Connecticut Expungement Laws

n the State of Connecticut, all criminal records pertaining to arrests, convictions, and other legal documents involving criminal procedure are stored permanently if the verdict is guilty. Connecticut expungement law erases all public records that involve a trial dismissal or acquittal. The only exceptional instance in which records are not erased after a "not guilty" verdict are when the verdict was determined by reason of mental illness or defect.

Arrest records, however, are never automatically erased after dismissal or acquittal. Arrests remain part of the public record and denying that the arrests exist, even if no charges were brought against you, the verdict was not guilty, or the case was dismissed by technicality, will result in penalty.

The only way to be able to have arrest records erased is to have an attorney well-versed in Connecticut law file a motion for erasure of public criminal records. Criminal records on any individual are available to anyone and could be damaging to one's reputation and chances of getting a loan, a job, or Government-issued licenses.

Connecticut expungement law does not allow for the public records to be expunged for any person convicted of a crime. The only instances in which a person may apply for expungement of public records in Connecticut are when the charges are not brought to court or in the case where they are otherwise dismissed. It is then the burden of the person whose case was dismissed or acquitted to file a petition for expungement.

Connecticut has some of the strictest expungement laws in New England. There are not many exceptions to the basic rule that only people judged to be innocent or charges dropped may file petition for expungement of public records pertaining to criminal activity. People who commit crimes in Connecticut must carry their criminal records wherever they go, it is an enduring part of their criminal punishment and there are no legal means of erasing criminal records in Connecticutt

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