Expungements

Pursuant to § 17-22-950, if an accused person is found not guilty or if the charges are dismissed or nolle prossed and the person was fingerprinted for those charges, there will be an automatic expungement processed by the court. If the accused person was not fingerprinted and the charges were dismissed, nolle prossed or found not guilty, they may apply for an expungement of those charges.

However, there are exceptions to this rule. The charges are not eligible for expungement if:

• The charge is not eligible for expungement if the charge was dismissed at a preliminary hearing

• The accused person has charges pending in summary court and the court of general sessions and such charges arise out of the same course of event.

• The charge was dismissed as the result of a conditional discharge or any other pretrial program.

Cost

The statute requires that no fee may be charged by summary court for the expungements pursuant to § 17-22-950. Please by advised that charges pursuant to those statutes are the only allowance for expungements to be conducted by summary court judges. All other expungements are processed through the Solicitor's Office and signed by a circuit court judge.

If you would like to see if your charge qualifies for expungement, you may come to the court and fill out a request.