Pennsylvania Record Clearing: Expungement, ARD, Clean Slate, Limited Access & Pardons

Scope: Pennsylvania adult criminal-record relief. This page is a practical starting point, not an eligibility decision for a particular record.

People call all of it “expungement” — but Pennsylvania uses different forms of record relief

For adult Pennsylvania cases, five practical routes commonly matter: court-ordered expungement, ARD dismissal and expungement, automatic Clean Slate limited access, petition-based limited access, and executive clemency. They are not interchangeable, and this is a practical map—not an exhaustive catalog. Which route may fit depends on the disposition, the offense and grading, the person’s full conviction history, the time since the last disqualifying conviction, restitution status, and the purpose of the requested relief.

How this page fits: This is the site’s broad record-clearing router: it helps identify which form of relief may deserve closer review. It does not replace our existing Pennsylvania pardons and expungements page, which remains a separate practice page for those specific services.

Who this is for — and what it does not cover

For anyone with a Pennsylvania adult arrest, charge, ARD case, summary conviction, or misdemeanor or felony history who wants to understand what may be expunged, placed under limited access, or pardoned. Juvenile, federal, and out-of-state records follow different rules and are not covered here.

Five practical routes, in plain terms

1. Court-ordered expungement

Expungement is the strongest form of Pennsylvania record relief, but statutory exceptions and limited retention rules mean it should not be described as eliminating every trace for every purpose. A complete acquittal is handled through the automatic process in 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(a)(4) and Pa.R.Crim.P. 490.2 or 790.2, subject to the Commonwealth’s limited opportunity to object that the disposition was not actually a complete acquittal. Dismissed, withdrawn, or nolle-prossed charges are different: expungement ordinarily requires a petition and case-specific balancing under Commonwealth v. Wexler, 431 A.2d 877 (Pa. 1981), and relief is not guaranteed. Charges resolved as part of a negotiated plea can present additional limits.

Conviction records are expungeable only in narrow statutory situations, including qualifying summary convictions after five years free from arrest or prosecution, certain people age 70 or older after the statutory waiting period, and convictions covered by an unconditional pardon. Pa.R.Crim.P. 490 and 790 govern most petitions.

2. ARD dismissal and expungement

After satisfactory completion of ARD, the defendant may move for dismissal under Pa.R.Crim.P. 319; local criminal-justice agencies or the district attorney may also initiate that process. When the judge orders dismissal, Rule 320 requires the judge to enter a companion expungement order, subject to a timely Commonwealth objection. A separate Rule 790 expungement petition is therefore not ordinarily the governing procedure, but completion by itself does not prove that dismissal, the expungement order, and database updates have all occurred—confirm the record. Section 9122(c) permits limited retention for specified criminal-justice purposes.

For DUI ARD, current law separately prohibits a DUI violation within ten years after completion under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(h), and §§ 3807(f) and 1534 require limited retention of completion information for statutory purposes. See our explainer on ARD after Shifflett and Act 58.

3. Automatic Clean Slate limited access

Clean Slate is limited access, not destruction. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2, the automated process covers qualifying nonconviction dispositions; qualifying summary convictions after five years; qualifying second- and third-degree misdemeanors and other misdemeanors punishable by no more than two years after seven years; certain statutorily defined qualifying drug offenses after ten years; and conditional pardons. The conviction-based provisions also require payment of all court-ordered restitution and the fee referenced in the statute. Eligibility remains subject to § 9122.3 offense and criminal-history exclusions. No petition is filed for § 9122.2 relief; the court system processes eligible records through recurring data transmissions and orders.

4. Petition-based limited access

Section 9122.1 permits a petition after seven years for qualifying misdemeanors and ungraded offenses carrying a maximum penalty of no more than five years, and after ten years for a specifically defined group of qualifying felonies. The felony category is not every lower-grade felony; it is limited to listed property, theft, forgery or fraud, Human Services Code, and qualifying drug offenses, and excludes first- and second-degree felonies. The waiting periods require freedom from conviction of an offense punishable by at least one year. Restitution and the fee referenced in the statute must be paid.

Eligibility and disqualification also turn on grading, offense category, the person’s full conviction history, and statutory lookback periods. The exclusions include—but are not limited to—many offenses involving danger to persons, family offenses, Chapter 61 firearms offenses, specified sex offenses, and specified conviction-history patterns. Pa.R.Crim.P. 791 supplies the petition procedure.

5. Pardon and clemency

For a conviction that other routes do not reach, executive clemency may be the remaining path. The Pennsylvania Board of Pardons makes the written recommendation required by article IV, section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution; the Governor decides whether to grant relief. Under current 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(a)(2.1) and (a.1), an unconditional pardon triggers an automatic court expungement process without a separate expungement application by the pardoned person. A conditional pardon receives automatic limited access under § 9122.2(a)(4), not expungement. The Board warns that the process may take a few years.

Two traps worth naming

Limited access is not destruction

A record subject to limited access is generally removed from public court search, and Pennsylvania law generally bars its use by individuals and noncriminal-justice agencies for employment, housing, and school admission, except where federal law requires otherwise. But the record remains available for specified purposes, including criminal-justice use and sentencing, child-welfare functions, certain court-authorized custody or PFA requests, federally required employment checks, Pennsylvania Supreme Court and bar-admission functions, and public-office eligibility. Pennsylvania licensing agencies may not use limited-access convictions under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9124(b)(2); do not assume that state rule controls a federal license or federally mandated background check.

Record relief and firearm eligibility are separate questions

Limited access does not itself restore firearm rights. A pardon, expungement, or state restoration may affect federal status only if the state relief and state law satisfy federal requirements and no separate state or federal prohibition remains. If firearm eligibility is the goal, analyze 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105 and federal law independently before possession or transfer. See our Pennsylvania firearm-rights guidance.

What happens procedurally in Northampton and Lehigh Counties

Petitions under Rules 490, 790, and 791 are filed with the clerk of courts in the judicial district where the charges were disposed, using the applicable statewide form and county filing channel. Successful ARD follows Rules 319 and 320 instead: dismissal must be obtained, and the judge must issue the companion expungement order unless the Commonwealth’s objection is sustained. Section 9122.2 Clean Slate relief is system-initiated rather than petition-based, but confirming that relief was entered—and correcting an incomplete criminal-history record when it was not—is a separate practical task.

Current general court links are collected in our Northampton County court-forms directory and Lehigh County court-forms directory. Confirm the current statewide form, county filing channel, and fee before filing; no fee amount is stated here.

What to bring to a consultation

• Your full Pennsylvania record if you have it; we can discuss how to obtain the relevant records if you do not.
• The disposition, grading, and dates for each case.
• Proof of restitution and fee status.
• A plain statement of the goal—employment, licensing, housing, or firearm eligibility—because the goal affects the analysis.

Related starting points include our criminal-defense practice, DUI practice, and Northampton County criminal-procedure guide.

General information about Pennsylvania law, not legal advice. Eligibility and legal effect are fact-specific, exclusion lists are extensive, and no relief is promised. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.