Penal Code § 1203.45 allows a petition to seal certain misdemeanor convictions for offenses committed before age 18. The court must examine the offense, age, eligibility for specified dismissal relief and statutory exclusions. Other convictions can matter even when they occurred in a different case. A juvenile-court record, an arrest without conviction and a qualifying misdemeanor conviction require different relief analyses.
Start with the conviction and age at the offense
Section 1203.45(a) uses the exact phrase “under 18 years of age at the time of commission of a misdemeanor.” The relevant age is therefore tied to when the offense occurred. Counsel also needs the actual conviction and disposition; an arrest description or an old charge may not identify the final offense.
The person must be eligible for, or already have received, relief under § 1203.4 or § 1203.4a. Those provisions have their own conditions. Section 1203.45 permits the sealing request in the dismissal proceeding or in a separate proceeding; prior dismissal does not itself show that sealing has been ordered.
The court may grant relief after finding the applicable conditions. The statute applies to older convictions as well as later ones. Subdivision (e) also contains a narrow historical age rule for a qualifying offense committed before March 7, 1973, when the person was under 21. That provision is not a general extension of current eligibility through age 20.
Which offenses and other convictions can block this procedure?
Subdivision (c) excludes offenses requiring registration under § 290, offenses in Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, specified misdemeanor Vehicle Code offenses relating to vehicle operation, and local vehicle-operation, stopping, standing or parking offenses. A conviction’s precise statute matters; the general label “misdemeanor” is insufficient.
Subdivision (d) generally excludes a person convicted of more than one offense, whether the additional conviction was in the same case or another case. It provides limited exceptions for included offenses and specified other traffic or local-ordinance convictions. The traffic exception itself excludes listed provisions, including reckless-driving and DUI sections. It does not make all additional traffic convictions irrelevant, nor does it remove subdivision (c)’s restriction on the offense being sealed.
Prepare a complete conviction list with the statute, court, case number and disposition. Have counsel compare each entry with the actual exceptions instead of leaving out a case because it seemed minor or happened in another county.
What if restitution remains unpaid?
Current subdivision (f) says an unfulfilled restitution order or restitution fine cannot be grounds for denying this petition. It also says that such an unpaid obligation is not grounds for finding probation conditions unfulfilled for the entire probation period. These provisions are relevant when the record includes an unpaid balance.
That protection is not debt forgiveness or a substitute for the remaining eligibility conditions. Keep the restitution order and payment history with the probation and disposition records so counsel can distinguish the unpaid balance from a separate obstacle to relief.
What would a sealing order cover?
Section 1203.45(a) permits sealing the conviction and other official case records, including the resulting arrest records and records of other charges in the same accusatory pleading that ended in acquittal or dismissal. It states the resulting treatment of the conviction, arrest or proceeding as not having occurred and permits answers accordingly. The actual order and applicable law should be reviewed before responding to a particular official inquiry.
Subdivision (g) contains a limited court-ordered reopening procedure for a defamation action, with confidentiality and resealing requirements. This relief should be distinguished from the firm’s broader arrest-record sealing discussion and post-conviction services.
Bring the offense date, conviction, probation record, dismissal order if any, and complete additional-case history to the Law Offices of David S. Chesley. Counsel can assess the available petition and the records needed to support it. Contact the firm or call (800) 755-5174.