyers know how to make an effective argument in support of this petition. We know what the courts are looking for and we help present the merits of your case.

Call our Merrillville lawyers for a free consultation about an expungement or record sealing

At the Law Office of Weiss, Schmidgall and Hires, P.C., we’re committed to helping good people recover from a difficult past.  Our office is located where 73^rd Avenue and Broadway meet. It’s just a few blocks north of the Merrillville police station and courthouse. Call 219-293-8988 or contact us online to schedule your appointment.