This applies to a California expungement. I recently contacted my lawyer and asked for clarification on reporting requirements for an expunged misdemeanor. She sent me a document with the following information:

"Granting of this petition does NOT relieve you of the responsibility to disclose the conviction in response to any direct question as part of any questionnaire or application for public office, [U]licensure by any state or local agency[U], or for contracting with the California state lottery.

Granting of this petition does NOT seal your record. The case, including the conviction, will remain public record."

As I said, this is for expungements in the state of California under penal code 1203.4. The conviction is changed to dismissed, but this merely changes reporting requirements for private sector jobs.

I am by no means a lawyer, but this is the information that I received from one. Furthermore, she is not an aviation lawyer, but, regarding reporting requirements, I would expect a more lenient response from a lawyer not involved in aviation as opposed to one who was familiar with the thorough background investigations involved in aviation.

Sorry, long post.

Keep in mind that CA law does not apply if you interview with an airline in another state. In that case only federal law (which allows/requires the airline to view your NCIC data) and state law where you interview apply.

Once the information leaves CA and enters the FBI database, CA law no longer applies at all (federal law trumps state law in all cases where conflict exists).

You might have some wiggle room if you applied at for example SKW, interviewed in UT but were assigned FAT as your first domicile. You could make a case that your employer has offices in CA and that you were hired to work in CA.

Understood. However, it seems to me that even when applying to an employer in California convictions would need to be disclosed per the "licensure by any state or local agency" line. So, from what I gather, even though it is now dismissed, the original conviction would need to be disclosed when applying for an airline position unless the application says "do not disclose expunged records.

First off your not getting licensed by any airline when hired. A type rating is not what the law is referring to in any manner. The law is referring to any applications for state or local agency licenses such as the California state bar or a California real estate license and so on.

A quick search of the exact verbiage of the CA misdemeanor expungement law shows this (after the expungement is granted the following applies):

"It is ordered that the plea, verdict, or finding of guilt in the above entitled action be set aside and vacated and a plea of not guilty be entered and that the complaint be, and is hereby, dismissed."

It goes on to state:

"If the order to expunge is granted under the provisions of either penal code section 1203.4 or 1203.4a, the defendant is released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense."

An airline pilot job is in the private sector even though its a safety sensitive position, which is applicable to the conviction reporting laws governing post conviction relief. By reading the above, the vast majority of lawyers and justices agree that you can legally and justifiably answer "NO" to the question of "have you ever been CONVICTED of a crime" on private sector jobs.

This is the whole design purpose of post conviction relief, to release the defendant from ALL penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense and subsequent finding of guilt.

In regards to having a misdemeanor expunged, yes it is true that your arrest and trial, along with disposition and sentencing are still available in public record. But an individual or entity must file a release of public records with the convicting authority. It just does not appear during background checks. The only way to have your records not public is to get them sealed which is hard to do and varies state by state. For the most part it is a waste of money and time to even get records sealed after expungement unless your running for public office or other public eye positions.

Anyone know how to obtain the SAME FBI report the airlines receive?