A criminal record can follow you into a job interview, a lease application, or a licensing board long after your case is closed. West Virginia law lets many people seal that record from public view. This guide explains who qualifies, how long you have to wait, and exactly what to file.
Legal education, not legal advice. This explains how West Virginia's expungement laws generally work. It does not create an attorney–client relationship and cannot tell you whether your specific record qualifies. Statutes and forms change — verify current law and talk with a licensed attorney about your situation.
What expungement actually does
Expungement removes a criminal matter from the records the public can see — court files and law-enforcement records — and orders them sealed. Once a record is expunged, West Virginia law treats the matter, in the eyes of the law, as though it never happened. You generally do not have to disclose it on applications for a job, credit, or housing.
Sealed, not shredded
Records are moved out of public view and secured, not physically destroyed.
Petition-based
West Virginia has no automatic "clean slate" system. You have to file.
Circuit court
You file in the county where your charge or conviction was handled.
A note on wording: in West Virginia, "sealing" is the mechanism and "expungement" is the result. When a court grants an expungement, it orders records sealed — removed from public inspection and public court websites, and kept in a separate secure file that only certain people can reach with a legitimate reason.
Which path is yours?
The single most important question is whether you were convicted. The answer sends you down one of two tracks with very different rules.
W. Va. Code § 61-11-25
Track A — No conviction
You were acquitted, your charges were dismissed, or you finished a pre-trial diversion or deferred adjudication and the charges were dropped.
- Wait as little as 60 days after acquittal or dismissal.
- No filing fee for this type of petition.
- A prior felony conviction can disqualify you from using this section.
W. Va. Code § 61-11-26
Track B — You were convicted
You pleaded guilty or were found guilty of a misdemeanor or a non-violent felony.
- Waiting periods run from 1 to 5 years, depending on the offense.
- Certain serious offenses can never be expunged.
- You get this relief once in your lifetime.
If you were never convicted (Track A)
When a case ends without a conviction, West Virginia lets you ask the court to wipe out the arrest, the charge, and everything connected to it. This covers three situations: you were found not guilty, your charges were dismissed (and not as part of a plea to something else), or your charges were dropped after you successfully completed a pre-trial diversion (§ 61-11-22) or deferred adjudication (§ 61-11-22a).
Key rules
You can file no sooner than 60 days after the acquittal or dismissal. There is no filing fee for a non-conviction petition. One important limit: if you have previously been convicted of a felony, you generally cannot use this section. Records tied to a "not guilty by reason of mental illness or addiction" finding, and certain criminal-investigation reports, are also treated differently and may be exempt. This section does not erase Division of Motor Vehicles records.
Good to know
The court is supposed to tell you
When a judge enters an order of acquittal or dismissal, the law directs the court to inform you of your right to petition for expungement. In practice, many people are never told — so this often falls to you to pursue.
Expunging a conviction (Track B)
Since a 2019 reform, West Virginia allows many misdemeanor and non-violent felony convictions to be expunged. You petition the circuit court in the county where you were convicted, and you carry the burden of proving your case by clear and convincing evidence — that the offense qualifies, that enough time has passed, that you have no charges pending, that expungement serves the public welfare, and that you have been rehabilitated and law-abiding.
How long you have to wait
The clock starts at whichever of these is latest: the date of conviction, the end of any incarceration, or the end of any supervision (probation or parole).
| Your situation | Standard wait | Measured from |
|---|---|---|
| One misdemeanor | 1 year | Conviction, or end of sentence/supervision — whichever is later |
| Multiple misdemeanors | 2 years | The last conviction, or end of the last sentence/supervision |
| Non-violent felony | 5 years | Conviction, or end of sentence/supervision — whichever is later |
Multiple non-violent felonies can sometimes be expunged together when they arose from the same transaction or series of events. "Non-violent felony" is defined narrowly — it excludes anything on the barred list below, anything involving serious bodily injury, and anything the court finds involved violence or potential violence.
One old DUI won't necessarily block you
The DUI carve-out
A DUI conviction cannot itself be expunged. But if your DUI is at least five years old when you file, it will not, by itself, prevent you from expunging an unrelated, otherwise-eligible felony.
What can't be expunged
Some convictions are barred from expungement no matter how much time passes. West Virginia Code § 61-11-26(c) lists them. In plain terms, you generally cannot expunge:
- ×Felony crimes of violence against a person; and misdemeanors that intentionally injured a minor or a law-enforcement officer — § 61-11-26(c)(1)
- ×Felonies in which the victim was a minor — § 61-11-26(c)(2)
- ×Sexual offenses — § 61-8B-1 et seq.
- ×Any offense where you used or displayed a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument — § 61-11-26(c)(4)
- ×Domestic-violence offenses, and assault/battery against a spouse, co-parent, or someone you lived with — §§ 61-2-28, 61-2-9(b)–(c)
- ×Strangulation and related offenses — § 61-2-29
- ×Driving under the influence (DUI) — § 61-11-26(c)(7)
- ×Certain driving-on-a-suspended/revoked-license offenses — § 17B-4-3
- ×Incest and cruelty to animals — §§ 61-8-12, 61-8-19
- ×Stalking — § 61-2-9a
- ×Certain additional sexual-abuse offenses — §§ 61-8B-8, 61-8B-9
- ×Burglary of a structure regularly used as a dwelling — § 61-3-11
- ×Any offense the sentencing judge found in writing was sexually motivated — § 61-11-26(c)(13)
- ×Certain commercial-driver / commercial-vehicle offenses — § 17E-1-13(g)
- ×Conspiracy or attempt to commit most of the barred felonies above — § 61-11-26(c)(15)
This is a plain-language summary of a technical list. Whether a specific conviction is barred often turns on the exact statute you were convicted under and the facts the court found. If any of these might touch your case, confirm the current statute and get an attorney's read before you rely on eligibility.
Shortening the wait
West Virginia Code § 61-11-26a lets some people file sooner than the standard waiting periods. It's aimed at people whose record is tied to substance use and who have done the work of recovery. You may qualify for an accelerated timeline if you have a medically documented history of substance abuse and have successfully completed an approved substance-abuse treatment and recovery program, or if you graduate from an approved West Virginia job-readiness adult training course.
| Your situation | Standard wait | Accelerated wait |
|---|---|---|
| One misdemeanor | 1 year | After you finish your sentence (90-day program compliance) |
| Multiple misdemeanors | 2 years | 1 year |
| Non-violent felony | 5 years | 3 years |
You'll need documentation — the treatment program must be approved by the state, and you must be able to prove successful completion. Accelerated relief counts against the same once-per-lifetime limit as a standard conviction expungement.
Drug cases, pardons & trafficking
First-time drug possession — § 60A-4-407
If you were a first-time offender placed on probation under West Virginia's conditional-discharge law for simple possession, and you completed probation successfully without serious or repeated violations, you can ask the court to expunge the arrest, trial, and conviction. You become eligible six months after your probation ends.
After a pardon — § 5-1-16a
A person who receives a full and unconditional pardon from the Governor may petition to expunge that conviction. The timing is longer here: generally you must wait one year after the pardon and five years after you complete the sentence. First-degree murder, kidnapping, treason, and felony sex offenses are not eligible even with a pardon. This route also requires publishing legal notice of your petition.
Victims of human trafficking — Chapter 61, Article 14
West Virginia provides a separate path for survivors of human trafficking to vacate and expunge certain convictions that resulted from being trafficked, without the rehabilitation-program requirements that apply elsewhere. If this may apply to you, this is a situation where working with an attorney or a victim-services advocate matters most.
Cost & the one-time rule
$0
Filing fee for a non-conviction petition (Track A).
Civil filing fee
A conviction petition costs the standard circuit-court civil filing fee (recently around $200). Ask the clerk for the current amount.
+$100
Separate State Police processing fee due if your conviction expungement is granted.
Can't afford the fee? You can ask the court to waive it by filing a financial affidavit showing you cannot afford to pay. Legal Aid of West Virginia publishes the fee-waiver form and instructions.
Read this twice
Conviction expungement is a once-in-a-lifetime relief
You may obtain expungement of a conviction under § 61-11-26 and § 61-11-26a only once. If you have several eligible convictions, think carefully — ideally with an attorney — about grouping them into a single, well-prepared petition rather than spending your one chance on part of your record.
Your path, step by step
- 1
Pull your criminal history
Get your record from the West Virginia State Police Criminal Identification Bureau (CIB). You need to know exactly what's on it — charges, code sections, dates, and dispositions — before anything else.
- 2
Confirm eligibility and your waiting period
Match each item on your record to a track above. Check that it isn't on the barred list, and calculate your waiting period from the latest of conviction, end of incarceration, or end of supervision. Make sure you have no charges currently pending.
- 3
Get the right form
West Virginia's Judiciary publishes fillable forms. SCA-C903 — Acquittal / Dismissal (non-conviction). SCA-C906 — Misdemeanor conviction. SCA-C907 — Felony conviction. Find them at courtswv.gov or ask the circuit clerk in your county. Confirm you're on the current version.
- 4
Complete it fully and truthfully — under oath
A conviction petition is verified under oath and must include your names and aliases, addresses, the statutes and offenses, the disposition, your reason for seeking expungement, and the steps you've taken toward rehabilitation. Attach supporting documents — certified court records, program certificates, proof of completed sentence.
- 5
File with the circuit clerk, then serve everyone required
File in the county of conviction and pay the fee (or file your fee-waiver request). For a conviction petition, you must serve copies on the State Police Superintendent, the prosecuting attorney, the arresting agency's chief, any warden/Corrections where you were held, and the court that handled your case. The prosecutor notifies any victims.
- 6
Wait out the response window
Anyone served, and any victim or interested party, has 30 days to file opposition; you then have 30 days to reply. Within 60 days of filing, the court will grant it, send it back for corrections, set a hearing, or deny it.
- 7
If granted, confirm the sealing is done
Once the judge signs the order, every agency holding your records must certify within 60 days that the expungement is complete. Keep a certified copy of the order for your own files — it's your proof if a record ever surfaces later.
Life after expungement
Once your record is expunged, the law treats the matter as though it never occurred. Courts and agencies must respond to inquiries by saying no record exists. On applications for employment, credit, and housing, you generally do not have to disclose the expunged record, and you cannot be prosecuted for perjury for leaving it off.
Two honest limits worth knowing:
- Law-enforcement and criminal-justice jobs are different. If you apply for a position involving the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, or incarceration of offenders, you must disclose the conviction even if it was expunged.
- Sealed isn't gone forever. A prosecutor can petition to inspect sealed records for a legitimate investigation, and the records still exist in secure files. Expungement removes the record from public life — it doesn't erase it from the universe.
Common mistakes
- Miscounting the waiting period. The clock runs from the latest event — often the end of probation, not the conviction date. People file too early and get denied.
- Spending your one shot too soon. Because conviction relief is once-per-lifetime, expunging a single charge when you have several eligible ones can be a costly mistake.
- Assuming a dismissal disappears on its own. Even charges that were dismissed stay on your record until you petition. Nothing is automatic in West Virginia.
- Incomplete petitions and missed service. Leaving out required information, or failing to serve every required official, is one of the most common reasons a petition stalls or gets denied.
- Relying on an old version of the law. Expungement statutes and forms are amended regularly. Always check the current text before filing.
Sources & verification
Every legal statement was checked against the primary source — the official West Virginia Code as published by the Legislature — rather than secondary summaries. Form numbers were confirmed against the West Virginia Judiciary's current forms library.
- § 61-11-25 — Expungement for non-convictions (acquittal, dismissal, diversion, deferred adjudication).
- § 61-11-26 — Expungement of certain convictions; eligibility, waiting periods, barred offenses, procedure, fees, once-per-lifetime rule.
- § 61-11-26a — Accelerated expungement with approved treatment/recovery or job-readiness program.
- § 60A-4-407 — Expungement for first-time drug possession after conditional discharge.
- § 5-1-16a — Expungement following a full and unconditional pardon.
- Chapter 61, Article 14 — Human trafficking: vacatur and expungement for survivors.
- SCA-C903 / SCA-C906 / SCA-C907 — Petition forms (non-conviction, misdemeanor, felony) at courtswv.gov.
Verification note: a statewide automatic ("clean slate") expungement provision has been introduced in the Legislature in recent sessions but, as of this writing, has not been enacted — West Virginia expungement remains petition-based. Because statutes and forms change, confirm the current text at the sources above before filing.