Expunction Changes and Updated Expunction Guide for 2026

The 2025 legislative session was relatively quiet for expunction law but still potentially important for some people. I have incorporated the changes in the law into the latest version of my Guide to Relief from a Criminal Conviction (Relief Guide), a free resource available from the School of Government here. The discussion below of the 2025 legislative changes is brief, while the Guide is intended to serve as a comprehensive resource on expunctions and other mechanisms for obtaining relief from a criminal conviction in North Carolina. Waiting period to expunge conviction of nonviolent offense. In 2025, the General Assembly made two material changes, the first in Section 12 of S.L. 2025-71 (S 311). Effective for petitions filed on or after July 9, 2025, the legislation modified G.S. 15A-145.5 to decrease the waiting period from five years to three years for expunction of one nonviolent misdemeanor conviction. Other than this change, the legislation did not alter the waiting-period language, which states that the petition may not be filed earlier than “three years after the date of the conviction or when any active sentence, period of probation, and post-release supervision has been served, whichever occurs later.” G.S. 15A-15A-145.5(c)(1). This phrasing is subject to two different interpretations. One interpretation is that the petitioner must wait the later of (i) three years after the date of conviction or (ii) when the person completes any active sentence, period of probation, or post-release supervision. Misdemeanor defendants usually complete any active, probationary, or post-release sentence within three years [...]