Crimes of Violence Convictions Become Eligible For Sealing Effective January 1, 2015

Effective Januar 1, 2015 new Illinois legislature permits crimes of violence to be sealed. Prior to the new law, no crimes of violence could be sealed unless the sentence involved supervision and the petitioner had no conviction on his/her record. Because a disposition involving probation or “time considered served” is considered a conviction, even low level misdemeanor offenders with convictions of assault or battery often found themselves with a permanent records, which could not be expunged nor sealed. Public Act 098-1009 lifts the restriction on sealing “crimes of violence” making these records eligible effective January 1, 2015.