Expungement and Record Sealingin Louisiana

Louisiana’s expungement provisions apply to many nonviolent offenses, and allows for multiple expungements. The waiting period is ten years after the completion of all conditions of the sentence, including parole or probation, which means that most individuals are only eligible after spending over a decade in the community. Expungements must be approved by judges, and state agencies have the opportunity to object to the expungement. The law could be improved by increasing the number of offenses eligible for expungement, decreasing the waiting period, decreasing costs, and allowing at least some expungements to be granted automatically if the individual has committed no further criminal offenses.