How Do You Ask a Brooklyn Post-Conviction Lawyer to Seal a Criminal Record?
New York seals criminal records and never erases them. A Brooklyn post-conviction lawyer checks whether the Clean Slate Act already sealed your conviction, whether you should petition under CPL 160.59, or whether a CPL 440 motion fits your situation better. Sealing is not automatic paperwork in every case, and a judge decides most petitions.
Paul D. Petrus, Jr. & Associates is a criminal defense firm based in Manhattan that represents people across all five boroughs. Petrus Law handles trial work and post-conviction work in both state and federal court. Paul D. Petrus, Jr. is a Lifetime Member of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a member of the New York Criminal Bar Association. The firm also provides Spanish-language representation.
If you want to know whether your Brooklyn conviction can be sealed, call Petrus Law at (646) 733-4711 for a free consultation. The firm offers affordable fees and payment plans, and someone is available 24/7.
New York Seals Criminal Records and Does Not Expunge Them
Start with the correction that saves the most wasted time. New York has no expungement statute for a criminal conviction. A conviction here is sealed, which limits who can see it. The record itself keeps existing. The Brooklyn post-conviction defense team at Petrus Law works with the tools New York actually gives you.
Many websites still use the word expungement for New York State convictions. That word belongs to other states. Sealing hides a record from most employers and most landlords. It does not destroy fingerprints or court files.
Getting this right matters before you spend money. A petition asking a Kings County judge to expunge a conviction goes nowhere. The correct request is sealing under the Clean Slate Act or CPL 160.59.
How the Clean Slate Act Seals Convictions Automatically in Brooklyn
Governor Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act on November 16, 2023, and it took effect on November 16, 2024. The law seals eligible New York convictions without any application. You do not file papers, pay a fee, or ask a judge.
The state court system received up to three years from that effective date to clear the backlog, which sets a deadline of November 16, 2027. As of August 31, 2026, the courts have not published a running public count of sealed convictions, and eligible records are still moving in batches. The official court page on record sealing tracks the rollout.
The Waiting Periods and What Each One Is Measured From
The clock does not start on the arrest date, and it does not start on the plea date. Clean Slate measures from release from incarceration, or from the imposition of sentence when there was no incarceration. Two different periods apply, and the classification of the conviction decides which one you use. Read the sentence date off your certificate of disposition rather than from memory.
Three Years for a Misdemeanor Conviction
A misdemeanor conviction becomes eligible three years after release from incarceration. If the sentence carried no jail time, the three years run from sentencing. A conditional discharge, a fine, or straight probation all point to the sentencing date. Most Brooklyn misdemeanor cases sit in that second group.
Eight Years for a Felony Conviction
A felony conviction becomes eligible eight years after the last release from incarceration on that sentence. Where the court imposed no incarceration, the eight years run from sentencing. Time on parole does not shorten the wait. Someone released in 2019 who finished parole in 2022 becomes eligible in 2027.
The Conditions That Delay Automatic Sealing
Two conditions stop Clean Slate from reaching a record. The first is active supervision by a probation or parole department for the conviction that would be sealed. The second is any criminal charge pending anywhere in New York. An open case in Queens keeps a Brooklyn conviction unsealed, and the two courthouses will not sort that out for you. Clear the open matter first.
Convictions the Clean Slate Act Never Reaches
Sex offenses and sexually violent offenses defined by Correction Law section 168-a stay on the record permanently. So does any offense requiring registration under SORA. Class A felonies stay unsealed too, with an exception for Article 220 drug felonies. That exception means a serious Brooklyn drug conviction can still qualify, which surprises people who read only the headline version of the law.
Where Brooklyn Sealing Papers Get Filed and Who Helps for Free
Sealing is a Kings County process, not a statewide mailbox. The papers go to the court that convicted you, and Brooklyn splits criminal work between two buildings. A misdemeanor file and a felony file do not sit in the same clerk’s office. Knowing which building holds your case saves weeks.
Free help exists here, and it is better than most people expect. Two of the three options below cost nothing and do not require a private attorney. The third is run by the Brooklyn District Attorney, which is unusual among New York counties.
Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, on Jay Street
Felony convictions in Brooklyn come out of the Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, at 320 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. That courthouse sits at the corner of Jay Street and Johnson Street. A sealing petition on a felony conviction gets filed there. It returns to the judge who imposed the sentence whenever that judge is still on the bench.
Kings County Criminal Court on Schermerhorn Street
Misdemeanors, violations, and arraignments run through the Kings County Criminal Court at 120 Schermerhorn Street. If your conviction was a misdemeanor that never moved to a felony part, your file lives in that building. The Legal Aid Society keeps its Kings County criminal office at the same address in Room 10B. Walking your paperwork in is often faster than mailing it.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Sealing Unit
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office runs a Sealing Unit and publishes it at brooklynda.org/sealing. The unit hands out a plain-language CPL 160.59 application with written instructions, so a person can file without hiring anyone. Staff also take mail-in applications from people who moved out of state. The unit works from the District Attorney’s Action Center at 350 Jay Street and answers at 718-250-2340.
The CPL 160.59 Petition Still Matters After Clean Slate
Clean Slate did not repeal CPL 160.59, and the petition still has a job to do. Automatic sealing may not reach your record until 2027, and it may never reach it at all. A petition puts the question in front of a judge on your schedule.
Section 160.59 has been on the books since October 2017. It is discretionary, which means a judge can say no even when you qualify. That is the honest difference between the two paths. The full text of CPL 160.59 sets out every requirement below.
Who Qualifies to File a Sealing Petition Under CPL 160.59
Three gates control eligibility, and a fourth list rules some offenses out entirely. The statute caps the total number of convictions, caps how many may be felonies, and sets a waiting period. Miss any one of them and the application fails on its face. Petrus Law reviews a rap sheet against all four during the free consultation. Check every gate before you order certificates.
Two Convictions Total and Only One Felony
The statute reaches up to two eligible offenses, and no more than one may be a felony. Two felonies disqualify you outright. Two misdemeanors are fine. Violations handled under CPL 160.55 do not count toward the total, which sometimes leaves more room than a rap sheet suggests.
Ten Years From Sentencing or Release
At least ten years must pass before a judge can seal under this section. The period runs from the imposition of sentence, or from release when the sentence included jail time. Time incarcerated does not count toward the ten years. That is a longer wait than Clean Slate requires.
Offenses the Statute Rules Out
Sex offenses under Penal Law Article 130 cannot be sealed under this section. Neither can an offense requiring sex offender registration, a violent felony, a Class A felony, or a homicide offense. Attempts and conspiracies tied to those crimes are excluded too. The Brooklyn Sealing Unit also flags older weapon possession convictions.
How the Petition Moves Through the Court
The application goes to the court where the most serious conviction was entered. When both convictions carry the same classification, it goes to the court of the most recent one. The sentencing judge decides whenever that judge is available. The District Attorney gets notice and can oppose, and the court may hold a hearing before ruling. A denial is not permanent, because a later application can be filed.
Assembling the Application Papers
The paperwork is short but unforgiving. You need a sworn application, a certificate of disposition for every conviction you want sealed, and a statement of the reasons the court should grant relief. Missing certificates are the most common reason a Kings County application stalls. Order them first.
Ordering a Certificate of Disposition
A certificate of disposition is the official court printout showing the charge, the plea, and the sentence. The clerk in the courthouse that handled your case issues it, and the fee is $10 per conviction. Check the sentence date on it, because that date sets the ten-year clock.
Writing the Statement of Reasons the Judge Reads
The statute leaves the decision to the judge, so this part carries real weight. Say what you have done since the conviction and what the record is blocking now. A denied apartment, a licensing hold, or a withdrawn job offer are facts a judge can weigh.
What Happens When the District Attorney Objects
The Kings County District Attorney receives a copy of the application and may oppose it. An objection does not end the case, and it usually leads to a hearing where both sides are heard. Bring the person who can speak to what changed, such as an employer or a counselor.
Sealing After a Case Ends Without a Criminal Conviction
Two other sealing statutes cover outcomes that are not convictions, and readers mix them up with Clean Slate constantly. Neither one requires a ten-year wait. Both operate at the end of the case rather than years later.
When a Brooklyn case ends in a dismissal, an acquittal, or an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, CPL 160.50 seals it by operation of law. Fingerprints, palmprints, and photographs are returned or destroyed, and the court file is sealed.
CPL 160.55 covers a conviction for a violation or a traffic infraction, which is not a criminal conviction in New York. It seals the arrest and prosecution records. The conviction itself stays on the court docket, and that matters when a background check pulls court data rather than state data.
What a Sealed Record Still Shows and to Whom
This is the part most articles skip, and it decides whether sealing solves your problem. Sealing is not invisibility. It removes the record from ordinary public background checks, which is what most employers and landlords run. A commercial screening company buying state repository data will not see a sealed conviction.
The carve-outs are written into the statutes themselves. They are narrow, but they are real. One of them may be the exact door you are trying to walk through, so read them before you count on sealing. The list below covers the ones that matter most.
Who Keeps Access to a Sealed Conviction
Police agencies, prosecutors, defense counsel, judges, and court staff keep access in a pending case. Firearm licensing agencies see sealed records when you apply for a gun license, and so do state and federal background check systems. Employers hiring police officers and peace officers see them during the application process. The state education department can reach them in an educator misconduct investigation.
Jobs That Require Fingerprinting Are Different
Some positions run a fingerprint-based check through a state agency rather than a commercial database. Work with children, work in schools, armed security work, and certain licensed trades fall into this group. Those checks can surface a sealed conviction because the statute allows it. Ask the employer which kind of check it runs. The criminal defense team at Petrus Law can help you figure out which category applies.
Sealing Does Not Help a Noncitizen
A sealed New York conviction is still a conviction under federal immigration law. The Board of Immigration Appeals settled this in Matter of Pickering, 23 I&N Dec. 621 (BIA 2003). A state court order clearing a conviction counts only when it rests on a legal defect in the case. An order granted for rehabilitation or hardship does not remove the conviction. A noncitizen facing removal needs a motion attacking the conviction itself.
When Vacating a Conviction Beats Sealing It
People searching for a way to clear a record often need something stronger than sealing. If the conviction itself was wrong, New York gives you two separate motions, and they do very different jobs. Confusing the two costs a year.
Both are filed in the court that entered the judgment, which in Brooklyn means one of the two courthouses named above. A direct appeal follows a different path and goes to the Appellate Division, Second Department. Petrus Law handles this work through its post-conviction relief practice and through direct criminal appeals.
CPL 440.10 Vacates the Judgment of Conviction
A CPL 440.10 motion attacks the conviction. Grounds include a constitutional violation, evidence the prosecution knew was false, newly discovered evidence, DNA results, and ineffective assistance that never appears in the trial record. There is no fixed deadline, although newly discovered evidence must be raised with due diligence. If the motion succeeds, the judgment is vacated and the case can be dismissed or tried again.
CPL 440.20 Sets Aside the Sentence
A CPL 440.20 motion attacks the sentence and leaves the conviction standing. The ground is narrow, which is that the sentence was unauthorized, illegally imposed, or otherwise invalid as a matter of law. It can be filed at any time after judgment. A win means resentencing rather than a clean record, so it rarely fixes a background check problem. It is the wrong tool when your goal is sealing.
When to Call a Brooklyn Post Conviction Lawyer About Your Record
Some of this you can do alone. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Sealing Unit exists so a straightforward CPL 160.59 application does not require a private attorney, and Legal Aid handles sealing at no cost for people who qualify. Use those resources when your eligibility is obvious.
Call a Brooklyn post conviction lawyer when the answer is not obvious. That covers a record with convictions in more than one county, a conviction the automatic system should have sealed and did not, an immigration case, and any application the District Attorney opposes.
Petrus Law takes cases across Brooklyn and the other four boroughs in state and federal court. Paul D. Petrus, Jr. served on New York City’s Mayoral Advisory Committee for the Appointment and Reappointment of Judges. He also worked as a probation officer for adult felons.
Questions and Answers About Sealing a Criminal Record in Brooklyn
These are the questions people bring to a first consultation about a Brooklyn record. The answers below assume a New York State conviction, because federal convictions follow a different set of rules. If your case was prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York, nothing here applies to it.
Every answer turns on the exact charge and the exact sentence date printed on your certificate of disposition. Treat these as a starting point and check the details against your own paperwork. A single wrong date changes the answer. Bring that certificate to the consultation.
How Long Does Sealing Take in Kings County?
A CPL 160.59 petition handled through the Brooklyn Sealing Unit generally runs about eight to twelve weeks. A contested petition takes longer because the court schedules a hearing. Automatic Clean Slate sealing has no timeline you can request, and the courts have until November 16, 2027, to finish the backlog.
Does Sealing Cost Money?
There is no filing fee for a CPL 160.59 application in New York. You will pay $10 for each certificate of disposition you attach to it. Clean Slate sealing costs nothing at all, because no application is ever filed.
Will a Sealed Conviction Show Up on a Job Background Check?
Not on an ordinary commercial background check, which is what most private employers run. It can appear on a fingerprint-based check for police work, school work, or armed security. Ask what kind of check the employer uses before you rely on sealing.
Can I Seal a Conviction From Another State in New York?
No. New York courts seal New York convictions, and the Clean Slate Act reaches only records held in the New York State repository. A conviction from New Jersey has to be handled under that state’s own law. A Kings County judge has no authority over it.
Talk With a Brooklyn Post Conviction Lawyer Before You Wait Another Year
A criminal record you cannot explain away costs you money every month it stays visible. A Brooklyn post conviction lawyer at Petrus Law will read your rap sheet, tell you which statute applies, and say plainly whether sealing solves your problem. That review is free.
Paul D. Petrus, Jr. & Associates practices in state and federal court across the five boroughs from an office at 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2450, in Manhattan. Petrus Law offers affordable fees and payment plans, Spanish-language representation, and someone available 24/7.
Call (646) 733-4711 for a free consultation, or reach the firm through the contact page. Bring your certificate of disposition if you have one, and bring your sentence date if you do not.