sealing my traffic case after dismissal?
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Sealing my traffic case after dismissal
So if you were recently charged with a traffic offense and showed up to court to find the case was “No papered.” There is a record of the arrest, although it may not be a public record. You should have received notification from the Court that says, “The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia as declined to proceed with prosecution against you for the incident that led to your arrest. This means that your arrest has been NO PAPERED, however the prosecuting attorney could seek to proceed with prosecution at a later date. When a case is no papered, there is no record of the arrest in the Court’s database. However, you now have an arrest record with other law enforcement agencies, such as with the agency that arrested you and the FBI. An arrest record is a record in a law enforcement database that contains your name, the date of your arrest, the charges for which you were arrested, personal information such as your date of birth and, sometimes, a set of your fingerprints. AN ARREST IS NOT A CONVICTION. Generally, this arrest record will not be available to the public; however, if you apply for a job, this arrest may be disclosed to potential employers.”
Sealing my Traffic Record
So how do you fix this – In May 2007, the law changed in the District to allow more people to qualify for getting their records sealed. Depending on the charge and some other factors, you may be able to prevent anyone, including the police, from learning about this arrest in the future or you may be able to prevent most, but not all, members of the public, including most employers, from learning about this arrest. Understand that you may be able to file a motion right away asking the court to seal your arrest record OR you may have to wait 2 years or 5 years before you the law says you can file such a motion.
So What do I do Now to Seal my Traffic Record
So first and foremost you give us a call at 202-455-5610. Thereafter, we will send you by email:
- Intake Form
- Engagement letter for Services
You do not have to come into the office for us to file your motion to seal. We will file the proper motion with the Court to get your record sealed. Our fee is extremely reasonable to file the motion. If you are unable to pay the nominal legal fee to file the motion you can request a self help packet from the public defender service in the District of Columbia; however, the public defender will not provide you with a lawyer because liberty is not a stake with this motion.
How long does it take to seal my traffic record?
Once you retain our firm to file your motion to seal, we usually file the motion within 24 hours. The Court generally gives the prosecutor 30-60 days to respond to the motion. The entire process takes about 90 days from start to finish.