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.
Use our online guides to help you figure out your possible eligibility.
Click the button to go to the guides.
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.
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.
Meet with an attorney at a free expungement clinic to find out about your expungement options and next steps.
Use this form to get in touch with our special group that works on records and expungements.
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.
Please contact the ODS Expungement Hotline at
302-577-5142
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.
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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