KITSAP COUNTY DISTRICT COURT JAMES M. RIEHL, JUDGE DEPARTMENT NO. 1 JEFFREY J. JAHNS, JUDGE 614 Division Street, MS-25 Port Orchard, WA 98366 Phone (360) 337-7109 Fax 337-4865 MARILYN G. PAJA, JUDGE DEPARTMENT NO. 3 STEPHEN J. HOLMAN, JUDGE DEPARTMENT NO. 2 DEPARTMENT NO. 4 MAURICE H. BAKER COURT ADMINISTRATOR VACATION OF MISDEMEANOR AND GROSS MISDEMEANOR CONVICTIONS The Washington Legislature enacted a law that permits the vacation of some misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor convictions. Vacation of a conviction releases you from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense. Once a conviction is vacated, the fact that you have been convicted of the offense shall not be included in your criminal history for purposes of determining a sentence in any subsequent conviction. For all purposes, including responding to questions on employment or housing applications, a person whose conviction has been vacated may state that he or she has never been convicted of that crime. Vacation of a conviction, however, does not affect or prevent use of the conviction in a later criminal prosecution. Vacation of a conviction does not automatically restore your right to possess a firearm. The law does not automatically vacate your conviction. If you want to have a conviction vacated, you must file a motion with the court. The following information will assist you in deciding whether the new law applies to your situation and, if so, how to ask the court to vacate your conviction. If you meet the following criteria, a court may, in its discretion, vacate the conviction. • There are no criminal charges pending against you in any court of this state or another state, or in a federal court. • You have not been convicted of a new crime in this state, another state or federal court since the date you were sentenced on the crime you wish to have vacated. • You never had the record of another conviction vacated. • You are not currently restrained and have not been restrained within five years prior to the vacation application by a domestic violence protection order, a no contact order, an anti-harassment protection order or a civil restraining order that restrains one party form contacting the other party. • The conviction you are seeking to have vacated is not for one of the following crimes: Page 1 of 2 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com o o o o o o o • Driving while under the influence (“DUI”), RCW 46.61.502 Actual physical control while under the influence, RCW 46.61.504 Operating a railroad, etc. while intoxicated, RCW 9.91.020 A violation of RCW 9A.44 (sex offenses) A violation of RCW 9.68 (obscenity and pornography) A violation of RCW 9.68A (sexual exploitation of children) A violent offense or an attempt to commit a violent offense, as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 If the crime you are seeking to have vacated involved domestic violence, you must: o Provide the prosecuting attorney’s office that prosecuted you with timely notice of your motion and declaration for order vacating conviction and file the original notice with the court. o You must not have been convicted of any other domestic violence offense arising out of any other incident. If the current application is for more than one conviction that arose out of a single incident, none of those convictions counts as a previous conviction. o Five years have elapsed since you completed the terms of the original conditions of the sentence, including any financial obligations and successful completion of any treatment ordered as a condition of sentencing. • If the victim of the crime you are seeking to have vacated did not involve domestic violence, three years must have elapsed since you completed the terms of the original conditions of the sentence, including any financial obligations. If you can satisfy each of the above requirements with respect to the conviction you are asking the court to vacate, your next step is to complete the form CrRLJ 09.0100, Motion and Declaration for Order Vacating Conviction. This form will allow the court to determine whether you are eligible to have your conviction vacated. You may want to review the court file or the court docket for the offense you are asking the court to vacate to obtain information you need to fill out the form. Once you have completed and signed the motion and declaration form, make at least two copies. The next step is to schedule a hearing for the motion for order vacating conviction. To schedule a hearing, contact the court scheduler at 360-337-7013 and ask for the date and time for the hearing. Then complete the notice of hearing form. Make at least two copies of the notice. File the original motion and declaration for order vacating conviction and notice. On the same day that you file those documents with the court, you must serve a copy of the documents on the Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s office. Keep a copy of the Motion and Declaration for Order Vacating Conviction and the Notice of Hearing for your information. The Judge will hear your motion for order vacating conviction on the day scheduled for the hearing. If the motion is granted, the Judge will complete an order vacating your conviction. The Clerk of the court will send a copy of the order to the Washington State Patrol and to the local law enforcement agency, if any, which holds criminal history information about you. Page 2 of 2 Rev. 6/19/09 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com