Louisiana Expungement Laws

If there is such a thing as "ground zero for fun" it has to be Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Although Mardi Gras is the big holiday for New Orleans, there is practically a party every night on Bourbon Street. Sometimes these parties can get out of hand and result in an arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct. Clearly, you don't mean to end up in jail, but that's just what can happen with one too many Hurricane drinks.

Even though you might just be visiting, you will now have a Louisiana arrest record that's going to follow you wherever you might travel in life. It can show up in a future employee background check, when you apply for military service or even when you attempt to rent an apartment. All because of one night of Bourbon Street fun! Fortunately, there might be an option available to you to have that Louisiana arrest record erased if you can be granted an expungement of the records from the court.

An expungement is a court order removal of all records pertaining to an individual's arrest and/or court trial. Typically, expungements are easily granted when the person was mistakenly arrested or their charges were dismissed or they were found innocent. In Louisiana, those eligibility requirements are all acceptable along with one other condition. If a person pleads guilty to a minor offense and they complete whatever court order sentence has been prescribed, they can file for an expungement.

On the other end of the legal spectrum, an expungement won't be granted if the crime committed leads to any time served in jail, if the crime resulted in a felony charge involving a violent act or there was more than one offense occurring within a five year period. When an expungement is granted by the Louisiana court system then all records including videos, photos, transcripts, or computer files will be wiped out. To file an expungement request with the Louisiana court costs around $150. That might lead you to think that it is easy to file this type of petition. However, if you leave out any important information or file with the wrong jurisdiction you could end up having your petition rejected. That's why it is always best to have a qualified attorney by your side when you go before the court. This is not an area where an amateur should be playing around with. Find the right help and get your life back on track.