Automated Expungement Forms

Minnesota's Legal Community Serving the Public Good

HotDocs Automated Expungement Pleadings and Forms

The links below are to automated expungement interviews, which use HotDocs document assembly software. You will be asked a series of questions, the answers to which will provide text for the forms. You will be able to edit, save, and print the forms after you complete the interviews. (More information is available by clicking here.)

Q. Do I need to complete each of the Steps listed below?

A. Not necessarily. The interviews are broken up into three chronological steps. If you already have your client's full criminal history, you can skip Step 1 and go directly to Step 2 (by clicking Step 2 below). Step 3 is only required if you need to request reconsideration after a judicial order.

Step 1: Requests for Your Client's Rap Sheet

Step 2: Pleadings for Requesting Expungement of Criminal Records

Step 3: Letter to Request Reconsideration

Step 1: Requests for Your Client's Rap Sheet
Is This Step Required?	This step creates forms to obtain the client's criminal history. You can skip this step if you already have the client's full criminal history.
General Instructions	Click on the Step 1 title above to complete a very short interview that will result in letters to send to the BCA and FBI requesting your client's criminal history. The interview also includes a list of documents your client will need to attach to his/her requests. (The list will also appear on the resulting letters).
Practice Tip	For answers to questions about BCA criminal records reports, including how requests for records are handled, what the reports include, how the reports can be read, and others, click on the following links: MN Criminal History Record Search - Frequently Asked Questions Your Right to Inspect and Copy Public Information at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
Practice Tip	Your client should always verify the accuracy of a criminal history report. At times, a crime committed by someone other than your client will show up on your client's Rap Sheet, such as when the other individual has the same name and birth date as your client or fraudulently uses your client's name and birth date. When that happens, a less costly alternative to seeking court expungement of that charge is to report the error to the BCA using a Questioned Identity Information Sheet. The form and instructions for its use can be found by clicking here.

Step 2: Pleadings for Requesting Expungement of Criminal Records
Is This Step Required?	Yes. This is the main interview that will result in Pleadings you will need to petition for expungement.
General Instructions	Click on the Step 2 title above to access an interview that will generate pleadings for the expungement requests. Pleadings created will include: Cover Letter to Judge Concerning Sealing of Human Services and Department of Health Records (optional); Notice of Hearing and Petition for Expungement; [Proposed] Order Sealing Records; Affidavit of Service; Affidavits in Support of Petitioner's Request to Expunge Criminal Record (three); Affidavit for Proceeding In Forma Pauperis (optional); and Order Granting/Denying In Forma Pauperis Application (optional). You will be able to create separate sets of pleadings for each case the client is seeking to have expunged, although you will only only need to go through the interview once in doing so.
Practice Tip	Can convictions be expunged? Cases that were resolved in your client's favor can be expunged statutorily and have a greater chance of success. (The interview includes an explanation of favorable versus unfavorable dispositions). However, your client can seek to expunge convictions (and other unfavorable dispositions) under the Court's inherent authority, with two exceptions that follow: Some crimes carry enhanced sentences for repeated offenses within a proscribed period of time. If your client was convicted of an "enhanceable crime," expungement cannot be ordered within the provided time frame. To see if your client's conviction was for an enhanceable crime and, if so, the time limit for enhancement, click here for a list with links to the relevant statutes. In addition, convictions requiring registration under Minn. Stat. § 243.166 (Registration of Predatory Offenders) can rarely, if ever, expunged.
Service and Filing	For each case: Make enough copies of the Pleadings for the client and each agency on the Affidavit of Service. Keep the originals for filing with the Court. Serve the above documents by mailing to each agency. Sign the Affidavit of Service in front of a notary and file with the Court, along with the other documents, at least 60 days prior to the hearing.

Step 3: Letter to Request Reconsideration
Is This Step Required?	This step applies after you receive the Judge's expungement order. You should complete this step if you asked that the Judge include the Department of Human Services (DHS) and/or Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) in her/his expungement order and the Judge did not do so.
General Instructions	Click on the Step 3 link above to complete a very short interview that will result in a letter to the judge that will ask for permission to seek reconsideration of the expungement decision - specifically, to include DHS and/or MDH in the expungement order.
Practice Tip	When sending the letter generated by this interview, attach the original petition and the Judge's order. Be sure to also send a copy of the letter to each agency on the original petition, including the DHS and/or MDH. The Judge will notify you in writing if you have permission to file the motion for reconsideration. If the Judge allows it, you will need to prepare the motion, get a court date from the Judge, file the motion, and serve it on all the agencies. The Self-Help Center has Motion for Reconsideration forms. After your court appearance, the Judge will make the decision about whether the court will order DHS and/or MDH to expunge its records.