The Utah Expungement Act of 2010

In the Utah Legislature’s 2010 session, the Legislature passed what is known as the Utah Expungement Act, which will become effective on May 11, 2010.  The Utah Expungement Act of 2010 is a great piece of legislation that makes Utah one of the more progressive states in terms of expunging criminal convictions.  Some of the key benefits and changes made by the Utah Expungement Act include the following:

• The time period for expungement begins to run upon conviction or upon release from probation, incarceration, or parole, whichever occurs last.  What this means is that you do not have to pay all of your court fines in order to get the time running for expungement.  So, for example, if you have a class B misdemeanor, the three year time period for expungement commences as soon as you are convicted or released from incarceration, parole, or probation.  Although the time begins to run before you have paid your fines, you still must have paid all of your court fines before the actual expungement will be granted.

• The expungement law in Utah prior to the Utah Expungement Act of 2010 prevented people from getting multiple offenses from different criminal episodes expunged.  The new law allows for a Utah court to expunge multiple offenses that occurred during different criminal episodes up to a certain point.  The following limitations apply (meaning you can’t get the following expunged):

• (a) two or more felony convictions, each of which is contained in a separate criminal episode;
  (b) any combination of three or more convictions that include two class A misdemeanor convictions, each of which is contained in a separate criminal episode;
  (c) any combination of four or more convictions that include three class B misdemeanor convictions, each of which is contained in a separate criminal episode; or
  (d) five or more convictions of any degree whether misdemeanor or felony, excluding infractions, each of which is contained in a separate criminal episode.

• The Utah Expungement Act provides a single time frame for each class of crime and multiple convictions do not extend the time period for expungement.  Prior to new expungement law, if you had two or more convictions the time period for getting any of those convictions expunged could be three or more times greater than if you only had one conviction.  The new law makes it so that you have to wait X number of years no matter how many you get, subject to the limitations above, and the time begins to run for each conviction individually rather than for a combination of convictions.  The new time frames are:
• 1. 10 years for DUI and DUI Metabolite convictions;
  2. 7 years for a felony;
  3. 5 years for a class A misdemeanor;
  4. 4 years for a class B misdemeanor; and
  5. 3 years for any other misdemeanor or infraction
• The new law allows you to get convictions expunged for which you served time in the state prison.  Prior to the new law, if you had served any time in prison you could not get your conviction expunged.

Utah’s Expungement Law Firm – Serving All of Utah Including Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo

If you have been thinking about getting an expungement but Utah’s previous expungement law precluded you from doing so, now is the time to act.  Utah is now one of the most friendly expungement states in the country.  Call our experienced Utah expungement attorneys at Salcido Law Firm PLLC to find out how we can help you get rid of your prior convictions and get your life back on track.  Call us anytime locally at 801.413.1753 or toll free at 888.337.3235 or email us and we’ll get back to you right away.