How to remove offenses from your criminal record

The criminal record certificate is the document listing a person’s convictions, and it is what employers ask for. Removing offenses from the criminal record is the process by which those references are erased from that certificate. There are two routes depending on the type of offense: automatic removal by the Police Bureau Commissioner for misdemeanors, and a petition before the Court of First Instance for felonies. The Legislative Assembly explained the reason for that difference when amending Act No. 254-1974: a balance must be struck between an employer’s interest in knowing a candidate’s history and the need for someone who served their sentence to find work and rejoin society, and that balance weighs differently for felonies than for misdemeanors that may stem from errors of youth or judgment.

The process applies to misdemeanors and to some felonies. It does not proceed for people appearing in the Registry of Persons Convicted of Violent Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse, the Persons Convicted of Corruption registry, or the Persons Convicted of Violations of the Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention Act registry; once the name no longer appears in those registries, it could be requested. Nor are those currently serving a sentence eligible, nor those with a conviction so long it makes clearing the record impossible — the court’s own example is a person convicted of first-degree murder with a 99-year sentence. This guide does not list which felonies qualify and which do not, because the page does not detail it.

• Misdemeanor, for automatic removal: that 30 days have passed since you served the sentence or resolution and that you committed no other offenses in that time.Verified against the official source
• Misdemeanor: also, not appearing in the Registry of Persons Convicted of Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse, the Corruption Offenses registry, or the Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention Act Violations registry. Both conditions must hold.Verified against the official source
• Felony: that five years have passed since you served the sentence, and filing the petition before the Court of First Instance.Verified against the official source
• Not currently serving a sentence when applying.Verified against the official source

• For a felony: the criminal record certificate and a certified copy of the judgment containing the conviction.
• A certification from the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation that the sentence was served, or a copy of the court judgment stating you complied with the penalty, the fine imposed, probation or the diversion programme.
• Sworn statements from two or more witnesses with knowledge of the offenses you were convicted of, attesting to your good reputation in the community.
• A certification that you submitted a DNA sample to the DNA Data Bank.
• To update the record at Justicia afterwards: a certified copy of the resolution or order signed by the judge, the original and a copy of valid photo identification, and the original and a copy of the Social Security card.

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   Step 1: First: check whether it is a misdemeanor

   If your conviction is for a misdemeanor, you may not have to do anything. The Police Bureau Commissioner automatically removes that conviction from the criminal record certificate when two things hold together: that 30 days have passed since you served the sentence without committing other offenses, and that you do not appear in any of the three registries. Before hiring anyone, request your criminal record certificate and see whether it is already gone.

2. 2

   Step 2: If you are in one of the three registries, wait

   Removal does not proceed while you appear in the Registry of Persons Convicted of Violent Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse, the Corruption registry, or the Domestic Violence Act Violations registry. The court itself states that once the name no longer appears in those registries, removal could be requested.

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   Step 3: Felony: count five years and build the file

   Five years must have passed since you served the sentence. The petition goes to the Court of First Instance with the criminal record certificate, a certified copy of the judgment, Correction’s certification that you complied, sworn statements from two or more witnesses who know the offenses and attest to your good reputation in the community, and the certification that you submitted a DNA sample to the DNA Data Bank. You can add any other document supporting the petition.

4. 4

   Step 4: Prepare your witnesses for a possible hearing

   The court can set a hearing for the Ministerio Público — a prosecutor from the Department of Justice — to appear and state the government’s position on removing the offense. At that hearing the witnesses whose sworn statements you filed could be called. Choose witnesses who can appear.

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   Step 5: Once granted, two errands remain

   This is the step almost everyone skips. The resolution granting removal cleans nothing by itself. First: file with the Department of Justice a petition to update and remove the criminal record, with a certified copy of the resolution signed by the judge, the original and a copy of valid photo ID, and the original and a copy of your Social Security card. Second: if the judicial determination was not notified to the OAT’s Directoría de Informática, file a copy with them so publicity is restricted in the Judiciary’s online lookup systems.

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   Step 6: If the order does not mention the restriction, move for it

   The judicial determination’s text must contain the specific cases whose publicity the court orders restricted from the online lookup systems. If the order lacks that instruction addressed to the OAT’s Directoría de Informática and there are cases whose publicity you believe should be restricted, you must file a motion in the Court of First Instance, in the case where the determination was issued, for that restriction to be ordered judicially.

For a misdemeanor, nowhere: removal is done automatically by the Police Bureau Commissioner. For a felony, at the Court of First Instance; afterwards, at the Criminal Record Office of the Criminal Justice Information System of the Department of Justice, and at the Directoría de Informática of the Courts Administration Office.

• Paying for a process that may be automatic: misdemeanors come off on their own if both conditions hold.
• Assuming a criminal record is permanent and never requesting the certificate to check.
• Counting the felony’s five years from the conviction rather than from when the sentence was served.
• Filing without sworn statements from two or more witnesses, or with witnesses who could not attend a hearing.
• Believing the judge’s order clears the record by itself: it still must be taken to the Department of Justice.
• Forgetting the publicity restriction in the Judiciary’s online systems, which is a separate errand.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  poderjudicial.pr

• Criminal cases — Judiciary

  Poder Judicial

  poderjudicial.pr