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Questions Concerning Expungement

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Nostrildamus

New member
What is my state? Oklahoma, McClain County

Hello.
I am POA for my mother and her husband, who both reside in an Assisted Living Center. In my stepfather's case I am co-POA with his niece.

My stepfather has a grandchild of 27 years of age that they wish to help with her education goals. His co-POA and I are in support of this.

She has a felony conviction for drug use in a neighboring county. Since her conviction she has remained sober, held down a job at the same ALC they reside at and has provided reliable transportation for them for doctors visits and social outings. She has been awarded Employee of the Month several times.

She recently passed her HiSet test, an effort that required many hours of math tutoring, which I provided.

Her conviction three years back was the first time she appeared before the court. She has successfully completed the terms of her sentence and will have finished paying required costs in two month, on the schedule the court set up. She has told me that at her sentencing the judge stated he felt she was sincere in wanting to get her life back and hoped she was able to do this.

We will interview an attorney tomorrow to see if we wish to retain their services for the expungement but have been told fees typically start at about $1700.00 and go up from there. She is not in a position financially to do this, and her benefactors are hesitant to pay for her past legal issues even though they will have a direct impact on her education goals.

Three questions:
If we decide to seek expungement is this a process that can typically be done without legal representation?

Would it be inappropriate to approach the judge in her case and seek his advice?

What is the procedure that is typically used? The charges were in McClain county, Oklahoma.

I thank you for any pearls of wisdom you may toss before me.
 


quincy

Senior Member
What is my state? Oklahoma, McClain County

Hello.
I am POA for my mother and her husband, who both reside in an Assisted Living Center. In my stepfather's case I am co-POA with his niece.

My stepfather has a grandchild of 27 years of age that they wish to help with her education goals. His co-POA and I are in support of this.

She has a felony conviction for drug use in a neighboring county. Since her conviction she has remained sober, held down a job at the same ALC they reside at and has provided reliable transportation for them for doctors visits and social outings. She has been awarded Employee of the Month several times.

She recently passed her HiSet test, an effort that required many hours of math tutoring, which I provided.

Her conviction three years back was the first time she appeared before the court. She has successfully completed the terms of her sentence and will have finished paying required costs in two month, on the schedule the court set up. She has told me that at her sentencing the judge stated he felt she was sincere in wanting to get her life back and hoped she was able to do this.

We will interview an attorney tomorrow to see if we wish to retain their services for the expungement but have been told fees typically start at about $1700.00 and go up from there. She is not in a position financially to do this, and her benefactors are hesitant to pay for her past legal issues even though they will have a direct impact on her education goals.

Three questions:
If we decide to seek expungement is this a process that can typically be done without legal representation?

Would it be inappropriate to approach the judge in her case and seek his advice?

What is the procedure that is typically used? The charges were in McClain county, Oklahoma.

I thank you for any pearls of wisdom you may toss before me.
Hmmm. You posted this before and then deleted your thread.

The granddaughter can file a petition for sealing of her criminal records with the district court in the district where the arrest information is located. She does not necessarily need an attorney's help in filing the petition but it will be left to her or her attorney to do the filing. You or other family members cannot assist her with the filing unless you or family are attorneys.

She should not contact the judge directly. She cannot expect to receive legal advice from the judge.

Following are two links with information on sealing criminal records in Oklahoma.
https://osbi.ok.gov/faq-page/5031#t5031n621
https://osbi.ok.gov/sites/g/files/gmc476/f/documents/Criminal_Record_Expungement_TRIFOLD_11-2018.pdf
The information provided in the links above include those offenses that are eligible for sealing and the amount of time that must pass after conviction to be eligible (I believe the granddaughter must wait an additional 2 years before she could be eligible ).
 
Last edited:

Just Blue

Senior Member
What is my state? Oklahoma, McClain County

Hello.
I am POA for my mother and her husband, who both reside in an Assisted Living Center. In my stepfather's case I am co-POA with his niece.

My stepfather has a grandchild of 27 years of age that they wish to help with her education goals. His co-POA and I are in support of this.

She has a felony conviction for drug use in a neighboring county. Since her conviction she has remained sober, held down a job at the same ALC they reside at and has provided reliable transportation for them for doctors visits and social outings. She has been awarded Employee of the Month several times.

She recently passed her HiSet test, an effort that required many hours of math tutoring, which I provided.

Her conviction three years back was the first time she appeared before the court. She has successfully completed the terms of her sentence and will have finished paying required costs in two month, on the schedule the court set up. She has told me that at her sentencing the judge stated he felt she was sincere in wanting to get her life back and hoped she was able to do this.

We will interview an attorney tomorrow to see if we wish to retain their services for the expungement but have been told fees typically start at about $1700.00 and go up from there. She is not in a position financially to do this, and her benefactors are hesitant to pay for her past legal issues even though they will have a direct impact on her education goals.

Three questions:
If we decide to seek expungement is this a process that can typically be done without legal representation?

Would it be inappropriate to approach the judge in her case and seek his advice?

What is the procedure that is typically used? The charges were in McClain county, Oklahoma.

I thank you for any pearls of wisdom you may toss before me.
What was her exact conviction (statute)?
 

Nostrildamus

New member
Not sure what happened to my post. After posting I could not find it and assumed that I had violated a forum rule and it was deleted. I did not repost it. Then it reappears. I have no idea. I did edit it with location just before it went on hiatus.

I thank all of you for your replies, will find the exact statute today when I meet with her.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Not sure what happened to my post. After posting I could not find it and assumed that I had violated a forum rule and it was deleted. I did not repost it. Then it reappears. I have no idea. I did edit it with location just before it went on hiatus.

I thank all of you for your replies, will find the exact statute today when I meet with her.
An edit of the original post will remove a thread from view to others during the edit so your edit might be what made the thread temporarily disappear. But this forum sometimes acts in strange ways. :)

I have a feeling that the granddaughter will not be able to have her criminal history sealed for a couple more years but it won't hurt to explore her options now.

It is nice that she has learned from her past drug offense and is changing her life in positive ways. That is not always an easy thing to do so her efforts are applauded.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:

Nostrildamus

New member
Again, I thank all of you. Met with an attorney today. The felony in McClain county would have to be addressed first. He mentioned that during a deferred sentence if you violate the law again they can accelerate the deferred sentence and go to trial for a conviction. He said a reciprocal of that law is that if you have satisfied the costs and supervised parole you can petition the court to accelerate the deferment to dismiss the charges. He knows the judge that sat on this case and the other judge that commonly handle this as well and with the goals she as attained he strongly believes the first judge would agree to this if it were to help her in her education goal and the second judge was almost as likely to agree. He said the assistant DA's would object as a matter of course but would not put a lot of effort into the objection. Still a matter of money, of which she has little.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Again, I thank all of you. Met with an attorney today. The felony in McClain county would have to be addressed first. He mentioned that during a deferred sentence if you violate the law again they can accelerate the deferred sentence and go to trial for a conviction. He said a reciprocal of that law is that if you have satisfied the costs and supervised parole you can petition the court to accelerate the deferment to dismiss the charges. He knows the judge that sat on this case and the other judge that commonly handle this as well and with the goals she as attained he strongly believes the first judge would agree to this if it were to help her in her education goal and the second judge was almost as likely to agree. He said the assistant DA's would object as a matter of course but would not put a lot of effort into the objection. Still a matter of money, of which she has little.
I am glad you were able to meet with an attorney today. Although I still think the granddaughter might have some problem with sealing her records after only three years, the attorney's comments to you seem promising.

Thank you for providing the update. I wish the granddaughter good luck.
 

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