Virginia Expungement & Court Record Removal: Historic Reform in Effect

Virginia's Old Law vs. the New Reality

For decades, Virginia's expungement law under Va. Code § 19.2-392.2 was among the most restrictive in the country. It allowed expungement only for arrests where: charges were not filed, charges were dismissed, or the individual was found not guilty. Anyone who pleaded guilty - even to a minor misdemeanor - had no pathway to expunge the conviction, regardless of how much time had passed or how thoroughly they had rehabilitated. For more information, visit the Virginia Courts.

The Virginia General Assembly passed HB 2113 in 2021, creating an entirely new framework for record relief. The law has a phased implementation, with the conviction-based expungement and automatic sealing provisions taking full effect July 1, 2025. As of 2026, Virginia is in the active implementation phase of these historic reforms.

The new law creates three mechanisms for record relief: (1) petition-based expungement for arrests without conviction (unchanged from before), (2) petition-based expungement for eligible convictions, and (3) automatic sealing for certain categories. Each has different eligibility criteria and timelines. Learn more about expungement vs. record sealing on our blog.

Arrests Without Conviction: The Unchanged Category

Under the original § 19.2-392.2, Virginia allowed expungement of arrests that did not result in conviction. This remains available and is essentially unchanged by HB 2113. Eligible situations include: For more information, visit the Virginia Law.

• Arrest where no charges were filed
• All charges dismissed (including nolle prosequi)
• Acquittal at trial on all counts
• Charge reduced to a lesser offense not subject to conviction (e.g., through a deferred disposition program where the charge is ultimately dismissed)

For this category, there is no waiting period - you can petition the circuit court immediately after the final disposition. If the Commonwealth's Attorney agrees (or does not object), the court typically grants the petition as a matter of course. If the Commonwealth objects, the court holds a hearing and applies a "manifest injustice" standard - meaning the petitioner must show that retaining the arrest record causes a genuine injustice. Learn more about background check reports on our blog.

Conviction-Based Expungement: The New Landscape (Effective 2025)

HB 2113's most significant change is allowing expungement of convictions - something Virginia had never permitted before. The new conviction-based expungement provisions are codified in § 19.2-392.12 through § 19.2-392.14 and became effective July 1, 2025.

Waiting Periods by Offense Level

• Class 1 misdemeanor and below: 7 years from sentence completion
• Class 5 felony and Class 6 felony: 10 years from sentence completion
• Class 3 felony and Class 4 felony: 12 years from sentence completion
• Class 1 felony and Class 2 felony: not eligible (see ineligible offenses below)

Additional Requirements

Beyond the waiting period, petition-based conviction expungement requires:

• Complete sentence satisfaction - including probation, parole, fines, fees, and any restitution
• No subsequent convictions for non-traffic offenses during the waiting period
• The offense must not be on the categorically excluded list

Automatic Sealing: Virginia's New Clean Slate Mechanism

One of the most groundbreaking features of HB 2113 is automatic sealing - an administrative process by which the Virginia State Police (VSP) and courts identify and seal certain records without the individual needing to file a petition. Virginia's automatic sealing covers:

• Arrests without conviction where charges were dismissed or acquittal was entered - these can be automatically sealed after a defined period if not already petitioned
• Deferred disposition completions - cases where the charge was deferred and ultimately dismissed upon completion of conditions
• Certain misdemeanor convictions after the 7-year waiting period is met and no subsequent convictions exist

The automatic sealing process is being implemented in phases. VSP runs periodic batch processes to identify eligible records and initiate sealing without any action required from the individual. This is a significant access improvement - it reaches people who would never have known to petition the court on their own.

Offenses Outside Virginia's New Expungement Law

Despite the major expansion, many serious offenses remain ineligible for expungement or sealing in Virginia, and for those the route runs through online removal and suppression:

• Class 1 and Class 2 felonies (the most serious felony categories, including murder and aggravated sexual assault)
• Any offense defined as a "violent felony" under Va. Code § 17.1-805
• Sex offenses requiring registration on the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry
• DUI convictions (first or subsequent) under § 18.2-266
• Offenses involving the abuse or exploitation of children
• Domestic assault convictions
• Any offense where the individual has a subsequent felony conviction during the waiting period

How Virginia Expungement Affects Online Records

When Virginia's circuit court enters an expungement or sealing order, the order is sent to the Virginia State Police, the arresting agency, the magistrate, and any other agency with records of the matter. VSP seals the criminal history record. The Virginia Courts Case Information System (VCIS) - accessible at courts.state.va.us - is updated by the circuit court clerk.

Virginia's court portal is widely used by employers, landlords, and background check companies. However, data aggregators frequently copy VCIS data and store it in their own databases. An expungement order does not automatically trigger removal from those private databases.

This creates the familiar gap: the official state systems are updated, but dozens of data broker websites - including Spokeo, BeenVerified, Whitepages, and many others - continue to display the old record because they never received notice of the expungement. Addressing this requires direct opt-out requests to each platform, along with documentation of the expungement order.

Virginia Court Records: What Shows Where