Relief from a Criminal Conviction (2023 Edition)

G.S. 15A-149 allows expunction of a conviction for which a person has received a pardon of innocence (see Table 11). Reflecting that a person who is eligible for this type of expunction has been declared innocent of the charges, the statute imposes no other requirements—for example, no waiting period, no limit on prior expunctions, and no requirement of a conviction-free record. A person who receives a pardon of innocence also is entitled to have DNA records or samples destroyed under G.S. 15A-148, discussed supra in Expunctions of Dismissals and Similar Dispositions: DNA Records.

G.S. 15A-149 does not include expunctions of pardons of forgiveness, another type of pardon that may be issued by the Governor. See infra Other Procedures: Pardons. A pardon of forgiveness therefore may not authorize expunction of the records of conviction. But cf. State v. Bergman, 558 N.E.2d 1111 (Ct. App. Ind. 1990) (holding that pardon obliterates conviction and authorizes expunction of records with or without specific statute; court reviews decisions from other jurisdictions reaching differing results).

Table 11. After Pardon of Innocence