What is the difference between sealing a case, expunging a defendant's name from a case, and vacating a conviction?
SEALING
Sealing a case is done based on a court order under the authority of GR 15 Destruction and Sealing of Court Records. Under this rule, a "motion or order to delete, purge, remove, excise, or erase shall be treated as a motion or order to seal." Any type of case can be sealed. Sealing a juvenile referral is done based on a court order under the authority of RCW 13.50.050.
The Seal Case (SLCS) screen is used to seal or unseal a JIS or SCOMIS case, juvenile referral, or detention episode. Sealed cases, referrals, and episodes continue to display on all history screens for the person and the name continues to be listed on all index screens, but the case or referral cannot be accessed. Superior courts, juvenile departments, and courts of limited jurisdiction may refer to the JIS Online Manual Sealed Case topic for detailed information.
EXPUNGING
Expunging the name of a defendant in a criminal or juvenile offender case is done based on a court order under the authority of GR 15 Destruction and Sealing of Court Records. Under this rule, a "motion or order to expunge shall be treated as a motion or order to destroy." The Expunge Party (EXP) screen is used in JIS to expunge the name in a closed case. When the party is expunged from a case in JIS, the case is no longer listed on history screens for the person because the expunge process changes the name code of the defendant in that one case. In JIS, the case still exists and can be accessed with a case number, but all system references to the person's name are removed. The person's name continues to be listed on index screens, but is no longer associated with that case. The Expunge Case command in SCOMIS is used to expunge a case from SCOMIS. Superior courts may refer to the JIS Online Manual Expunge Party (Superior Courts) and to the online SCOMIS Manual Expunge Case topic for detailed information. Courts of limited jurisdiction refer to the JIS Online Manual Expunge Party (CLJ) topic.
Important Note:
Expungement requires statutory authority. There is NO statutory authority for expunging defendants in criminal cases except for certain diversion cases. See the Expunge Party (Superior Courts) section of the JIS Online Manual for more information.
VACATING CONVICTION
When a case is processed to Vacate a Conviction, it remains displayable on the Defendant Case History (DCH) screen, but with a Judgment Code (Jg) of V.
For Superior Court:
The case remains searchable; such as using the SEARCH INDEX function, but the CHARGE screen shows a Charge Result Code of V, with the Def. Resolution Code of VOC.
Superior courts may refer to the Superior Court Statistic Reporting Manual, 5.G Criminal: Final Counts Resolved: Vacated Conviction and section 10 Criminal: Cases Resolved topics for information on recording a vacation of conviction in SCOMIS.
For further information on vacating a felony conviction, see RCW 9.94A.640 Vacation of Offender's Record of Conviction (formerly codified as 9.94A.230).
For Courts of Limited Jurisdiction:
The a vacated case remains searchable using such search commands as Case Name Case Index (CNCI) or State Name/Case Index (SNCI). However, on the Plea/Sentence (PLS) screen, the Finding & Judgment (Fnd/Jgmnt) code is changed to V.
Courts of limited jurisdiction may refer to the JIS Online Manual Vacation of Conviction topic.For further information on vacating a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor conviction, see RCW 9.96.060 Misdemeanor offenses -- Vacating Records.
See also GR 15 Destruction and Sealing of Court Records.
See also RCW 13.50.050.
FOR THE PUBLIC
See the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Public Web site (www.courts.wa.gov) section Resources, Publications, and Reports for an informational brochure that can be handed out to the public on these topics. The brochure, A Guide on Sealing and Destroying Court Records, Vacating Convictions, and Deleting Criminal History helps describe the different processes allowed by Washington State law.
For a fee, the Washington State Patrol WATCH Web site includes a link to search their criminal history database.
RN id: 453