Kansas Expungement Laws: How to Clear or Seal a Criminal Record

Kansas offers court-ordered "expungement" of arrest records, diversion agreements and many convictions, including most felonies, after a waiting period. After expungement the person is treated as not having been arrested, convicted or diverted, with listed exceptions. Juvenile records can also be expunged. The governor may grant pardons.

Any person arrested in Kansas may petition the district court to expunge the arrest record. The court holds a hearing (with notice to the prosecutor and arresting agency) and must order expungement if the arrest was due to mistaken identity, a court found no probable cause, the person was found not guilty, or expungement is in the best interests of justice and charges were dismissed or none have been or are likely to be filed. In mistaken-identity or identity-theft cases where the charge is dismissed or not prosecuted, the prosecutor must petition for expungement. Completed diversion agreements can be expunged three years after the terms were fulfilled (five years for a first DUI diversion).

A person convicted of a misdemeanor, traffic infraction or cigarette/tobacco infraction may petition the convicting court three years after satisfying the sentence or being discharged from probation, parole, community corrections, postrelease supervision, conditional release or a suspended sentence. A five-year wait applies to certain traffic-related offenses, such as driving while suspended or revoked, failing to stop at an accident, and lack of required vehicle insurance. The court must grant expungement if the person has had no felony conviction in the past two years and nothing pending, the person's circumstances and behavior warrant it, and it is consistent with the public welfare.

Lower-level felonies (class D or E, nondrug severity levels 6-10, nongrid felonies, and lower drug levels) may be expunged three years after the sentence is satisfied or supervision ends. Higher-level felonies (class A, B or C, off-grid, nondrug levels 1-5, upper drug levels) and felonies involving a motor vehicle require five years. Never eligible: rape, indecent liberties with a child, aggravated criminal sodomy, sexual exploitation of a child, child pornography trafficking, aggravated incest, endangering or abuse of a child, capital or first- or second-degree murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, sexual battery of a minor, aggravated sexual battery, commercial-vehicle DUI, and attempts of these; and no expungement while sex-offender registration is required. For a felony, the court must also find that the person's possession of a firearm is not likely to threaten public safety.

Yes, with longer waits. A first DUI conviction or diversion (K.S.A. 8-1567) may be expunged five years after the sentence is satisfied or supervision ends; a second or later DUI requires ten years. Commercial-vehicle DUI (K.S.A. 8-2,144), including any diversion for it, cannot be expunged. The person must disclose an expunged conviction when applying for a commercial driver's license.

Juvenile records may be expunged on application to a judge in the county where they are kept, by the juvenile (if 18 or older) or a parent or next friend. After a hearing with notice to the prosecutor, the court must order expungement if the person is 23 or two years have passed since final discharge (one year for certain prostitution-related adjudications, or at discharge for trafficking victims), there has been no later felony or non-traffic misdemeanor conviction or juvenile adjudication and nothing pending, and the person's circumstances and behavior warrant it. Murder, manslaughter, rape and serious sex and child-abuse offenses cannot be expunged, nor records while sex-offender registration is required.

File a petition in the original criminal case in the convicting court (arrest petitions in district court) stating the person's full name (and name at the time of arrest if different), sex, race and date of birth, the crime, the date of arrest, conviction or diversion, and the court and arresting agency. The court sets a hearing and notifies the prosecutor and arresting agency; anyone with relevant information may testify, and the court may review corrections and prisoner review board records. If granted, the clerk sends the order to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which notifies the FBI and other agencies.

The statutory docket fee for a petition to expunge a conviction, diversion, arrest record or juvenile record is $176. The court may waive all or part of the fee for people who completed a specialty court program, and no fee applies to arrest expungement for identity-theft victims or when a court found no probable cause for the arrest.

After expungement the person is treated as not having been arrested, convicted or diverted, and record custodians may not disclose the record except to listed requesters. The person must still disclose the expunged record when asked in certain applications, including law enforcement employment, admission to the practice of law, private detective and security work, gaming and lottery jobs or licenses, securities registration, bail enforcement licensing, and commercial driver's licenses. An expunged conviction can count as a prior conviction for sentencing later. An expunged record may not be the basis for denying a concealed-carry license, and the law also addresses restoration of firearm rights. Immigration authorities may treat expunged convictions differently.

The governor may pardon or commute the sentence of any person convicted in a Kansas court, on terms stated in the order. The Prisoner Review Board sets the procedures for pardon applications, and no pardon may be granted until more than 30 days after written notice to the prosecutor, the sentencing judge and, for certain crimes, the victim or the victim's family.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), Criminal History Records Section, keeps the Kansas central repository. For your complete record (including arrests without convictions, diversions, expungements and juvenile data), have your fingerprints taken on an FBI Personal Identification card (FD-353, or FD-258 if unavailable) by local police or sheriff (who may charge a fee) or by the KBI in Topeka by appointment ($10, no cash, 785-296-4038); write a letter identifying yourself, stating your reason and giving the mailing address for the response; and mail it with the $45.00 fee (check or money order) to Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Attn: Criminal History Records Section, 1620 SW Tyler, Topeka, KS 66612-1837 (do not crease or staple the card). An online name-based check ($30.00) shows only adult convictions. Errors can be corrected by letter to the same address with supporting documents.