Safety, Crime, Reentry & Legal Help · Surprise rank #294
Old Conviction Holding You Back? You Can Petition to Seal It Now — Don't Wait for Clean Slate
New York lets you petition a court to seal up to two old convictions after ten years, and there is no filing fee. New York's Clean Slate Act will eventually seal many records automatically, but the courts have until November 2027 to build that system — so petitioning is still the only route that works today.
Who
People with no more than two eligible convictions total, of which no more than one may be a felony, where at least ten years have passed since sentencing or since release from incarceration, whichever is later.
Where: New York State convictions only, statewide including NYC, Nassau and Suffolk. Federal and out-of-state convictions are not covered.
What to do
Start here: Contact a free legal services provider before paying anyone — in New York City try Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, Bronx Defenders or Legal Services NYC; on Long Island try Nassau Suffolk Law Services. LawHelpNY.org has a plain-language guide and can point you to the right office. The petition is filed in the court where you were sentenced.
Eligibility: No more than two convictions total and no more than one felony; ten years elapsed since sentencing or release; sentence and any supervision completed. Sex offenses, violent felonies and Class A felonies are not eligible. Convictions under federal law or another state's law cannot be sealed by a New York court.
What you get
Under Criminal Procedure Law §160.59 you can ask the sentencing court to seal old convictions. If granted, the record is hidden from public view: most private employers and landlords running standard background checks will not see it, and you may generally answer 'no' when asked about a criminal record on ordinary applications. Sealing is not expungement — the record still exists and certain agencies retain access — but for jobs and housing the practical effect is close.
Benefit: Removal of the conviction from public-facing background checks, which is often the difference between getting and losing a job, an apartment or a professional license. There is no filing fee for the petition itself.
Possible value: Hard to price but frequently life-changing in earnings terms. The direct cost is the main practical figure: the court charges no filing fee, but private attorney representation commonly runs into the low thousands, which is why free legal-services organizations are worth approaching first.
Good to know
Important: Do not assume Clean Slate has already handled this. The Clean Slate Act (CPL §160.57) took effect November 16, 2024, but it gave the Unified Court System until November 16, 2027 to build the automatic sealing process — so as of today most records have not been automatically sealed, and the §160.59 petition is the route that actually works. Also understand what sealing does not do: courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, firearms licensing agencies, the State Education Department, employers of police and peace officers, and agencies running fingerprint background checks for work with children or vulnerable adults can still see sealed records, federal and immigration authorities may access them, and a sealed conviction still counts as a prior conviction for sentencing purposes in any future case.
Availability: Active; the petition route is open now. Automatic sealing under Clean Slate is phasing in with a court-system implementation deadline of November 16, 2027.
Why people miss it: Publicity around Clean Slate led many people to believe their record was already being cleared automatically, so they stopped pursuing the petition that would actually seal it years sooner.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026