Sealing Your Record
ORC 2953.32 — what can come off, and when
Sealing and expungement are two different remedies and Ohio treats them differently. Sealing restricts public access while the record continues to exist in law enforcement systems. Expungement is destruction. Senate Bill 288 made expungement a distinct remedy for adult conviction records rather than a word people used loosely for sealing.
- Misdemeanor convictions generally reach eligibility a year after final discharge.
- Felonies wait longer, and the period scales with the degree.
- First and second degree felonies are generally not eligible at all.
- Offences of violence, most sexual offences, and offences against a child under thirteen are generally excluded.
- Traffic offences including OVI are generally not eligible, which surprises people more than anything else on this list.
A case that ended without a conviction is a different and easier path than a conviction. Dismissals, acquittals, and cases that went through intervention in lieu of conviction and were completed are handled on their own terms rather than under the conviction waiting periods.
Eligibility here turns on the exact offence, its degree, and the whole record rather than on any single rule, and this area was substantially rewritten by Senate Bill 288. A lawyer reading your actual record is worth more than any chart, this one included.
Sources for this section (3)
- ORC 2953.32 — Sealing or expungement of a conviction, eligibility and waiting periods
- ORC 2953.31 — Sealing and expungement, definitions
- ORC 2951.041 — Intervention in lieu of conviction
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.