Vacating a Felony Conviction

Last Updated: September 26, 2022. Report error / Make suggestion

Washington law allows for certain felony convictions to be vacated if specific criteria are met. This means that the conviction will be treated as if it never occurred.

If you are seeking to vacate a drug-related conviction, you should first determine whether you can vacate your conviction under State v. Blake. If you are eligible under Blake, you should use that process. If you aren’t eligible, you should use the process, below.

If you are not eligible to vacate your conviction based on the criteria below AND you have a case where you were convicted as a result of being a victim of sex trafficking, prostitution, or commercial sexual abuse of a minor; sexual assault; or domestic violence, please contact us. You still may be eligible to vacate your conviction.

Step-by-Step Instructions

For the following steps, you will need to go through your record case by case. Once you have gone through all the steps for one case, you can move on to the next.

If you do not remember the details of your conviction(s), we can provide you with a free copy of your criminal history.

Step 1Look for Pending Criminal Charges

Do you have any pending criminal charges in this state, or any state, federal, or tribal court? An infraction (e.g. a ticket) is not considered a criminal charge.

Step 2Look for Excluded Offenses

Review the List of Excluded Offenses.

If any of the above charges are listed, you are not eligible to vacate that specific conviction only. If the case included convictions for multiple charges, you may still be eligible to vacate one or all of the other charges so long as they are not also excluded offenses.

With remaining felony offenses: Move on to Step 3

Step 3No Recent Criminal History

A committed infraction is not considered a conviction.

If you contacted us to get a copy of your criminal history, you can tell if a case is an infraction by looking at the Judgment Column (Jg).  An infraction will appear as a “C” for committed as opposed to a “G” for guilty. (See Sample Screen Below).

For Class B Felonies…

Do you have any convictions in the past 10 years (any jurisdiction)?

For Class C Felonies…

Do you have any convictions in the past 5 years (any jurisdiction)?

Step 4Completion of Sentence

You may not remember the answers to the following questions, and they may not be clear from your criminal history report. However, you should be able to get the information from the court docket for the individual case.

For Class B Felonies…

Has it been 10 years since the later of the following:

• Release from full or partial confinement
• Release from community custody
• Date of sentencing (ON THIS COUNT ONLY)

For Class C Felonies…

Has it been 5 years since the later of the following:

• Release from full or partial confinement
• Release from community custody
• Date of sentencing (ON THIS COUNT ONLY)

Step 5Legal Financial Obligations

Have all LFOs been paid off?

To see if your LFOs have been paid off, you will need a copy of the Case Financial History (CFH) for the specific case you are looking at.(You can get a CFH from the relevant Court’s clerk’s office.)

Step 6Order of Discharge

Has an Order of Discharge been filed?

Check the case docket for each case to find this information.

The information on this website is not legal advice. You should not and are not authorized to rely on this website as a source of legal advice. While Civil Survival goes to great lengths to make sure the information on the website is accurate, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information and are not responsible for any consequences that may result from the use of this website. We recommend that you consult with an attorney for assurance that the information on the website and your interpretation of it are appropriate for your situation.

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