Louisiana arrests and incarcerates more people per capita than any other place in the world; 680 of every 100,000 residents are currently incarcerated.1  The incarceration rate has been lowered recently, in part due to 2017 legislative reforms known as “Justice Reinvestment.” These reforms updated sentencing calculations to allow more individuals to return to their communities. The strength of Louisiana’s economy and workforce relies, in part, on the ability of all its residents to obtain gainful employment, start new businesses, seek higher education, and pursue professional licensure. However, a criminal record often presents an obstacle to achieving those goals.

Although the record of a conviction may be the most obvious target of expungement, even a mere arrest creates a criminal record, regardless of whether criminal charges are ever filed. Both arrest and conviction records are publicly available and widely used to deny employment, housing, education, and other services to individuals and their families.  In addition to employment and housing denials based on criminal records, individuals may also face licensing denials across a plethora of occupations, restricted voting rights for a period of time, increased insurance rates, denial of federal or private loans for education or disaster assistance, and restrictions on family and parental rights. The risk of exposure to these collateral consequences has increased with the expansion of internet-based search sites and the wider availability of programs that scrub data from law enforcement, clerk, and court websites.

• 1Prison Population by State 2022, World Population Rev.

Expungement work is critical for pro bono attorneys because Louisiana also has the most expensive filing costs in the country; each eligible conviction, as well as some arrests, costs between $550 and $600 to expunge. Because determining eligibility for expungement is often the most challenging aspect of the process and because an individual must pay the filing fees even if the court ultimately denies the expungement, an attorney can provide valuable assistance on a limited basis simply by screening an individual for eligibility and providing the necessary information and advice for the person to complete the process pro se. Assistance is critical because it is estimated that currently less than 6.5% of expungement-eligible individuals complete the process.1  

• 1J.J. Prescott & Sonja B. Starr, Expungement of Criminal Convictions: An Empirical Study, 133 Harv. L. Rev. 2460, 2489 (2020).

Expungement laws were significantly updated and expanded in 2014 to make a greater number of misdemeanor and felony convictions eligible for expungement. Since 2014 there have been almost annual changes in the law for eligibility, processes, forms, and costs. Therefore, this chapter provides only the general criteria for eligibility. For the most up-to-date information, practitioners should refer directly to the applicable Code of Criminal Procedure articles and/or attend relevant CLEs available annually from the Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana on this topic.1  

• 1See Justice & Accountability Ctr. of La./

This chapter is limited to expungement. If an individual is not eligible for an expungement, there may nevertheless be other avenues of relief available such as resentencing under La. C.Cr.P. art. 930.10, reconsideration of a sentence under La. C.Cr.P. art. 881.1, or an executive or “gold seal” pardon from the governor.