Sealing your record
This procedure is often confused with expungement. The term sealing often refers to convictions that occur when a person is a juvenile. In most states a juvenile is anyone under the age of 18. At the least, sealing a record means that you can have the record sealed from public inspection. It will not show as a public record. In some states, the sealing procedure also terminates the criminal file or files of a juvenile charge or conviction. This can mean the juvenile conviction can be actually dismissed as a matter of law when the person reaches 18 years of age.
Sealing procedure
The procedure is similar to expungement. In most states a formal motion must be made to the juvenile court to have all arrests, charges and convictions permanently sealed from inspection. Often, this can occur up to 5 years after the person reached the age of 18.


