Relief from a Criminal Conviction (2023 Edition)

Yes. G.S. 15A-145.5 allows an expunction of a felony conviction whether or not the person received a prior expunction of a dismissal under G.S. 15A-146. Likewise, G.S. 15A-146 allows an expunction of a dismissal whether or not the person has a prior misdemeanor or felony conviction or has received a prior expunction of a conviction, including an expunction of a felony conviction. Therefore, a person can obtain an expunction of both a felony conviction and dismissal.

Before legislative changes enacted in 2020, a felony conviction barred an expunction under G.S. 15A-146. As a result, a person may have needed to petition for expunction of the felony conviction first and, once granted, petition for expunction of the dismissal. Such an approach was inefficient, particularly if the conviction and dismissal occurred as part of the same case. The clerk of court would have to remove the felony conviction from the court records and reconstruct the record with the dismissed charges, only to delete the dismissal later when the petition to expunge the dismissal was filed and granted.

Now that a felony conviction does not bar expunction of a dismissal under G.S. 15A-146, a person should be able to file for relief under both statutes at the same time. When a person is convicted of a lesser felony of the felony charged and is eligible to expunge the conviction under G.S. 15A-145.5, the person may be able to petition to expunge both the greater charge and the conviction of the lesser charge under G.S. 15A-145.5 without filing a separate petition under G.S. 15A-146 to expunge the greater charge. Support for this approach is provided by G.S. 15A-150(b), which requires that an agency receiving an expunction order “shall purge from its records all entries made as a result of the charge or conviction ordered to be expunged” (emphasis added). Support is also provided by the court’s decision in State v. Lebedev, ___ N.C. App. ___, 895 S.E.2d 455 (2023), which held that conviction of a lesser charge does not authorize expunction of the greater charge under G.S. 15A-146 if the greater charge is not expressly dismissed. Under this reasoning, expunction of a conviction of a lesser charge appears to authorize expunction of a greater charge that was not expressly dismissed because it accompanies the conviction and remains part of the case.