Is it possible to have a felony charge removed in AZ?

Answer 1

To request the expungement of an offense from your STATE (not Federal) criminal record: You must have either been acquited or served the complete term of your sentence - then submit a petition to the court setting forth good reason(s) why your request should be granted. A judge will review your petition and the circumstances of your case and issue a ruling either granting or denying the request. AN EXPUNGEMENT IS NOT A PARDON! Law enforcement, the courts, and government agencies will always have access to your actual 'true' record. Expungement only removes the record of your offense from being available to the public. FELONS CONVICTED IN STATE COURT OF STATE CRIMES: If your request for expungement is granted and you are a resident of a state which completely or partially restores your "rights" (you will have to do research to learn if this applies to your state), you will still remain subject to any restrictions that your state laws place on you (e.g.- voting rights - elective office - firearms/ammunition possession - etc). CAUTION: FEDERALLY CONVICTED FELONS: It remains a FEDERAL felony for a federally convicted felon to EVER own or possess a firearm. The U.S. Criminal Code, makes the penalty for illegal possession of a firearm a mandatory minimum of fifteen (15) years in prison in some cases (Title 18 U.S.C. sec 924(e)(1). At this time federally convicted felons have no solution to their firearm disqualification. By denying funding for the purpose, Congress has effectively suspended the review of federally convicted felons' petitions for restoration of their firearms privileges.

Answer 2

In AZ, in most cases, you cannot completely remove a felony from your records (make it as if it never existed). In most cases, even if you have the conviction set aside, a record of it will still exist and can be used to deny you certain kinds of employments, permits, etc. Your record will reflect that a conviction was set aside though, so it's not completely worthless to attempt.

It is difficult to have a felony set aside. Restrictions include criminal offenses involving serious infliction of bodily harm, use or exhibition of deadly weapon, sex offenders, crimes where the victim was a child, etc. These types of convictions cannot be set aside.

The relevant law under which a felony can be set aside is A.R.S. § 13-907.

ADDITIONAL: SEE THE BELOW WEBSITE (AZ expungement) for particulars and to see if you qualify for expungement.