You may be able to expunge federal criminal records, in the same manner that you can expunge stae/local records.

But you cannot expunge the FBI records, ever, to the best of my knowledge. Reason being that the FBI records are used for criminal investigations and national security/intelligence purposes and therefor must be complete.

Also, unlike court records (which you can expunge) FB records are NOT accessible by the public, employers, etc. This means that an embezzler who got his record expunged could get a job as an accountant, since his employer would not have visibility on the FBI records.

But airline pilots are in a unusual situation...our employer do have access to the FBI records. This was not done to allow them to circumvent normal legal procedures, but rather for national security reasons. Cops, military, and many other government or contractor employees who have sensitive jobs or security clearances are subject to the same thing...either their employers have direct access to FBI records, or they need a security clearance which they won't get if they have significant history.

I think the intent was for airlines to verify that you meet TSA requirements, but nobody limited them to strictly those requirements...once they see your record, they are free to deny employment...even if you would be OK per the TSA and had expunged the matter in question. Kind of a weird loophole, but nobody really cares because we would rather err on the conservative side when it comes to airline pilots.

 

After further investigation, the law enforcement in the state where the infraction occured would have to submit all information pertinent to the infraction to the FBI. Once it reaches the FBI, it's there for life.


atp

 

you can do it. for 500-1000. roger inger in winchester VA. look him up.. you'll be glad you did.

 

The national criminal history database is maintained by the NCIC (national crime information center). When a criminal history check is done, The charge, the ORI of the charging agency and the outcome of the charge is reflected. In most cases, Guilty, not guilty, dismissed (prosecutor dropped the charge) or Nolo contendere aka I do not wish to contend (fight) the charge, shows up as the result.

In a general criminal history check, the ones that 95% of employers, outside of the aviation world have access to will not show anything if your results are dismissed or not guilty. Nolo contendere, because it is basically the court or prosecutor offering you a plea deal and Guilty will show up on a basic criminal history check.

An arrest does not guarantee a criminal history, the local prosecutor must "file" charges in order for one to have a "criminal history". If for instance, you are arrested and the prosecutor does not go through with filing charges, you will not have a criminal history.

In most jurisdictions to expunge a criminal history charge, one must have been found not guilty or the charge must have been dismissed. To do this, you need an attorney to "petition" the court as to why the charge should be removed from your criminal history. If this is granted, the court will contact the NCIC center and the arrest/charge can be permanently removed from your criminal history.

 

I am not a lawyer but have a good friend who is working on this very thing for me right now.

I had an assault charge that I was found not guilty in court of that I wanted off my record. If you were not guilty then you would have a shot. The clerk of court here in Va Beach told me that she has never seen the state deny expungment for someone who was not guilty. She said if you plead guilty or were found guilty, you will never get it off your record.

 

So what happens if the SA Office does pickup or files charges and later drops them? What then? What recourse would one have?




atp

 

What does SA office stand for? If that is a term for Prosecutor's officer or district attorney the "Disposition" would say "Dismissed."

If charges are filed then they will be forever on your criminal history unless you can get them expunged.

 

The statute and regulations prohibit employment of screeners and those individuals who have unescorted access to aircraft or a secured area of an airport when an individual has a criminal conviction (or finding of not guilty by reason of insanity) for a disqualifying offense in the previous ten-year period. The disqualifying offenses are listed in 49 U.S.C. § 44936(b)(1)(B).

WHAT IS A CONVICTION?

The statute and regulations specify that if an individual was convicted, or found not guilty by reason of insanity, of any disqualifying offense in the preceding 10 years, then the individual may not be granted unescorted access authority. TSA has taken the position that a conviction means any finding of guilt, plea of guilty, plea of nolo contendere, or finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. Whether a disposition of a criminal case is a conviction is a matter of Federal law. In Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc., 460 U.S. 103 (1983), the Supreme Court held that the defendant had been convicted for purposes of a gun control statute even though under state law the defendant’s sentence had been deferred under state law. The key was that the defendant had pled guilty to the state offense and that was all that was required to make the underlying case a conviction for purposes of the Federal gun control statute.

TSA considers the following scenarios to be convictions (this is not an exclusive list):

· Person enters plea of guilty followed by deferred adjudication where court places defendant on probation for a period of 2 years.
· Person enters plea of nolo contendere followed by a 2 year period of community supervision.
· Person is found guilty by judge or jury followed by deferred adjudication where court places defendant on probation for period of 2 years.
· Person is arrested and placed on probation pending a trial. The state revokes probation and prosecutes the person and there is a finding of guilt.

TSA considers the following scenarios to not be convictions (this is not an exhaustive list):

· Person is arrested, tried, and acquitted.
· Person is arrested and is placed in a first offender program. Upon successful completion of program, the person is discharged and the charges are dropped.
· Person is arrested and placed on probation pending a trial. Upon successful completion of period of probation the charges are dropped.

HOW DOES AN EXPUNGEMENT EFFECT THE CONVICTION?

A number states allow an individual who has been convicted to seek a judicial order expunging the conviction. Expungements come in a variety of forms, but predominantly fall into two categories: (1) post-probationary period automatic expungements; and (2) post-conviction discretionary expungements.

As a general rule, where an expungement acts to nullify a conviction and the record of the conviction is maintained by the state only for purposes of sentencing in a subsequent criminal trial, then the expungement acts to nullify the conviction for purposes of the CHRC statute and regulations. If however, the expungement has conditions on it then the expungement will not act to nullify the conviction for purposes of the CHRC statute and regulations. Some examples of such conditions include the following (not an exhaustive list):

· Person may not own a firearm based on the conviction.
· Person may not be hired as a police officer or teacher.
· Person may not work as a health care provider.

Therefore, some expungements will remove the disabling effect of the underlying conviction and some expungements do not. Adjudicators should look to the specific provisions of state law through which the expungement was granted. (See attachment A).

WHAT EFFECT DOES A PARDON HAVE?

Most states, either through the governor’s office or a state board of pardons and paroles, have the power to grant pardons to persons convicted of a crime. TSA has taken the position that all pardons will act to nullify the underlying conviction for purposes of the CHRC statute and regulations.

ARE MISDEMEANOR CONVICTIONS DISQUALIFYING?

Unless otherwise stated in the statute, a misdemeanor conviction would act to disqualify an individual from unescorted access authority. For example, § 44936(b)(1)(B)(xi) specifies “armed or felony unarmed robbery.” (emphasis added) Conversely, § 44936(b)(1)(B)(ix) specifies “unlawful possession, sale, distribution, or manufacture of an explosive or weapon.” This provision encompasses both misdemeanor and felony weapons charges. Recently, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a misdemeanor firearm offense does fall within list of disqualifying offenses in section 44936. The case is United States v. Baer, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 6023 (4th Cir., 2003).

ARE JUVENILE CRIMINAL RECORDS APPLICABLE?

When a juvenile has been tried as an adult, then the criminal record is applicable. Otherwise, juvenile records should not be considered for purposes of the criminal history records check statute.

For further assistance, please contact Stephen Brundage, attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel, at (571) 227-2662; email: [email protected]