Expungements

The Clerk of Courts Office handles all expungement filings dealing with criminal cases. Expungement is a court-ordered process in which an arrest and/or conviction is “destroyed,” or erased from an individual’s criminal record. After the expungement process is complete, if granted, no record of an expunged arrest or conviction will be viewable. This includes background checks by potential employers, educational institutions, and/or other companies.

When filing an expungement, a petition and order must be submitted, along with a PA State Police background check. These forms can be found on the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Court (AOPC) website. To help facilitate the filing of an expungement process, we have created a packet with information and forms for the types of expungements filed with the Clerk of Courts Office. To view those packets, see below. (Note:Juvenile Expungements are filed with the Chester County Juvenile Probation Department)

• Expungement of Summary Offense Convictions
• Expungement of Criminal Non-ARD Offense Convictions (misdemeanors, felonies, summary offense included with non-summary offenses)
• Expungement of Criminal ARD-Disposition Offense(s) (misdemeanors, felonies, summary offense included with non-summary offenses)

There is a $167 filing fee associated with all expungement petitions. The Clerk of Courts office will not accept petitions if the filing fee is not paid.

Juvenile expungements – petition and order pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 170 & 172. For more information, click here.

Please Note

 The Clerk of Courts does not review expungement petitions for accuracy. Failure to submit proper paperwork may result in rejection of petition. If petition is rejected, a new petition may be filed and may incur additional filing fees for re-submission. If petition is objected, a hearing notice will be mailed to appear in court for the reasons of objections.