Iowa Expungement Process

Applying For Expungement

1. Before making application for expungement of your record, you must complete all court ordered provisions and terms, and those of your probation or parole officer, as applicable, including community service, classes, restitution, and anything else the court ordered.
2. You must pay all court costs and fees from your cases.
3. The appropriate waiting period should have passed, or you need to plan to ask the court to waive the required waiting period for 'some good cause/reason', which the court may or may not do. Contact the district attorney's office to ascertain how long of a waiting period is required.
4. You may not have any other pending criminal charges nor criminal convictions within a set period of time (currently, two years from the conviction date).
5. If the appropriate time has passed or you are asking for it to be waived, the next step is to complete an application for expungement. You may also want to write a letter to the judge explaining that you have been rehabilitated, and that you are apologetic for having committed the offense or as applicable to your case, and the reasons why it is so important for you to have an expungement.
6. Take your completed application and letter to the Clerk Courts in the county where you original offense was committed.
7. Remember that there will also be costs and fees associated with this process that must be paid when you file it with the Clerk of Courts.
8. You should provide a copy of the application and letter to the county attorney.
9. At that point, the judge may simply grant your expungement, or she or he may schedule a hearing, which you would be required to attend.
10. If there is a hearing, the prosecutor will have the right to argue against the expungement, if she or he so desires.
11. The judge will consider many factors including whether you are eligible, the prosecutor's statements, your application and letter, the best interests of society and their right to know about your conviction, and your prior record or the lack of one.
12. If an expungement is granted, the court's order will limit the public's access to the expunged record. Remember, expungement is not an automatic process nor granted often.

Under Iowa law, when a record is expunged, it is removed from public view. See Expungement vs. Sealing.

Correcting Your Criminal Record

If your Iowa criminal record contains errors, you may have it corrected, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is required by law to investigate.

1. First, gather all pertinent information, including supporting documentation, like court records or identification verification.
2. Write out a detailed information about the error(s) you want corrected.
3. Contact the agency responsible for having reported the information. Typically, that will be the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). Here is a telephone directory with the DCI.
   1. If the error was found or reported by a third party, such as would be the case with a private verification company that conducts background checks subsequent to an employment offer, then contact the agency.
   2. If the error is on your governmental record, your criminal record, or some other information from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, then contact them directly at dcirecordchecks@dps.state.ia.us via email
4. Request the correction.