Virginia Clean Slate Law
Virginia’s Clean Slate law creates a broader system for restricting public access to eligible criminal records through automatic sealing and petition-based record sealing. The law can apply to certain dismissals, acquittals, deferred dispositions, convictions, and related records, but eligibility depends on the exact charge, final disposition, offense and disposition dates, criminal history, and the particular sealing procedure involved. Clean Slate does not mean that every Virginia criminal record is automatically erased. Some eligible records are sealed without an individual petition, while others require a petition in Circuit Court, and some records do not qualify for sealing. This guide explains how Virginia Clean Slate works, the difference between automatic and petition-based sealing, general eligibility and timing rules, what sealing does, and what may be happening when an expected record still appears publicly.
Virginia Clean Slate Guide Topics
| Clean Slate Overview | Automatic Sealing |
| Petition-Based Sealing | Clean Slate Eligibility |
| Waiting Periods | Criminal History |
| What Sealing Does | Record Still Public? |
| Clean Slate vs. Expungement | FAQs |
Related Virginia Clean Slate Guides
- Virginia Record Relief Guide
- Virginia Clean Slate Eligibility
- Automatic vs. Petition-Based Record Sealing
What Is Virginia’s Clean Slate Law?
Virginia’s Clean Slate law is a record-sealing framework that became effective on July 1, 2026. It creates several procedures for restricting public access to eligible criminal records, including automatic sealing and petition-based sealing. The applicable procedure depends on the particular charge, final disposition, offense date, criminal history, and other statutory requirements.
Clean Slate does not mean that every criminal record is automatically erased. Some records can be sealed through an automatic process, some require a petition in Circuit Court, and others do not qualify for sealing. Different rules also apply to convictions, deferred dismissals, acquittals, nolle prosequi dispositions, and other dismissals.
The practical question is therefore not simply whether Virginia has a Clean Slate law. The important questions are whether a particular record qualifies, whether sealing should occur automatically, whether a petition is required, and what legal effect sealing will have once the record is sealed.
How Virginia Clean Slate Record Sealing Works
Virginia’s sealing laws generally create three possible outcomes for a criminal record:
- Automatic sealing: Certain eligible records can be sealed through procedures established by Virginia law without the person filing an ordinary sealing petition.
- Petition-based sealing: Certain other records require the person seeking relief to file a petition in the appropriate Circuit Court and establish the statutory requirements for sealing.
- No sealing under the applicable provision: Some records are excluded or fail to satisfy the offense, disposition, waiting-period, criminal-history, or other statutory requirements.
These categories can overlap in ways that make a complete record review important. A person may have several charges from the same case with different dispositions, or multiple cases that fall under different sealing provisions. One record may be automatically sealable while another requires a petition.
Automatic Sealing Under Virginia Clean Slate
Automatic sealing is one of the most important features of Virginia’s Clean Slate framework. It allows specified eligible records to be sealed through statutory and administrative procedures without requiring the person to initiate an ordinary petition for each qualifying record.
Virginia law provides different automatic-sealing procedures depending on the type of record. These include provisions addressing certain eligible convictions and separate provisions addressing certain acquittals, nolle prosequi dispositions, and dismissals.
For specified convictions eligible for automatic sealing under Virginia Code § 19.2-392.6, seven years generally must have passed since the conviction without a new reportable criminal conviction during that period, excluding traffic infractions under Title 46.2. An otherwise eligible conviction is not automatically sealed under that section if the person was also convicted on the same date of another offense that is not eligible for automatic sealing under that provision.
The automatic-conviction process is conducted electronically on at least a monthly basis. Other automatic-sealing provisions use different procedures and timing rules. This is one reason there is no single rule stating that every potentially eligible Virginia record will disappear from public access at the same time.
Petition-Based Sealing Under Virginia Clean Slate
Virginia law also permits petition-based sealing for records that fall within specified statutory categories. Petition sealing requires affirmative action by the person seeking relief and generally involves filing a petition in the Circuit Court where the case was disposed.
Virginia Code § 19.2-392.12 provides one of the principal petition pathways for certain convictions and deferred-and-dismissed charges. Depending on the offense and record, eligibility can involve the offense classification, offense date, waiting period, criminal history, restitution, rehabilitation requirements, and whether continued public dissemination of the record causes or may cause manifest injustice.
Virginia Code § 19.2-392.12:1 provides a separate petition procedure for specified charges and convictions related to the automatic-sealing framework and for certain related ancillary matters.
These petition procedures are not interchangeable. The applicable statute can affect eligibility, timing, procedure, and petition limitations, which is why the precise charge and disposition should be identified before deciding what type of sealing request may be available.
Who May Qualify for Virginia Clean Slate Sealing?
Clean Slate eligibility depends on the individual record rather than simply whether a case is described as old, dismissed, or a misdemeanor. Important factors can include:
- The exact criminal charge and Virginia Code section;
- Whether the matter resulted in a conviction, acquittal, dismissal, nolle prosequi, or deferred dismissal;
- The offense date and final disposition date;
- Whether the offense falls within an automatic-sealing category;
- Whether petition-based sealing is available for the particular offense;
- The person’s complete criminal history;
- Later convictions or charges that may affect eligibility;
- Whether multiple convictions occurred on the same date;
- Applicable waiting periods; and
- Any statutory exclusions or additional requirements.
A single case can also contain multiple counts with different outcomes. Eligibility should therefore be considered charge by charge rather than assuming that one result automatically controls every record arising from the case.
Waiting Periods Under Virginia Clean Slate
There is no single Virginia Clean Slate waiting period that applies to every record. The applicable timing rule depends on the type of sealing involved.
For example, specified convictions subject to automatic sealing under § 19.2-392.6 generally require a seven-year period without a new reportable criminal conviction, excluding traffic infractions. Petition-based sealing under § 19.2-392.12 generally uses a seven-year crime-free period for eligible misdemeanors and a ten-year period for eligible felonies, measured from the latest applicable event identified by the statute.
Other automatic-sealing provisions have their own requirements. The correct starting date and applicable waiting period therefore depend on the disposition and the statutory pathway involved.
How Criminal History Can Affect Clean Slate Eligibility
Virginia Clean Slate eligibility often requires looking beyond the one record a person wants sealed. A later conviction, another offense arising on the same date, or other criminal-history information can affect whether a record qualifies for automatic or petition-based relief.
This is especially important when a person has multiple Virginia cases, convictions in another state, or a mixture of convictions and dismissed charges. A record that appears eligible when viewed by itself may be treated differently when the complete criminal history is considered.
For that reason, a Clean Slate review should identify all potentially relevant cases and dispositions before assuming that a particular record qualifies or that sealing should occur automatically.
What Does Virginia Clean Slate Sealing Do?
Under Virginia law, sealing generally means restricting public access to records relating to an eligible arrest, charge, or conviction that are maintained by courts, the Central Criminal Records Exchange, law-enforcement agencies, and other covered record systems.
Sealing does not necessarily mean that every record is physically destroyed. Virginia law allows sealed information to remain available and to be used for specified governmental, law-enforcement, court, regulatory, firearm-eligibility, national-security, and other authorized purposes.
Subject to statutory exceptions, a person whose record has been sealed generally may deny or decline to disclose the sealed arrest, charge, or conviction to Virginia state or local government agencies and private employers. Different disclosure requirements can apply to certain law-enforcement positions, federally regulated employment, national-security positions, and other circumstances identified by law.
Sealing also does not restore civil rights or firearm rights that were lost because of a conviction. Those issues involve separate legal procedures.
What If My Record Is Still Public?
A record that appears as though it may qualify for Clean Slate sealing can remain publicly visible for several different reasons. The continued appearance of a record does not by itself establish whether the record is legally eligible or whether an error has occurred.
Possible explanations include:
- The record does not fall within an automatic-sealing category;
- A required waiting period has not been completed;
- Another conviction or criminal-history entry affects eligibility;
- The record requires petition-based sealing rather than automatic sealing;
- The electronic review process could not determine eligibility from the available data;
- The official court or criminal-history record contains incomplete or inaccurate disposition information;
- The applicable automatic process has not yet reached or completed processing of the record; or
- A private background-check database is still reporting information obtained before the official record was sealed.
The first step is usually to determine whether the official Virginia court and criminal-history records themselves have been sealed. If the official record remains public, the next question is whether the record should qualify for automatic sealing or whether another statutory procedure is required. If the official record has been sealed but a private background report continues to show it, the issue may involve the reporting source rather than Clean Slate eligibility itself.
For a detailed explanation of what employers and background-screening companies may see, how far back employment background checks can go, and how Clean Slate sealing, record sealing, or expungement may affect the information reported, see our Virginia Employment Background Checks & Criminal Records Guide.
Virginia Clean Slate vs. Expungement
Clean Slate record sealing and traditional Virginia expungement are related forms of criminal record relief, but they are not the same remedy.
| Issue | Clean Slate / Record Sealing | Traditional Expungement |
|---|---|---|
| General purpose | Restricts public access to eligible criminal records | Provides a separate statutory remedy for eligible police and court records |
| Convictions | Certain convictions may qualify | Ordinary valid convictions generally do not qualify, subject to statutory exceptions |
| Non-convictions | Certain acquittals, dismissals, and other non-convictions may be sealed | Many eligible acquittals, dismissals, and nolle prosequi dispositions may qualify |
| Automatic relief | Some records are subject to automatic-sealing procedures | Traditional expungement is a separate statutory process |
| Petition relief | Some records require a Circuit Court sealing petition | Eligible expungement matters generally proceed through Circuit Court |
A dismissed charge therefore should not automatically be labeled either a Clean Slate case or an expungement case without examining how the charge was resolved and which statute applies. In some circumstances, sealing and expungement may both need to be considered.
When a Virginia Clean Slate Lawyer May Be Helpful
Legal review can be useful when a record appears as though it should have been sealed but remains public, when the criminal history contains multiple cases or mixed dispositions, or when it is unclear whether a record qualifies for automatic sealing or requires another form of relief.
A Clean Slate review can also help determine whether the issue is eligibility, implementation, inaccurate record information, a petition requirement, or a private background-reporting problem. If you want an individualized review of whether Virginia Clean Slate should apply to your record and what steps may be available, see our Virginia Clean Slate Lawyer page.
Virginia Clean Slate FAQs
What is Virginia’s Clean Slate law?
Virginia’s Clean Slate law is a record-sealing framework that restricts public access to certain eligible criminal records through automatic and petition-based procedures. Which procedure applies depends on the charge, disposition, dates, criminal history, and other statutory requirements.
Is Virginia Clean Slate law now in effect?
Yes. Virginia’s Clean Slate record-sealing framework became effective on July 1, 2026. However, that does not mean every potentially eligible record is immediately sealed because different provisions use different procedures, eligibility rules, and processing schedules.
Does Virginia Clean Slate automatically seal every criminal record?
No. Only specified records qualify for automatic sealing. Other eligible records may require a petition in Circuit Court, while some records do not qualify for sealing under the applicable statutes.
Can criminal convictions be automatically sealed in Virginia?
Certain specified convictions may qualify for automatic sealing. Eligibility depends on the offense, offense date, required crime-free period, criminal history, same-date convictions, and other statutory requirements.
Can dismissed charges be automatically sealed in Virginia?
Certain acquittals, nolle prosequi dispositions, and dismissals may qualify for automatic sealing under Virginia law. The applicable procedure depends on factors including whether the charge was a misdemeanor or felony, how the case was dismissed, and the person’s criminal history.
Do I have to file a petition under Virginia Clean Slate?
Not always. Some eligible records are handled through automatic-sealing procedures, while other records require a Circuit Court petition. The correct pathway depends on the particular charge, disposition, dates, criminal history, and sealing statute.
How long is the Virginia Clean Slate waiting period?
There is no single waiting period for every Clean Slate record. Certain automatically sealable convictions generally require seven years without a new reportable criminal conviction, while petition-based sealing under § 19.2-392.12 generally uses seven years for eligible misdemeanors and ten years for eligible felonies. Other sealing provisions have different requirements.
Can my criminal history prevent Clean Slate sealing?
Yes. Criminal history can affect both automatic and petition-based eligibility. Depending on the sealing provision, later convictions, other felony history, same-date convictions, or other criminal-history information may prevent or change the available relief.
What does sealing a criminal record actually do?
Sealing generally restricts ordinary public access to eligible criminal-history and court records. The record is not necessarily destroyed, and Virginia law permits access and use for specified governmental, law-enforcement, court, regulatory, firearm-eligibility, and other authorized purposes.
Can I deny a criminal record after it is sealed?
Subject to statutory exceptions, a person whose record has been sealed generally may deny or decline to disclose the sealed arrest, charge, or conviction to Virginia state or local government agencies and private employers. Exceptions apply in certain employment, federal, national-security, law-enforcement, and other situations.
Does Clean Slate sealing restore firearm rights?
No. Sealing a charge or conviction does not itself restore civil rights or firearm rights that were lost because of a conviction. Restoration of those rights involves separate legal requirements and procedures.
What should I do if a record I expected to be sealed still appears?
First determine whether the official court and Virginia criminal-history records have actually been sealed. If the official record remains public, determine whether it qualifies for automatic sealing or requires another procedure. If the official record is sealed but a private background report still displays it, the problem may involve outdated third-party reporting rather than Clean Slate eligibility.
Need Help With Virginia Clean Slate?
Virginia Clean Slate eligibility can depend on the exact charge, final disposition, offense date, criminal history, waiting periods, and whether the record falls under an automatic or petition-based sealing procedure. If a record you expected to be sealed remains public, the first step is determining which legal process applies and whether the official record has actually been sealed. If you want an individualized review of your Virginia criminal record and Clean Slate options, contact our attorneys to request a confidential case review.
2/7/2026 | Updated 8/23/2026