Criminal Record Expungement Lawyer In Nashville, TN

If you are ready to move past your mistakes, our Andrew C. Beasley PLLC team is here to help. Criminal record sealing is a legal process that can remove all or part of your criminal history from public access. It offers individuals a second chance to start fresh and rebuild their lives. Our criminal defense attorneys protect our client's rights and privacy by keeping their records confidential.

Having an arrest record in Nashville, TN, or anywhere else can significantly impact your life, including employment and housing opportunities. Our team understands the serious implications of a criminal record, and we will do everything possible to help you have a clean slate moving forward.

At Andrew C. Beasley, PLLC, we will carefully examine your criminal record to determine whether you are eligible for expungement or sealing. Sealing your record does not mean it disappears from existence. Instead, it restricts public access to your criminal record, allowing you to deny or not acknowledge any arrests or convictions when applying for jobs, housing, or education.

Our legal team has experience handling criminal records in Nashville, TN, and throughout Tennessee. If you need a criminal record seal or expungement, we can help you easily navigate the process. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist you in clearing your arrest record in Nashville, TN, or any other part of Tennessee.

Seal Your Arrest Records in Nashville, TN.

Public access to criminal history records is available in Tennessee, so anyone with access to the internet can retrieve public data, including your criminal history information. Criminal history is defined as any record that is created when a subject is arrested and fingerprinted. It contains the disposition of the charge, including whether it's a conviction, acquittal, dismissal of charges before trial, or any other disposition.

To avoid the potential harm that a criminal record can bring to your career, educational, and housing opportunities, you should hire an attorney with experience in expungement law to assist you with sealing your criminal record.
You must disclose your prior criminal record in the following situations:

When seeking employment with a criminal justice agency
When involved in a criminal prosecution
In subsequent requests for sealing or expungement
When applying to law school or practicing law
When seeking employment with certain state governmental agencies

Criminal Record Expungement FAQs:

What Are Tennessee Expunction Laws?

When an individual has had a criminal record sealed, they may request that their record be expunged. When a court orders expungement, it is erased from public records. In addition, if an individual has been charged with a crime and later found not guilty or the complaint was dismissed or dropped, the case may be eligible for expungement. If an individual obtains an order of protection following a hearing and the court denies their petition, or if a grand jury returns a “no true bill” in their case, after which they are not prosecuted for the crime for which they were arrested or charged, their record may also be eligible for expungement.

In 2012, Tennessee passed a law to allow many nonviolent criminal convictions to be expunged. As of 2017, specific individuals can expunge up to two criminal convictions—either two eligible misdemeanor convictions or one eligible misdemeanor conviction and one eligible felony—after five years have elapsed since the person completed the sentence imposed for the offense.

What Misdemeanors Are Not Eligible For Expungement in Tennessee?

The following is a list, including but not limited to, of misdemeanors not eligible for expunction:

Aggravated assault of a public employee
Aggravated criminal trespass of a habitation, hospital, or campus of any public or private school, or railroad property
Allowing a person aged 18-21 to consume alcohol on your premises
Assault
Child abuse (where a child is between ages 7-17)
Child neglect and endangerment (where the child is between ages 7-13)
Coercion of abortion
Disorderly conduct at funerals
Display for sale or rental of material harmful to minors
Disseminating smoking paraphernalia to a minor after 3 prior violations
Domestic assault
Driving under the influence of an intoxicant (DUI)
Enticing a child to purchase intoxicating liquor
Purchasing alcoholic beverages for a child
Failure of an adult to report a juvenile carrying a gun in school
Failure to surrender handgun carry permit upon suspension
Fraudulent use of a credit/debit card (up to $500)
Harboring or hiding a runaway child
Importing, preparing, distributing, processing, or appearing in obscene material or Class A misdemeanors
Misuse of official information by a public servant
Nonparent providing a handgun to a juvenile
Possession of a firearm after being convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
Possession of a firearm while prohibited by state or federal law
Possession of a firearm while an order of protection is in effect
Control of or consumption of alcoholic beverages on K-12 school premises
Control of the hallucinogenic plant Salvia Divinorum or other synthetic cannabinoids
Public indecency
Reckless burning
Sale or loan to minors of harmful materials
Sale or possession of synthetic derivatives or analogs of methcathinone
Soliciting a minor to engage in a Class E sexual offense
Stalking
Third or subsequent violation of “The Child Rape Protection Act of 2006”
Unlawful dispensing of immediate methamphetamine precursor, sale of meth precursor to a person on the methamphetamine registry or purchase by someone on registry, possessing meth precursor with intent to sell to another for unlawful use, purchasing meth precursor for another for illegal use, buying meth precursor at different times and places to circumvent limits, and use false ID to buy meth precursor to avoid limits
Unlawful exhibition of obscene material
Unlawful massage or exposure of erogenous areas
Unlawful sexual contact by an authority figure
Using substances or devices to falsify drug test results & selling synthetic urine
Violation of community supervision by a sex offender that does not constitute an offense or a misdemeanor.
Violation of protective or restraining order
Violent felon owning or possessing a vicious dog

What Are Felonies Eligible For Expungement?

The following is a list of eligible felonies, if the prison sentence was three years or less:

Accessory after the fact
Aggravated criminal littering
Burglary of a motor vehicle
Communication theft (fine only)
Counterfeit controlled substance
Criminal simulation
Custodial interference where the defendant does not voluntarily return a person
Destruction of valuable papers
Destruction or concealment of a will
Evading arrest in a motor vehicle that posed no risk to bystanders
Failure to appear (felony)
Forgery
Fraud in insolvency
Fraudulent or false insurance claim
Fraudulent qualification for set-aside programs
Fraudulent transfer of a motor vehicle with a value of less than $20,000
Fraudulent use of a credit or debit card
Gifts of adulterated candy or food
Hindering secured creditors
Home improvement fraud
Impersonation of a licensed professional
Knowing dissemination of illegally recorded cellular communication
Manufacture, delivery, sale, or possession of not less than ½ ounce and not more than 10 pounds of Schedule VI drug marijuana (fine not greater than $1,000)
Manufacture, delivery, sale, or possession of Schedule V drug (fine, not greater than $5,000)
Manufacture, delivery, sale, or possession of Schedule VII drug (fine not greater than $1,000)
Sale of recorded live performances without consent
Selling glue for an unlawful purpose
Simple possession or casual exchange (third offense)
Taking telecommunication devices into a penal institution
Theft
Theft of trade secrets
Unauthorized solicitation for police, judicial, or safety associations
Unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities
Unsolicited bulk electronic mail
A utility service interruption or property damage
Vandalism
Violation of Tennessee Personal And Commercial Computer Act
Worthless checks