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

Louisiana offers expungement, which removes an arrest or conviction record from public access. It does not destroy the record. Other forms of relief include interim expungement (removing a felony arrest when the case ended in a misdemeanor conviction), expungement by redaction, setting aside a conviction after a deferred sentence (Articles 893 and 894), immediate expungement after a court-ordered probation or alternative sentencing program, an automated expungement process, and pardons, including an automatic pardon for many first felony offenders.

A person may move to expunge a felony or misdemeanor arrest that did not lead to a conviction if the time limit to prosecute ran out, the district attorney declined to prosecute (including after a completed pretrial diversion program), the case was dismissed, quashed or ended in acquittal, or the person was found factually innocent of a wrongful conviction. There is generally no waiting period. One exception: after a DWI arrest handled through pretrial diversion, the record cannot be expunged until 5 years after the arrest. Fees are waived in some no-conviction cases when the district attorney certifies the person has no felony convictions or pending felony charges.

A misdemeanor arrest and conviction can be expunged if the conviction was set aside and the case dismissed after a deferred sentence (Article 894(B)), or if more than 5 years have passed since the person completed any sentence, deferred adjudication, probation or parole, with no felony conviction during those 5 years and no pending felony charge. The motion must include a district attorney certification of that record. Not eligible: misdemeanors arising from a sex-offense arrest (interim expungement may be available), domestic abuse battery, and stalking.

A felony arrest and conviction can be expunged if: the conviction was set aside and the case dismissed after a deferred sentence (Article 893(E)); more than 10 years have passed since the person completed the sentence, deferred adjudication, probation or parole, with no other conviction in those 10 years and no pending charge; or the person qualifies for a first-offender pardon for an offense that is not a crime of violence or a sex offense. Not eligible: crimes of violence, sex offenses or offenses against a minor victim, domestic abuse battery, and most drug-law violations. Drug possession, possession with intent to distribute, and drug offenses carrying up to 5 years can be expunged. After a hearing, a court may expunge some listed violent offenses (such as aggravated or second-degree battery, simple robbery, purse snatching, aggravated criminal damage to property, and illegal use of weapons) after 10 years with no other conviction and no pending charge. More than one eligible felony may be expunged in a 10-year period.

Louisiana law sets up an automated expungement process. The state criminal records bureau is to identify records eligible under Articles 976, 977 and 978. Beginning January 1, 2025, a person may submit a request (with name, date of birth, last four digits of the Social Security number, arrest date and case number) to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, which is to expunge eligible records within 30 days and notify the court system and clerks. The law says it depends on funding in the executive budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. A separate expedited, no-cost expungement applies to arrests of 17-year-olds that ended without conviction.

DWI is not on the list of misdemeanors that cannot be expunged, so a misdemeanor DWI conviction falls under the general misdemeanor rules. If a DWI arrest was handled through pretrial diversion, the record cannot be expunged until 5 years after the arrest. Even after expungement, police, prosecutors and courts can still use the record, for example as a prior offense for a later charge.

Juvenile records of matters that did not end in an adjudication, and adjudications for certain listed offenses, can be expunged and sealed at any time. Most other adjudications can be expunged and sealed after the juvenile court's jurisdiction has ended, if the person has no adult felony convictions or misdemeanor convictions against a person involving a firearm, and no pending charges. For murder, manslaughter, sex offenses requiring registration, kidnapping or armed robbery, the person may petition after 5 or more years since satisfying the most recent judgment, with the same clean-record conditions. Once expunged and sealed, the records are treated as nonexistent and need not be disclosed.

File a motion to expunge with the clerk of the district court in the parish of the arrest or conviction, using the mandatory forms written into the Code of Criminal Procedure (Articles 986–995). The clerk serves the motion on the district attorney, the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information and the arresting agency. Each has 60 days to object, extendable by up to 30 days. If anyone objects, the court holds a contradictory hearing, and the objecting agency must show by a preponderance of the evidence why expungement should be denied. If no one objects, the person may waive the hearing and the court grants the motion if the person is entitled to it.

Total costs generally may not exceed $550: $250 to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, $50 to the sheriff, $50 to the district attorney, and up to $200 to the clerk. Fees are collected at filing and are not refunded if the motion is denied. Offenses from the same arrest require only one fee. No fees are charged when the district attorney certifies the person has no felony convictions or pending felony charges and the person was acquitted, the case was dismissed or not prosecuted (without pretrial diversion), or the person was an identity-theft victim. Also exempt: human trafficking victims with certification, people found factually innocent, people granted a pardon (but not a first-offender pardon), graduates of juvenile drug court, and expedited expungements. Others may ask to proceed in forma pauperis (without paying because they cannot afford it).

An expunged record is confidential and no longer public, but it is not destroyed. Law enforcement, prosecutors and courts can still get it, and it can be used as a prior offense, including under the Habitual Offender Law. Certain licensing boards and entities named in the law can get it confidentially on written request, and news organizations are not restricted in their use of it. Apart from those exceptions, a person whose record was expunged does not have to tell anyone about the arrest or conviction or the expungement. Expungement does not end sex offender registration duties.

The Governor may grant reprieves and, on the recommendation of the Board of Pardons, may commute sentences, grant pardons and remit fines. A pardon cannot issue until all court costs for the conviction are paid. A first offender never before convicted of a felony is pardoned automatically on completing the sentence, without Board or Governor action; the Division of Probation and Parole issues a certificate restoring rights of citizenship. Sex offender registration duties continue. A person granted a pardon (other than a first-offender pardon) does not pay expungement processing fees.

A first-offense misdemeanor conviction for possession of marijuana or THC can be the subject of an expungement motion 90 days after the conviction, instead of waiting the usual 5 years. A reduced fee cap of $300 for these expungements was set to expire August 1, 2026.

Louisiana State Police, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, keeps state criminal history records. To get a copy of your own record, use the Right to Review form with your fingerprints. In person at LSP Headquarters the fees are a $10 fingerprint fee and a $31 processing fee (two separate money orders, cashier's checks or business checks, or a credit card). By mail, send the form with two FBI FD-258 fingerprint cards and a $31 money order, cashier's check or business check to LSP Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, P.O. Box 66614 - Box A-6, Baton Rouge, LA 70896.