INTRODUCTION

This UNDERSTANDING & CLEANING UP YOUR RECORD CHAPTER is broken up into the following subjects:

Key Concepts For Understanding Your Criminal Record & Fixing Errors (PG. 937), which explains the different types of criminal records that you may have, what information can (and can’t) be included in your criminal records and on background checks, and why it’s important to review and understand your own criminal records.

Who Can See Your Criminal Record (PG. 948), which gives you the different rules for who CAN and CAN’T see your criminal records and/or run a background check on you (like employers, law enforcement agencies, licensing agencies, and landlords), and how they can use the information they get about you.

How to Get Your Criminal Records (PG. 950), which tells you how to get copies of the different types of criminal records you may have. You will need these in order to decide the best way to clean up your record.

How to Clean Up Your Record (PG. 953), which explains the different options, or “remedies,” available for cleaning up your record. It helps you figure out whether you and your offense are eligible for them, and walks you through how to do each one.

If you are recently released from prison or jail, or earlier in the reentry journey, the sections about key concepts in understanding you record and fixing errors, learning who can and cannot see your criminal record information, and how you can get copies are the most important early on.

If you are later in your reentry journey, cleaning up your record will become more important to you over time, as many of these “expungement” options are only available to people off supervision or those who are able by law to ask to get off supervision early.