Expungement Eligibility

• What types of cases are eligible for expungement?

  All cases where a person was found not guilty or the prosecutor dropped the charges (including arrests when the case was dropped at the first court appearance). Most ‘Class B’ and ‘Class C’ felonies and most non-traffic misdemeanor crimes (so, not DUII and Reckless Driving) are eligible. Beginning January 1, 2022, many ‘violations’ and ‘contempt of court’ convictions can be expunged.

• What types of cases can’t be expunged?

  Most forms of traffic crimes and violations, child or elder abuse convictions, sex crime convictions, and ‘Class A’ felonies.

• If a case can’t be expunged, can the charges be lessened?

  Yes. Many charges can be reduced in severity if a person has successfully completed probation.

• What if I was not found guilty?

  You are immediately eligible.

• How long do you have to wait before a case is eligible for expungement?

  Starting January 1, 2022:

  • There is no wait if you were found Not Guilty;
  • If you were arrested but the prosecutor did not formally approve a criminal prosecution the wait is 60 days;
  • If you were convicted of a ‘Class B’ misdemeanor, or a ‘Class C’ misdemeanor, or a ‘violation’, or a ‘contempt of court’, the wait is 1 year;
  • If you were convicted of a ‘Class A’ misdemeanor, the wait is 3 years;
  • If you were revoked from probation, the wait is 3 years;
  • If you were convicted of a ‘Class C’ felony, the wait is 5 years (here is a trick: if you successfully completed probation on a ‘Class C’ felony, we might be able to have the court reduce the crime from a felony to a ‘Class A’ misdemeanor, and then the waiting period is reduced to 3 years;
  • If you were convicted of a ‘Class B’ felony and that felony did not involve the use of a firearm and it was not classified as a ‘person crime’ (a long list of crimes like murder, Assault I, II, and III, Strangulation, Kidnapping, Sex Abuse, and more), the wait is 7 years.

Expungement Process

• How much does it cost to expunge my record?

  If you qualify and decide to hire us, our fee is $1,400 per case. That fee includes:

  • All expenses except fingerprinting, which can be done at police stations and other locations for $25-$35.
  • A more thorough review of your case
  • Preparation of an affidavit and any other relevant documents

  NOTE: If, after our thorough review, we discover that you actually don’t qualify for an expungement, we will refund you the total fee charged.

• What happens after I fill out the form?
  1. We perform a conflict check to ensure we don’t represent anyone who is opposed to you legally and to make sure that representing you wouldn’t be against the best interests of another client (i.e. a husband whose wife we’re already representing in a divorce).
  2. We perform a free preliminary review of your circumstances through your records with the State of Oregon if your conflict check is clear.
  3. We will call or email you with your results within 3 business days (Monday through Friday, excluding holidays).
• What if I qualify for an expungement?

  If you qualify and decide to hire us, our fee is $1,400 per case. That fee includes:

  • All expenses except fingerprinting, which can be done at police stations and other locations for $25-$35.
  • A more thorough review of your case
  • Preparation of an affidavit and any other relevant documents

  NOTE: If, after our thorough review, we discover that you actually don’t qualify for an expungement, we will refund you the total fee charged.

• What is the process for expunging my record?

  Once you fill out the form, one of our attorneys will look up all the court records in Oregon to determine if your case(s) qualify. We will then let you know what we determine. If you decide to hire us, we will want to talk some more in order to prepare an affidavit. If you are in the Hillsboro area, we would be happy to meet in our office; but, if you are too far for that to be practical, we can have that conversation by phone. We will then need to draft the affidavit and some supporting documents. You will need to sign the affidavit and that will need to be notarized. If you can come into the office, we can notarize it. If you can’t come into the office we can send the affidavit to you and you will need to get it notarized - many banks offer notarizing as a service for their customers for no or little cost. We will also need you to have your fingerprints taken (we have to submit them as part of your background check) – many sheriff stations and other police stations will do this for a small fee.

  Once we have your signed and notarized affidavit and your fingerprint card, we will then file a motion, proposed order, and your affidavit with the court and prosecutor’s office. Beginning January 1, 2022, the law will give the prosecutor up to 120 days to tell the court if they object or do not object to our motion. If they do not object, then we just need to get the judge to sign the order. If the prosecutor objects, then a court appearance will be scheduled.

• When would there be a conflict of interest and Ridehalgh would be unable to represent me?

  A basic way to understand an attorney’s ‘conflict of interest’ analysis is to understand that an attorney must always keep a client’s secrets and may never be in a position where we might be tempted to use those secrets against that client. Also, we must do anything we can to help our current clients. So, if an attorney has represented ‘John’ we cannot take a case where ‘John’ is a victim. In expungements, a victim of a crime has the right to object to an expungement.

About Ridehalgh

• Who is Ridehalgh & Associates?

  Ron Ridehalgh is the founder of Ridehalgh & Associates, LLC. During law school Ron worked as a law clerk for the then Lincoln City Municipal Prosecutor. After graduating from law school and becoming an attorney, Ron was hired by a Beaverton law firm that handled criminal defense and juvenile dependency (child abuse and neglect concerns) due to his experience with criminal law prosecutions as a law clerk. Two years later, Ron and Melanie Truitt started their own firm – Truitt & Ridehalgh. Ron and Melanie’s goal was to become one of the primary criminal defense firms in Washington County.

  The firm grew quickly. At the end of 2000, Melanie left Oregon to help run her family’s business in Florida. Ron then reformed the law firm into Ridehalgh & Associates, LLC. From the beginning through today, Ron’s primary purpose in this firm has been to represent and to protect people dealing with the complexity of the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Every attorney in Ridehalgh & Associates is at heart a trial attorney and is usually in court every day. Even after all these years, Ron still personally handles a full caseload primarily focused on defense in DUII and domestic violence matters – although he also still has a few children he continues to represent in the juvenile court.

  Ridehalgh & Associates, LLC is a firm where the attorneys are encouraged to be practical in advice and inventive in the courtroom.