Expunging or Sealing a Felony in North Dakota

A person who pled guilty to or was found guilty of a felony may petition to seal the record if they have not been convicted of a new crime for at least five years before filing. Excluded: offenses requiring sex-offender or offender-against-children registration, and felonies involving violence or intimidation during the period the person cannot legally possess a firearm. The Self Help Center describes that period as ten years after conviction or release from incarceration, parole or probation, whichever is latest. The court weighs the same factors as for misdemeanors, including the severity of the crime, risk to society, rehabilitation, and the views of victims and law enforcement.

File a petition to seal in the existing criminal case (municipal or district court) and include a proposed order. The petition must list all names and aliases, addresses since the offense, the reasons relief should be granted, and the person's full criminal history in every jurisdiction, including earlier requests for pardon, expungement or sealing. The petition must be served on the prosecutor. A hearing cannot be held earlier than 45 days after filing, and the prosecutor seeks input from law enforcement, victims and corrections officials. The prosecutor may agree to sealing without a hearing. If the petition is denied, the court may bar a new petition for up to one year for good cause. Denials can be appealed. The Self Help Center offers no forms or help for sealing convictions, so petitioners prepare their own documents. A state petition form exists only for closing nonconviction court records.

Sealing bars disclosure of the existence or contents of court and prosecution records without a court order, but the records are not destroyed. Criminal history kept by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and data in the state's criminal justice information-sharing system are not sealed. An order to seal must state that the person is sufficiently rehabilitated, which matters for state occupational licensing. The order must also allow release of the information to any entity that is legally required to run a criminal background check. A court may later order sealed records disclosed.