Expungement Attorney
in Missoula, MT
If you have been convicted of a misdemeanor criminal offense, you may be eligible for expungement. Under Montana law, expungement means “to permanently destroy, delete, or erase a record of an offense from the criminal history record information system maintained by the department of justice[.]” At Holloway & Hulling, our experienced expungement attorneys can help you determine if you are eligible for expungement and assist you in filing the required petition. We have successfully helped many clients expunge misdemeanor convictions from their criminal records, and we can help you too.
Why Get An Expungement Lawyer?
In general, expungement is the process of erasing a criminal conviction from a person’s criminal record.
This includes, but is not limited to, permanently destroying most arrest records, court documents or filings, and sentencing records.
How does a petition for expungement work?
In Montana, eligibility for expungement is limited to misdemeanor offenses. If you have one or more prior misdemeanor offenses, you should seek legal advice to determine your eligibility and likelihood for success. There are numerous factors that may help or hurt your chances of success—thankfully, Holloway & Hulling has the experience to give you straightforward answers.
A petition for expungement is filed in Montana’s district courts. The petition must be filed in the proper venue and certain parties must be given notice of the filing. The county where your petition is filed and the type of offense(s) for which you seek expungement are very important factors. In fact, Montana law specifically identifies certain categories of offenses “when expungement is not presumed.” If the offense(s) you seek to expunge does happen to fall into the ”not presumed” category, having an experienced attorney advocating for you may make all the difference.
There are numerous factors we discuss with clients prior to filing petitions for expungement. Some of the more important factors are: the type of offense; length of time between offense(s) and request; other criminal history; whether a person has applied to serve in the military or attend a military academy; age at the time of the offense; and rehabilitation of the petitioner/their likelihood to reoffend.
District courts ultimately have the discretion to either grant or deny your petition to expunge. Before doing so, they may hold a hearing, or they can just rely on the written petition and issue an order. At Holloway & Hulling, our attorneys have successfully expunged many convictions, even those where expungement was “not presumed.”
District court judges sometimes hold hearing on petitions and other times they may just rely on the written documents. If a petition to expunge is granted, an order expunging virtually all records is directed to the necessary agencies to remove virtually all materials from a person’s criminal record.
What are the Benefits of Expungement?
Having a clean record may help with employment opportunities, housing, and obtaining certain licenses.
It could also prevent a person from subsequently being treated as a repeat offender.