Southern Illinois Criminal Record Sealing Attorneys

Most misdemeanor convictions in Illinois can be sealed once the waiting period has passed. Common examples include retail theft, simple battery, criminal damage to property, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

As of June 1, 2026, the waiting period for sealing a misdemeanor conviction is two years from the completion of your sentence. A handful of misdemeanors are excluded no matter how much time has passed, including domestic battery, DUI, and reckless driving.

Many Class 3 and Class 4 felony convictions are eligible for sealing three years after you complete your most recent sentence. Sealable felonies include most drug possession convictions, many theft and forgery offenses, and certain low-level weapons offenses.

Some Class 2 felonies are also eligible. The most serious and violent felonies are not, which is covered in the section below on what cannot be sealed.

If you completed court supervision or a qualified probation such as Second Chance Probation, your case did not result in a conviction. In many of those situations, an expungement is the better remedy because it erases the record rather than hiding it.

Where expungement is not available, these dispositions can be sealed two years after completion as of June 1, 2026. We review the disposition on each case to confirm whether you should be filing to expunge or to seal.

Felony convictions under the Cannabis Control Act and the Illinois Controlled Substances Act are generally sealable after the three-year felony waiting period. For years, Illinois required petitioners to submit a recent clean drug test along with the sealing petition.

The Clean Slate Act eliminated that drug-test requirement effective June 1, 2026. You no longer have to test clean to seal an eligible felony drug conviction. Some older cannabis convictions may also qualify for full cannabis expungement rather than sealing.

You are no longer automatically disqualified from sealing a felony just because you have another felony conviction. The Clean Slate Act removed that bar effective June 1, 2026, which opened sealing to many people who were previously shut out.

Each conviction still has to clear its own waiting period, and a record with several cases takes a careful review to map out the order of relief. That review is exactly what the free evaluation is for.

The Illinois State Police and the circuit court clerks must first build and test the system that identifies and seals records. Until that system is running, nothing happens automatically. Automatic sealing is expected to begin in 2029.

Even then, records are sealed in phases based on age. Records from July 1, 2005 through December 31, 2028 may be sealed by January 1, 2031. Records from July 1, 1990 through June 30, 2005 may be sealed by January 1, 2032. Records from July 1, 1970 through June 30, 1990 may be sealed by January 1, 2034.

Once the system is live, the same records that are eligible for petition-based sealing today will generally qualify for automatic sealing. That means most misdemeanor convictions, most non-violent felony convictions, completed supervision and probation, and non-conviction records, all after the applicable waiting period.

The serious-felony exclusions still apply. A charge that does not qualify for automatic sealing, such as a DUI, will not be cleared automatically even if the case was dismissed. Sealing under the Act is also not the same as expungement, so non-conviction records you would rather have erased still require an expungement petition.

For most people, waiting is the wrong move. Automatic sealing is years away, the rollout reaches older records last, and the system depends on the state having accurate disposition data, which is often incomplete. If a record is costing you a job, an apartment, a license, or your firearm rights today, every month you wait is a month the record is still public.

Filing a petition under current law can clear your record now and can sometimes give you more relief than automatic sealing would, including expungement of records that will never seal on their own. We file petitions today and can also tell you whether your record is on track to seal automatically later.

We start by obtaining your statewide Criminal History Transcript from the Illinois State Police and pulling the disposition on every case from each circuit clerk where you were charged. Records routinely contain errors, missing dispositions, or miscategorized offenses, and a petition is only as good as the record review behind it.

We frequently find old cases a client had forgotten, and just as often, cases that should have been cleared years ago.

The petition is filed in the circuit court of the county where the case was brought. If you have cases in more than one county, a separate petition is filed in each. The Illinois Supreme Court has approved statewide sealing and expungement forms, but every county runs its own e-filing rules, fees, and local practices.

Filing fees generally range from about $60 to $235 depending on the county. If you cannot afford the fee, the court can waive it under 725 ILCS 5/124A-20, and we file that application as part of the packet when appropriate.

Once the petition is filed and served, the State’s Attorney, the Illinois State Police, and the arresting agency each have 60 days from service to file a written objection. The Clean Slate Act removed the prior requirement to give notice to municipal legal officers in many cases, which has simplified this stage.

Clear-cut petitions often pass this window without objection. Sealing petitions involving older records, incomplete dispositions, or borderline offenses are more likely to draw an objection that has to be answered.

If no agency objects within 60 days, the judge usually enters the sealing order without a hearing. If an objection is filed, the court sets the matter for hearing and weighs your criminal history, the time since the offense, your rehabilitation, and the public interest.

We prepare clients for these hearings and present the strongest case the record supports. As courtroom litigators, we are not learning contested practice for the first time when a petition draws a fight. No attorney can guarantee a result.

When the judge signs the order, the circuit clerk sends copies to the Illinois State Police, the arresting agency, and the State’s Attorney. Each agency then seals the records on its end. Going forward, the file is impounded and shielded from public access.

If you ever need a copy of a sealed record, for an immigration or licensing application for example, you do not have to file a motion to unseal. You or your attorney can simply ask the circuit clerk, who must provide it within seven days.

Sealing hides a criminal record from the public and from employer and landlord background checks while keeping it visible to law enforcement and certain regulated employers. Expungement physically destroys or returns the record so it no longer exists. Sealing is available for many convictions; expungement is mostly limited to cases that did not end in a conviction.

For most people with a conviction, sealing is the available remedy and it is usually enough to remove the record as a barrier to work and housing. If your case ended without a conviction, expungement is generally the better path. Our attorneys handle both and identify the right one during the free evaluation. You can read more on our Illinois expungement page.

Most Illinois sealing petitions take four to six months from filing to the final order. The State’s Attorney, Illinois State Police, and arresting agency each have 60 days from service to object. If no one objects, the judge usually signs the order shortly after that window closes.

The timeline depends on the county, the court’s docket, and whether an agency objects. A contested petition requires a hearing, which can add several months. After the order is entered, the agencies seal the records on their end.

As of June 1, 2026, the waiting period is two years from the end of your sentence for misdemeanor convictions, ordinance violations, completed supervision, and qualified probation. Felony convictions require three years from the end of your last felony sentence. The waiting period runs from when your sentence ended, not from the arrest or conviction date.

These shortened periods came from the Clean Slate Act. One change to know: the old waiver that let you skip the waiting period by earning a degree or career certificate now applies only to the three-year felony period. The two-year period cannot be waived.

Most misdemeanor convictions and many Class 3 and Class 4 felony convictions can be sealed in Illinois, along with completed supervision, qualified probation, and non-conviction records. Common sealable offenses include retail theft, drug possession, criminal damage, simple battery, and many theft and forgery charges.

Some Class 2 felonies are also eligible. Whether a specific case can be sealed depends on the offense, the disposition, and the waiting period, which is why a full record review matters before filing.

DUI, reckless driving, domestic battery, violations of orders of protection, sex offenses requiring registration, and animal cruelty offenses cannot be sealed in Illinois under any circumstances. These exclusions apply even when the case ended in supervision rather than a conviction, and the 2026 Clean Slate changes did not alter them.

A second group of serious violent felonies, including Class X offenses, homicide, armed robbery, residential burglary, and firearm-discharge offenses, cannot be sealed automatically and face a narrow petition path. If one of these is on your record, have it reviewed rather than assuming the answer either way.

No. Once your record is sealed in Illinois, it should not appear on the private background checks used for employment, housing, or most licensing. Under 20 ILCS 2630/12, employers cannot ask about sealed arrests or convictions, and you can legally answer “no” when asked.

Law enforcement, the courts, and certain positions requiring fingerprint-based checks, such as school and healthcare employees, can still see sealed records. If an outdated private database reports a sealed case, a certified copy of your sealing order is your proof to demand a correction.

You are not legally required to hire a lawyer to file an Illinois sealing petition. The Illinois Supreme Court publishes free statewide forms. An attorney reduces the risk of a denied or delayed petition, which matters most when your record involves multiple cases, qualified probation, or borderline offenses.

Most denials we see in pro se cases trace back to missing dispositions, miscategorized offenses, or a waiting period that had not actually passed. We catch those issues on the front end so the petition is filed correctly the first time, before a job or housing decision rides on it.

Illinois sealing filing fees vary by county and typically range from about $60 to $235. Fee waivers are available for low-income petitioners. Attorney fees are separate and depend on the number of cases and the complexity of your record.

At Olson & Reeves, we charge a fixed-flat fee so you know the total before we begin, and we offer interest-free payment plans. Court fees are paid directly to the circuit clerk, and we file a fee waiver application with your petition when you qualify.

For most people, no. Automatic sealing under the Illinois Clean Slate Act is not expected to begin until 2029 and then rolls out in phases over several years, with older records sealed last. If a record is costing you opportunities now, filing a petition under current law is the faster path.

Filing today can also give you more relief than automatic sealing, including expungement of non-conviction records that will never seal on their own. We can file your petition now and tell you whether your record is also on track to seal automatically later.

Yes, in limited circumstances. A sealed Illinois record can be reopened if you are later charged with a new offense, if a court orders it, or if you apply for a position or license that requires access to the sealed record, such as certain law enforcement, school, or healthcare jobs.

For everyday purposes, the record stays hidden from the public and from routine background checks. If you need a certified copy of a sealed record yourself, you can request one from the circuit clerk without filing a motion to unseal.