Expungement of records, expunction of records, sealing of records–whats the difference?
A. There is no difference between expungement of records and expunction of records. Those are just different terms for the same thing. Sealing refers to the situation where the court makes records unavailable to the public. Legally, the event in question still happened. But nobody (supposedly) can find out about it. Thus, all expunged records are sealed, but not all sealed records are expunged. While we’re on the subject, there is yet an additional process available under some circumstances. This process is called obtaining a “Certificate of Rehabilitation.” This Certificate of Rehabilitation, when available, removes statutory bars to obtaining a professional license. It may also convince prospective private employers (or landlords, or adoption agencies, etc.) to disregard the criminal record that otherwise would have caused refusal. This Certificate of Rehabilitation may occasionally be available where the applicant would otherwise not qualify for expungement. On most occasions, Expun
