A Continued Without a Finding stays on your Massachusetts record indefinitely unless you take steps to seal it. The charge and the CWOF disposition remain on your Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) even after you finish probation and the case is dismissed. What changes over time is not whether the record exists, but who can see it and what it still counts for.
What Shows Up and When
A CWOF is a disposition where you admit there are enough facts for a guilty finding, the court holds off on entering one, and you go on probation for a set period. Complete every condition and the charge is dismissed. Fall short and the court can enter a guilty finding and sentence you.1Mass.gov. Massachusetts District/Municipal Court Rules for Probation Violation Proceedings – Rule 2 Definition of Terms
From the day the court enters the CWOF, it is on your CORI. During probation, the case reads as pending. After probation ends and the charge is dismissed, the entry is updated to show the dismissal, but the underlying charge, the court, and the CWOF disposition all stay in your CORI history. Nothing drops off automatically.
While You Are on Probation
An active CWOF appears on essentially every level of CORI check. Massachusetts regulations put “all pending criminal charges, including cases continued without a finding of guilt until they are dismissed” into the Standard Access category used by most employers and landlords.2Legal Information Institute. 803 CMR 2.05 – Levels of Access to CORI A routine background check run during probation will show it.
After the Case Is Dismissed
The visibility shrinks once probation ends. Standard Access CORI returns pending charges, convictions within set time windows, and a handful of serious offenses. A dismissed CWOF is none of those, so most employers running a standard check will not see it.2Legal Information Institute. 803 CMR 2.05 – Levels of Access to CORI
Higher-tier checks still pick it up. “Required 2” access and above can see criminal charges that did not end in a conviction. That tier covers jobs working with children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and certain government roles. For those employers, a dismissed CWOF stays visible.
Sealing a CWOF
Sealing is how you shorten the practical lifespan of a CWOF. Once sealed, the record is removed from standard CORI results, most employers, landlords, and volunteer organizations cannot see it, and you can legally answer “no” to criminal history questions on most job applications.3Mass.gov. Request to Seal Your Criminal Record Massachusetts gives you two routes with very different timelines.
Administrative Sealing Through the Commissioner of Probation
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 276, Section 100A, you can petition the Commissioner of Probation to seal your record by mail. The waiting period is three years for a misdemeanor and seven years for a felony, measured from the date the CWOF was entered rather than the date of dismissal. You cannot pick up any new criminal findings during the wait.4Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c276 100A – Requests to Seal Files
Petitioning the Court With No Waiting Period
A dismissed CWOF is a non-conviction disposition, so Massachusetts also lets you petition the court that heard the case to seal it without serving the three or seven years. A judge decides, with more discretion than the Commissioner has in the administrative process, so the outcome is less predictable. For someone who has just finished probation and wants the record out of standard view quickly, this is the faster path.
Where Sealing Does Not Reach
Sealing is not destruction. Law enforcement, courts handling future cases, and child services agencies can still see sealed records. Federal agencies running FBI background checks are not bound by Massachusetts sealing orders, so a sealed CWOF can still surface in federal investigations and security clearance reviews. Professional license applicants generally do not need to disclose sealed records, but some licensing boards can discover and consider them during disciplinary proceedings.
Where a CWOF Keeps Mattering Even After Dismissal
Several areas of law treat a CWOF as a conviction regardless of what Massachusetts CORI shows. In these contexts, the record never really ages out.
Second-Offense OUI
The Massachusetts drunk driving statute defines “convicted” to include anyone who “admits to a finding of sufficient facts” or is “granted a continuance without a finding.” A CWOF on an OUI charge counts as a first offense if you are later arrested again, which puts you into second-offense territory: mandatory minimum jail time, longer license suspension, higher fines.5Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c90 24 The CWOF follows you into the second case as if it had been a guilty finding.
Immigration
Federal immigration law uses its own, broader definition of conviction. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a conviction exists whenever someone has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a guilty finding and a judge has imposed any form of punishment or restraint on liberty, and probation counts.6Legal Information Institute. 8 USC 1101(a)(48) – Definition of Conviction A CWOF satisfies both elements. Federal immigration authorities and courts treat CWOFs as convictions for deportation, removal, and inadmissibility.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Adjudicative Factors If you are not a U.S. citizen, accepting a CWOF without first talking to an immigration attorney can trigger removal or block a green card or citizenship, depending on the charge. State non-conviction status offers no protection in immigration court.
Firearms Licensing
If the underlying charge appears on the state’s list of firearms disqualifiers, a CWOF for that offense can permanently bar you from a License to Carry. For a Firearms Identification Card, disqualification tied to non-violent offenses may run five years from the disposition date or release from probation, whichever is later. The specific offense drives the specific impact.
Federal Background Checks
Federal investigations do not follow Massachusetts sealing rules. An FBI criminal history check can surface a CWOF whether or not the state has sealed it. Federal security clearance applications require disclosure of all arrests regardless of outcome, including dismissed charges and sealed or expunged records. Not disclosing a CWOF on those forms becomes a credibility problem on top of whatever the charge was. The narrow exception for certain federal drug convictions expunged under specific federal statutes does not reach state-level CWOFs.
Expungement Is Rarely an Option
Expungement goes further than sealing, removing the record more completely, but Massachusetts allows it only in narrow situations. Under Chapter 276, Section 100K, a court can order expungement when the record was created because of mistaken identity, conduct that is no longer a crime, errors by law enforcement or witnesses, errors by court employees, or fraud on the court.8General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part IV Title II Chapter 276 Section 100K If you accepted a CWOF for conduct that was accurately charged and remains illegal, expungement is not available. Sealing is the realistic remedy for most people with a CWOF.
A Probation Violation Changes the Timeline Entirely
If the court finds you violated probation, it can terminate the CWOF, enter a guilty finding on your original admission of facts, and impose any sentence the law allows for the offense. It can also revoke probation, enter the guilty finding, and sentence you as if you had been found guilty at trial.9Mass.gov. District/Municipal Courts Rules for Probation Violation Proceedings – Rule 9 Violation of Conditions of a Continuance Without a Finding At that point you no longer have a CWOF on your record. You have a conviction, with longer sealing waiting periods, broader visibility on background checks, and heavier collateral consequences. The CWOF is only as favorable as the probation you complete.