Offenses punishable by life imprisonment cannot be expunged, regardless of the actual sentence imposed. These include:

• Murder (all degrees)
• Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree
• Armed Robbery
• Kidnapping
• Treason
• Terrorism offenses with maximum life sentences

Most Criminal Sexual Conduct offenses cannot be expunged, including:

• Criminal Sexual Conduct (1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees)
• Assault with Intent to Commit Criminal Sexual Conduct
• Offenses requiring Sex Offender Registration (with limited exceptions)

The primary exception is Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 4th Degree, which may be eligible in some circumstances.

Traffic offenses resulting in death or serious injury remain ineligible, including:

• Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death
• Operating While Intoxicated Causing Serious Injury
• Reckless Driving Causing Death
• Failure to Stop at Scene of Accident Resulting in Death or Serious Injury

While a single DUI/OWI offense can now be expunged, multiple drunk driving convictions remain categorically ineligible. Once you have more than one OWI on your record, none of them can be expunged under current law.

Similar to DUI offenses, if you have more than one domestic violence conviction, none of your domestic violence convictions can be expunged, regardless of when they occurred or their severity.

Convictions related to human trafficking under Michigan law remain ineligible for expungement regardless of circumstances or time elapsed.

First-degree and second-degree child abuse convictions cannot be expunged under current Michigan law, though lesser degrees may be eligible after appropriate waiting periods.

Michigan's 2020 Clean Slate legislation created a special process for expunging marijuana-related convictions that would no longer be crimes under current law. This includes:

• Possession of personal use amounts of marijuana
• Use of marijuana
• Certain minor marijuana growing violations
• Paraphernalia offenses related to marijuana

These expungements follow a streamlined process with different requirements than standard expungements.

Most traffic civil infractions (like speeding tickets) are not criminal convictions and don't appear on criminal background checks, so they don't require expungement. However, misdemeanor and felony traffic offenses (like DWLS, reckless driving) can now be expunged, with the exception of:

• Commercial Driver's License (CDL) violations
• Multiple DUI/OWI offenses
• Traffic offenses causing death or serious injury

Successful completion of programs like these generally results in non-public records:

• Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA)
• MCL 333.7411 (first-time drug offenses)
• MCL 769.4a (first-time domestic violence)
• Mental Health Court diversions
• Veterans Treatment Court diversions
• Other specialized diversion programs

However, additional steps may be needed for complete expungement in some cases, particularly for older cases or those involving certain reporting systems.

If you were a victim of human trafficking and were convicted of prostitution or related offenses as a result of being trafficked, special provisions allow for expungement regardless of how many convictions you have. These applications require documentation of trafficking victimization but have fewer restrictions than standard expungements.

Most juvenile adjudications (the juvenile court equivalent of convictions) can be expunged, with exceptions for certain serious offenses like those punishable by life imprisonment if committed by an adult. Juvenile expungements follow different procedures and timing requirements than adult expungements.

Multiple felony or misdemeanor convictions arising from the same incident (occurring within 24 hours and part of the same transaction) are now treated as a single conviction for expungement eligibility purposes. This means that even if you received multiple charges from a single event, they may count as just one conviction toward your total limit.

The "One Bad Night" provision does not apply to:

• Assaultive crimes (crimes involving injury or threatened injury to persons)
• Crimes involving the use or possession of a dangerous weapon
• Crimes with a maximum penalty of 10 or more years in prison
• Crimes involving multiple incidents that happened to occur within 24 hours but were separate events

This provision has dramatically expanded eligibility for people with multiple related charges. For example, someone convicted of multiple property crimes during a single breaking and entering incident might now qualify for expungement despite having what appears to be multiple separate convictions on their record.

Establishing that multiple convictions arose from the same transaction often requires detailed review of court records, police reports, and charging documents. This determination can significantly impact overall expungement eligibility and should be carefully analyzed by experienced counsel.

The application-based process allows for expungement of a wider range of offenses, including:

• Up to three felonies and unlimited misdemeanors
• Some assaultive offenses
• Offenses with longer maximum penalties
• First-time DUI/OWI offenses
• Marijuana offenses through the special marijuana expungement process

The automatic process applies to a more restricted set of offenses:

• Most non-assaultive misdemeanors after 7 years
• Non-assaultive felonies with maximum penalties under 10 years after 10 years
• Maximum of two felony convictions total in a lifetime
• Maximum of four misdemeanor convictions within a 7-year period

Notably, automatic expungement excludes assaultive crimes, weapons offenses, crimes of dishonesty, and serious felonies even if they might qualify under the application process.

For many individuals, pursuing application-based expungement remains advantageous even for convictions that might eventually qualify for automatic expungement because:

• Applications can be filed as soon as waiting periods are satisfied rather than waiting for automatic system processing
• Applications can address convictions excluded from the automatic process
• Applications provide certainty rather than relying on the developing automatic system
• Applications allow for addressing specific pressing needs (employment, housing, etc.) more promptly

Only your final conviction matters for expungement purposes, not the original charge. If you were charged with a more serious offense but accepted a plea to a lesser offense, only the conviction for the lesser offense appears on your record and determines your expungement eligibility. For example, if you were charged with felonious assault but pled guilty to simple assault, the misdemeanor simple assault conviction would be what counts for expungement eligibility and waiting periods.

Michigan law defines "assaultive crime" for expungement purposes as an offense involving physical injury or threatened physical injury to individuals. Common examples include assault and battery, domestic violence, robbery, homicide, and criminal sexual conduct. These offenses face greater restrictions in the expungement process, particularly for automatic expungement. Determining whether your specific conviction qualifies as "assaultive" often requires reviewing the statutory definition of the offense and sometimes the underlying factual allegations.

Generally, no. Most convictions that required sex offender registration cannot be expunged, even if you're no longer required to register due to time passing or legal changes. The primary exception is for certain fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct convictions, which might be eligible in limited circumstances, particularly if they didn't require ongoing registration. Additionally, convictions that were subject to registration solely based on the "catchall" provision of SORA may have different considerations. These complex cases require individualized assessment by an attorney experienced with both expungement and sex offender registration laws.

No. Michigan courts only have authority to expunge convictions that occurred in Michigan state courts. Federal convictions fall under federal jurisdiction and cannot be expunged through Michigan's state process. Unfortunately, federal law provides extremely limited expungement options, with no general federal expungement statute comparable to Michigan's. Only certain minor drug possession offenses by first-time offenders under age 21 can be expunged under federal law. For other federal convictions, a presidential pardon represents the primary (though rarely granted) form of relief.

It depends on when your case occurred and what specific program was involved. Successful completion of these programs generally results in a non-public record, meaning the conviction doesn't appear in most background checks. However, for older cases or certain programs, there can be reporting gaps that allow the original charge to appear in some databases. Additionally, even "non-public" records may be accessible to certain government agencies or in specialized background checks. For complete protection, formal expungement provides an additional layer of record clearing that addresses these potential issues.

If your case was truly dismissed without a conviction being entered, there is typically no need for expungement, as there should be no conviction on your record. However, sometimes cases that were "dismissed" after probation or diversion still have records in certain databases that can cause issues. In these situations, you might need to pursue either expungement or another process called "suppression of arrest record" to address any lingering record of the arrest or proceedings. This is particularly important for older cases processed before modern computerized record systems.

In Michigan, offenses punishable by more than one year of imprisonment are generally considered felonies, while those punishable by one year or less are misdemeanors. However, certain "high court misdemeanors" are treated as felonies for some purposes. For expungement, the classification typically follows how the offense was charged and recorded in the court system. Your official criminal record (ICHAT) will indicate whether each conviction is recorded as a felony or misdemeanor. This distinction is important because it affects waiting periods, eligibility criteria, and how convictions count toward your total limits.

Often yes. In many cases, conviction for an attempted version of an otherwise ineligible offense may qualify for expungement. For example, while armed robbery is categorically ineligible, attempted armed robbery might be eligible. This is because attempt convictions generally carry lower maximum penalties and may not fall under the specific statutory exclusions. However, this principle has limitations—attempted criminal sexual conduct offenses, for instance, typically remain ineligible. Each case requires specific analysis of the statutory language and how it applies to attempt convictions.