Arizona Set Aside Conviction: Who Qualifies and What Changes

In Arizona, you can ask the sentencing court to set aside a conviction under A.R.S. § 13-905 once you have finished every condition of your sentence. Filing the motion costs nothing, and if the judge grants it, the guilty judgment is vacated and the charge dismissed. The record itself does not disappear. It stays visible on background checks with a notation that the conviction was set aside, which is why an Arizona set aside conviction is useful but is not the same thing as expungement.¹

Who Qualifies

The threshold rule is simple: you must have completed all conditions of your probation or sentence and received a final discharge from the court. Probation term finished, prison time served, court-imposed conditions satisfied. Restitution does not have to be paid to the last dollar before you file, but the judge will look at what is still owed when deciding.¹

Convictions That Cannot Be Set Aside

Four categories are permanently ineligible:

Dangerous offenses, meaning any crime involving a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.
Any conviction that required sex offender registration under A.R.S. § 13-3821.
Any offense where the court found sexual motivation under A.R.S. § 13-118.
Any felony where the victim was younger than 15.

Those are the only categorical bars in the statute. A common misconception is that DUI and other traffic convictions are off the table. They are not. Traffic offenses can be set aside. What survives, regardless of the court’s ruling, are Department of Transportation penalties such as license suspensions and revocations.¹

What the Judge Weighs

Meeting the eligibility rule does not guarantee a grant. The statute directs the court to consider seven factors:

The nature of the offense and its circumstances.
Your compliance with the sentence, probation conditions, and any Department of Corrections rules.
Any prior or subsequent convictions.
Victim input and the status of restitution.
How much time has passed since you completed the sentence.
Your age at conviction.
Any other factor the court finds relevant, which lets the judge weigh rehabilitation, employment, community ties, and similar evidence.

The restitution factor deserves attention. A large unpaid balance with no plan to address it weighs against you, even though full payment is not a strict precondition to filing.¹

How to File

Start with the basics of your case: case number, date of conviction, the court that sentenced you, and the prosecuting agency. If you do not have that information, the clerk of the sentencing court can help you pull it.

The application itself is a Motion to Set Aside Judgment and Dismiss Case. Arizona superior courts and justice courts provide standardized forms. The form asks for your identifying information, the case details, and a statement of why the set aside is warranted. That statement is where evidence of rehabilitation lives: steady employment, education, community involvement, changes since the conviction.

File the completed motion with the clerk of the court that entered the conviction. There is no filing fee. Provide a copy to the prosecuting attorney’s office that handled the case. The prosecutor and any victims then have 30 days to file an objection.¹

What Happens After You File

If no objection comes in during the 30-day window, the judge will usually rule on the paperwork. If the prosecutor or a victim objects, the court may set a hearing where you can present your case in person. Bring documentation that speaks to the seven factors: proof of employment, education records, restitution payments, letters of support.

If the court denies the application, the judge must state the reasons in writing and on the record. The statute does not bar you from refiling. When more time has passed, restitution has been paid down, or your rehabilitation evidence is stronger, a second application that addresses the judge’s stated concerns can succeed where the first did not.¹

What a Granted Set Aside Actually Changes

A grant releases you from most penalties and disabilities of the conviction. On job applications, you can accurately say the conviction was set aside and dismissed. Background checks show the set aside notation alongside the underlying record rather than a bare conviction.

Three things do not go away:

Department of Transportation penalties, including license suspensions and revocations, stay in effect.
Arizona Game and Fish Commission sanctions such as hunting or fishing license revocations remain.
Lifetime injunctions issued under A.R.S. § 13-719 are not affected.

The conviction also remains usable in future criminal cases. It can be alleged as a prior for sentence enhancement, used as an element of a subsequent charge, or introduced as evidence just as it could have been before the set aside.¹

Certificate of Second Chance

When the court grants a set aside, it must also issue a certificate of second chance if the conviction falls into one of three groups:

Any misdemeanor.
A class 4, 5, or 6 felony, if at least two years have passed since sentence completion.
A class 2 or 3 felony, if at least five years have passed since sentence completion.

If the waiting period has not been met when the set aside is granted, you can apply separately for the certificate once enough time has passed. You can receive a certificate of second chance on only one felony conviction, or one group of felonies from the same incident, in your lifetime.¹

The certificate matters for two concrete reasons. It removes barriers to occupational licenses issued under Arizona Title 32, which covers professions from nursing and real estate to cosmetology and contracting. And it gives legal cover to employers and landlords: hiring or renting to someone with a certificate cannot easily be used against them in civil liability claims.¹

If You Are Not a U.S. Citizen

An Arizona set aside will not help with immigration. Federal immigration law uses its own definition of conviction, and USCIS treats a judgment vacated for rehabilitative reasons rather than a legal defect in the original case as still a conviction for immigration purposes.² An Arizona set aside is a rehabilitative dismissal. If you are facing any immigration issue, speak with an immigration attorney before relying on one.

Record Sealing as the Next Step

A set aside leaves the record publicly accessible. Arizona’s record-sealing statute, A.R.S. § 13-911, goes further: a sealed record is no longer publicly visible, and in most situations the person can legally say they were never arrested, charged, or convicted.³ Sealing has stricter eligibility, requires full payment of fines, fees, and restitution, and imposes waiting periods that vary by offense class. Certain offenses cannot be sealed at all, including dangerous offenses, dangerous crimes against children, serious or violent felonies, sex trafficking, and certain sexual offenses. Sealed records can still be used to enhance a future sentence, seen by law enforcement, and accessed by employers who require a fingerprint clearance card.

If you qualify for both, it usually makes sense to pursue the set aside first and file for sealing later, because the set aside is available immediately while the sealing waiting period runs in the background.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-905 – Setting Aside Judgment of Convicted Person on Discharge
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Adjudicative Factors
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-911 – Sealing of Arrest, Conviction and Sentencing Records