Expungement Procedures

1. Prepare a petition, which includes your personal information, the charge or charges to be expunged, and all other information pertaining to those charges. Be sure to include each charge to be expunged and coinciding dates.
   1. Petition (PDF)*
      1. Each charge that is being expunged must be on a separate petition. (There is only one fee charged if multiple petitions are being filed)
      2. There is a checklist at the bottom of the petition to help guide you through the Expungement Process
      3. Certified copies of warrants / indictments showing the disposition of the case must be attached to the petition.
      4. The filing fee is $86 and the service fee is $12 for a total of $98. This fee may be paid by check, cash, money order, credit card(4% fee).
      5. Checks or money orders should be payable to Carroll County Circuit Court. The service fee is required. The sheriff must serve a copy of the petition and warrants/indictments on the Commonwealth's Attorney.
2. Upon filing the petition, you, the petitioner, will be given a date/time stamped copy of the petition. You will need to take the petition to the Law Enforcement Agency. They will take your fingerprints and forward them with the petition to the Virginia State Police for a criminal history background check. Please note that your case will not proceed unless this is done. You will be given a hearing date and time as well at the time of filing your petition.
3. The Virginia State Police will forward to this office, under seal, the criminal background history and the set of fingerprints.
4. You will have a hearing with the Judge and the Commonwealth's Attorney on the date previously set when you filed the petition. It is your responsibility to be present at this hearing. No further notice will be given.
5. The Clerk's Office will send a certified copy of the signed order to you and the Virginia State Police. If granted, they will notify all agencies to expunge your record. Please note that this process may take three to six months.

*When using the following PDF fillable forms, please print using the print button in the pdf page itself and not the print button in the window above page. Using the print button in pdf itself clears out the gray fillable fields for easier use by the judge and clerks.

Before proceeding, see Virginia State Code section 19.2-392.2. This information has been developed to assist you in obtaining an expungement of a criminal record. It is not intended to be a replacement for competent legal advice. In fact, it is strongly recommended that you hire an attorney to represent your interests. The Clerk or Deputy Clerk cannot advise nor represent you.