Expungement in Washington State: Eligibility, Filing, and Hearing

Washington State does not use the word “expungement.” To clear a conviction in Washington, you ask the sentencing court to vacate it, which withdraws the guilty plea or verdict and dismisses the charge. Once a conviction is vacated, you can lawfully tell employers, landlords, and licensing agencies that you were not convicted of that crime.¹ The rules turn on whether the offense was a misdemeanor or a felony, how long ago you finished your sentence, and whether the offense falls on one of the state’s barred lists.

A vacation order does two things at once: it lets you withdraw your guilty plea (or sets aside a guilty verdict) and dismisses the charge. The conviction comes off your public criminal history, and you are released from the penalties and disabilities tied to it.² It is not the same as sealing, where the record still exists but is hidden. Vacation legally undoes the conviction for state purposes, though as noted below it does not change your status under federal or immigration law.

Who Can Vacate a Misdemeanor or Gross Misdemeanor

You can apply to vacate a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor if you meet all of these:³

You have completed every term of your sentence, including treatment, probation, and payment of all legal financial obligations.
You have no criminal charges pending in any Washington, out-of-state, federal, or tribal court.
At least three years have passed since the later of your release from supervision, release from confinement, or sentencing date. For a domestic violence offense, the waiting period is five years.
You have no new convictions during that waiting period.

A change that took effect on June 6, 2024 is worth knowing about. The three- or five-year clock used to be paused until you finished paying all legal financial obligations. Under the current statute, the waiting period runs from your release or sentencing date regardless of your payment status. You still must pay the obligations in full before the court will grant the vacation, but they no longer delay the start of the clock, and the fix applies retroactively to older convictions.³

Who Can Vacate a Felony

Felony vacations have a step in front of them. You must first obtain a certificate of discharge, which the court issues once you have completed all conditions of your sentence, including legal financial obligations.⁴ If you finished supervision but still owe money, you can get the certificate once the balance is paid. If it was never issued automatically, file a motion asking for it.

Once discharged, you qualify if:²

You have no pending charges in any Washington, out-of-state, or federal court.
For a Class B felony, at least ten years have passed since the later of your release from community custody, release from confinement, or sentencing date, with no new convictions in that ten-year window.
For a Class C felony, at least five years have passed since the later of those three dates, with no new convictions in that five-year window.

Unlike the older misdemeanor rule, the felony waiting period has always run from your release or sentencing date and did not depend on paying off financial obligations.

Offenses That Can Never Be Vacated

This is where a lot of applicants get stopped. On the misdemeanor side, Washington bars vacation for driving under the influence, actual physical control while under the influence, and operating a railroad while intoxicated; violent offenses under RCW 9.94A.030 and attempts to commit them; sex offenses under chapter 9A.44 RCW, except failure to register; obscenity and pornography offenses under chapter 9.68 RCW; and sexual exploitation of children under chapter 9.68A RCW.³

On the felony side, violent offenses and crimes against persons generally cannot be vacated. Three narrow exceptions exist: second-degree assault, third-degree assault not committed against a law enforcement officer, and second-degree robbery may be vacated if the conviction did not include a firearm, deadly weapon, or sexual motivation enhancement. Felony DUI offenses under RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504 are barred. Class A felonies have no vacation pathway at all; the statute only sets waiting periods for Class B and Class C.²

A Faster Path for Cannabis and Certain Drug Convictions

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor cannabis offense and were 21 or older at the time, the court must vacate your conviction upon application. It is not discretionary. The provision reaches back through predecessor statutes as far as 1971.³

A parallel rule applies to certain drug possession convictions. If you complete a substance use disorder program or show six months of substantial compliance with treatment through a recovery navigator or diversion program, the court must vacate those convictions once you provide proof.

What You Need Before You File

Start by pulling your criminal history. The Washington State Patrol’s WATCH system (Washington Access to Criminal History) runs a name-and-date-of-birth check online for $11 and returns results immediately.⁵ From that report and your court file, gather the case number, the court, the conviction date, the specific offense, the date you finished all sentence conditions, your judgment and sentence, and, for a felony, your certificate of discharge.

Washington uses separate forms for the two paths. Misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors use the Petition and Declaration for Order Vacating Conviction (form CrRLJ 09.0100). Felonies use the Motion and Declaration for Order Vacating Record of Felony Conviction (form CR 08.0900). Both are on the Washington Courts website, and the felony form has a guided interview that generates the paperwork from your answers.⁶

Filing and Serving Your Papers

File the signed original with the clerk of the court that convicted you, whether that was a municipal, district, or superior court. Then serve a copy on the prosecuting attorney’s office that handled the case. The felony form specifically asks for the date you served the prosecutor.⁷ Keep proof of service. Without it, the court will likely continue your hearing.

The Hearing

The court will set a hearing, and you need to attend. The prosecutor can object, typically on grounds like inaccurate information, an unmet waiting period, or unpaid legal financial obligations. The judge reviews the paperwork, weighs any objections, and decides. For most misdemeanors and felonies the decision is discretionary; meeting the technical requirements does not force the court to grant the order. Cannabis convictions and the drug possession convictions tied to treatment completion are the exceptions where the court must grant the vacation.³

After the Judge Signs the Order

The clerk sends a copy of the order to the Washington State Patrol and to the arresting agency. The WSP updates its records so the conviction no longer appears on your public criminal history report, and you can then say on applications that you were not convicted.⁵¹

Private background check companies are a separate problem. They pull data from many sources and may still be showing the old conviction after the WSP updates its file. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, these companies must follow reasonable procedures to ensure the “maximum possible accuracy” of what they report.⁸ Reporting a vacated conviction as a current one violates that standard. If a background check surfaces a conviction you have vacated, dispute the report with the screening company and send a copy of your vacation order. They are then obligated to correct or remove the entry.

If You Are Not a U.S. Citizen

Vacating a Washington conviction does not automatically remove it for immigration purposes. Federal immigration law uses its own definition of “conviction,” and under the Immigration and Nationality Act a conviction exists once a court has found you guilty or accepted a guilty plea and imposed some form of punishment or restraint.⁹ The Board of Immigration Appeals has held that a state vacation under a rehabilitative statute does not eliminate the conviction for immigration purposes. The only vacations that stop counting are those granted for a constitutional or procedural defect in the original case, such as ineffective assistance of counsel or a failure to advise you of the immigration consequences of your plea. Washington’s ordinary vacation process is rehabilitative in nature. Talk to an immigration attorney before filing; the right strategy for a criminal record in immigration proceedings may look nothing like the state court process.

Firearm Rights

Washington prohibits firearm possession after a “serious offense” conviction (which includes most Class A felonies and many violent crimes), any felony, and a growing list of misdemeanors that includes domestic violence offenses, stalking, harassment, and a prior DUI committed within seven years of another DUI.¹⁰ Vacating a conviction may remove the state-law disability because the underlying conviction is gone, but federal firearm prohibitions under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) operate independently, and whether a state vacation satisfies the federal standard depends on how it interacts with the restoration of civil rights. Washington also has a separate petition process to restore firearm rights. If this matters to your case, consult an attorney who can evaluate both layers.

Where to Get Free Help

You do not need a lawyer to file, but the process is easier with one. The King County Bar Association runs a Records Project that pairs eligible clients with volunteer attorneys at no cost, and similar programs exist in other counties. Washington Law Help (washingtonlawhelp.org) publishes self-help guides and lists free legal services by county. If you are not sure your conviction qualifies, one of these programs can screen your case before you spend time on the paperwork.

1
Washington Courts. Instructions for Vacating Misdemeanor and Gross Misdemeanor Convictions
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.94A.640 – Vacation of Offender’s Record of Conviction
3
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.96.060 – Vacating Records of Conviction for Misdemeanor and Gross Misdemeanor
4
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.637 – Discharge Upon Completion of Sentence
5
Washington State Patrol. Criminal History
6
Washington State Courts. Court Forms – Vacating/Sealing Records
7
Washington State Courts. Motion and Declaration for Order Vacating Record of Felony Conviction
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681e – Compliance Procedures
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjudicative Factors
10
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.040 – Unlawful Possession of Firearms