Oklahomans convicted of nonviolent felony crimes are eligible for expungements without a pardon from the governor. Okla. Stat. Tit. 22, Sections, 18 (A)(12), authorizes expungements of criminal records under the following circumstances: The person was convicted of a nonviolent offense not listed in Section 571 of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the person has not been convicted of any other felony or separate misdemeanor in the last seven years, no felony or misdemeanor charges are pending against the person and at least five years have passed since the completion of the sentence.
There are limitations to the expungement.
- First, the expungement does not restore your right to possess a firearm unless you also receive a pardon.
- Second, the record will always be available for law enforcement purposes.
- Finally, private background investigation companies are not notified of your expungement. It will be necessary to send such companies notice of and a copy of the expungement order if you learn that they are still reporting your conviction records to third parties.
There are tremendous advantages to having the felony conviction expunged.
- First, you are allowed to state to existing or potential employers and sports and volunteer organizations that you have not been arrested or convicted of a felony offense.
- Second, the district attorney, arresting agency, court clerk and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation will remove from public access any record of the arrest, prosecution and conviction.
- Finally, you will have the peace of mind of knowing that your criminal records are wiped clean.