HOW TO EXPUNGE AN OREGON CRIMINAL RECORD & RESTORE FIREARM RIGHTS
You Don’t Always Need to be Looked at as Guilty
Nobody wants a criminal record. They make getting jobs harder. They can make finding a place to live harder. Having a criminal record can even take away your Second Amendment right to own a gun. More than anything, living with a criminal record just isn’t fair once you’ve finished your sentence and paid your debt to society.
When you’re arrested or convicted in Oregon, a criminal record is created with the arresting agency, the Oregon State Police Criminal Justice Information Service, the Oregon Department of Justice, the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division, and a number of other criminal justice agencies. To make matters worse, the Oregon Judicial Department makes them searchable online via its Oregon Judicial Case Information Network. The point here is that when you get a criminal record in Oregon, a lot of people have access to it.
Thankfully, Oregon law provides a number of ways to deal with your criminal record. You can set-aside both misdemeanor and felony convictions, expunge arrest records, reduce felonies, and restore your firearm rights in several different ways.
Know Your Options
Oregon provides quite a few methods to get rid of or limit the availability of criminal records and restore your Second Amendment Rights, so it’s important to review the specific circumstances surrounding the incidents on your record to figure out what’s the best way for you to deal with your criminal record.
Oregon Juvenile Expungements
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Oregon law permits the expungement of many juvenile records. If the court grants your expungement, you will be treated as if you were never found guilty, and the court shall issue an order sealing all the records relating to the case. In some circumstances, the records may be destroyed after a few years have gone by.
Oregon Felony Reduction
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Oregon State law allows any Class C felony and a Class B felony for possession or delivery of marijuana to be reduced to a Class A misdemeanor. The reduction order makes the conviction a misdemeanor for all purposes, allowing a person to truthfully state they are no longer convicted of a felony offense. This will often also restore your Second Amendment right to own a gun in many cases.
Oregon Conviction Set Aside
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Oregon State law allows for the expungement, or set-aside, of most misdemeanor and less serious felony convictions. The set-aside fully seals the arrest and conviction records held by state and local criminal record databases, making them inaccessible to potential employers, landlords, the general public, and most government agencies. In many cases, having setting aside a conviction will also restore your firearm rights.
Oregon Arrest Record Set Aside
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Oregon law usually allows you to set aside criminal records when you were never convicted. This would apply if you’ve been found not guilty, your case was dismissed, or you were never charged. The set aside fully seals the arrest records held by state and local criminal record databases, making them inaccessible to potential employers, landlords, the general public, and most government agencies.
Oregon Marijuana Set Aside
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With the passage of Senate Bill 420, many Oregonians with previously ineligible marijuana convictions can now set aside and seal their marijuana convictions. The new law provides an entirely new procedure to set aside marijuana-related convictions, and it also modifies the regular set-aside rules in ORS 137.225 to make them easier to satisfy.
This Information is for You
Since the majority of people reading this aren’t lawyers, we’ve tried to simplify the legal jargon on our website, so regular people may follow along and get the information needed to understand their rights. However, before we get started, we should be clear that some of this information can get complicated, and, in many cases, it’s best to seek the assistance of an experienced lawyer.
To help you understand your rights, our lawyers have developed a tool that can be helpful in figuring out your options. This tool can’t be perfectly accurate in every situation, but our lawyers have invested substantial time and resources working to make it as accurate as possible.
You can get started by using our Secure Eligibility Test, or you can give us a call at (844) 947-3732 to see if our legal staff is available for a free consultation. Be aware that our staff is often busy with current clients and a high volume of calls and appointments. If you’re serious about getting rid of your record, your best bet is to take our secure, confidential Eligibility Test and then schedule an appointment to discuss your results and options.
Advantages of Sealing and Expunging Oregon Records
The two biggest issues our law firm’s client’s encounter relate to obtaining employment with a criminal record and restoring their firearm rights, so we’re going to take a little extra time to discuss each. Oregon law permits you to set aside both convictions and arrest records, restore your firearm rights, and also expunge juvenile records. There is a wide range of different legal methods to deal with your criminal record, and it really just depends on which one you’re talking about.
How will expunging my conviction or sealing my arrest record help me get a job?
arrow_drop_downThe answer to this question really depends on what type of post-conviction remedy you qualify for, but each of the criminal record services discussed above should be helpful in getting a job.
Setting aside convictions and expunging juvenile convictions are two of the best ways to improve your chances of getting a job when you have a criminal record. Setting aside or expunging your conviction releases you from the judgement of guilt, allowing you to legally state that you have not been convicted of the conviction you’ve set aside.
If you’re not able to set aside your conviction, you may be able to reduce your felony to a misdemeanor. Although a misdemeanor conviction will still show on your record, getting rid of your felony conviction should be very helpful in improving your chances of getting a job. The bottom line is that it’s almost always easier to get a job when you’re no longer a felon.
Arrests are not typically as big of a barrier to employment as a conviction, but it’s certainly preferable when prior arrests do not show up during a background check, particularly if the offenses are severe. While it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against you in most cases for an arrest record, you can’t affect how an employer perceives you in making their hiring decision, so sealing an arrest record cannot do anything but help your employment prospects.
How can I restore my Second Amendment Right to own and possess a firearm?
arrow_drop_downNot everybody with a conviction in Oregon can restore their constitutional right to own or possess firearms, but Oregon law provides several different methods to restore your firearm rights.
Setting aside a felony conviction is typically the best way to restore your firearm rights in Oregon. In addition to restoring your Second Amendment Rights, it also seals your conviction and has a host of other benefits unrelated to firearm rights.
When you can’t set aside your felony conviction, you may be able to reduce your felony to a misdemeanor, which will also restore your firearm rights. A felony reduction does not seal your conviction record like a set aside, but it does have the added benefit of removing the felony from your record.
Finally, if you do not qualify to set aside or reduce a felony conviction, you may still qualify to petition to get your firearm rights back. If your order is granted, your Second Amendment Rights will fully be restored both under Oregon and federal law. However, this method does not set aside, reduce, or really affect your criminal record by removing or reducing any charges.
We will go into more detail relating to restoring Second Amendment rights in Oregon on our Oregon Firearm Rights Restoration Page but restoring firearm rights typically involves both state and federal law that should be handled by an experienced lawyer. The lawyers in our firm regularly handle complex firearm rights restoration issues, so a good first step in exploring whether you can restore your firearm rights would be to take our Secure Eligibility Test, and then if appropriate, setting up a time to speak with our legal staff about how to proceed.
What You Need to Do to Get Rid of Your Record
If you are tired of having a criminal record hold you back, reach out to us by taking our Secure Eligibility Test or by giving us a call at (844) 947-3732. Our law firm has helped thousands of people with criminal records move on in life, leaving many of the negative effects of a criminal record behind. Our experienced attorneys and legal staff are here to help you figure out what criminal record clearing services best fit your needs, and then help you accomplish your goals. Using our secure, confidential Eligibility Test is the best way to get the process started.
Some of the potential benefits of expunging your criminal record in Oregon include:
- Removing a finding of guilt from your criminal record to help you get a better job
- Becoming eligible for professional licenses you previously did not qualify for
- Restoring your Second Amendment Right to bear arms
- No longer being treated as a felon
- Increased eligibility for student loans, housing assistance, and government programs
- Improving your ability to obtain higher-paying job opportunities
- Improving access and admission to college and other educational resources
Each of Oregon’s methods for dealing with your criminal record have different requirements and are meant for different circumstances. To move forward, it’s important to determine what Oregon criminal record services are available to you, and then select the services that will provide the greatest benefit. Our firm is here to help you navigate this very specific area of Oregon criminal law, fight to protect your rights, and assist you in moving forward in life without the effects of a Oregon criminal record.
You can trust that you will get exceptional service from our law firm, as we have an A Rating from the Better Business Bureau, and prestigious attorney rating services such as Thompson Reuters and Avvo list our attorneys as Super Lawyers and Superb Attorneys. Our law firm has attorneys licensed to practice law in all Oregon state courts, provides low price guarantees, and is here to fight for you and put your criminal record behind you!