Domestic Violence

questions & answers

Question: my wife and i were both charged with domestic violence and both got 3 years probation. We are currently getting divorced and are wondering if at the termination of our probation can we get this charge expunged from our records?

Answer: Arizona does not presently have an ‘expungement’ statute. However, there are laws that allow a person to set aside a conviction that may help Setting aside a conviction means to annul or negate a judgment through another court order.  When a conviction is set aside a records check will show the original charge and conviction, but it will also show that the judgment was vacated and an order of dismissal was entered.  The law does not require that the conviction be removed from one’s record, but it is required that the record show the conviction has been set aside. Additionally it releases a person "from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the conviction other than those imposed by the Department of Transportation pursuant to 28-3304, 28-3306, 28-3307 or 28-3308.” (See A.R.S. §§ 28-3304 – 3308). An application to have your conviction set aside may use the language “vacate judgment and dismiss charges.”  In this situation, “setting aside a conviction” means the same thing as “vacating judgment and dismissing the charges.”