Washington law provides individuals who have certain types of criminal convictions on their record the opportunity to have the convictions dismissed and removed from their official criminal history. This is called “vacation,” and applies to certain felonies, misdemeanors, and gross misdemeanors.

An illogical quirk in this law has been that while it is conceivable an individual could vacate several felony convictions, an individual is limited to vacating only one misdemeanor/gross misdemeanor conviction.

The Legislature previously considered changing this unfair limitation, in the spring of 2013. House Bill No. 1087 (HB 1087) would expressly allow individuals to vacate more than one misdemeanor/gross misdemeanor conviction if they meet certain statutory conditions. While these provisions of the bill did not pass, our office will be watching developments in sealing and vacate law closely and will present updated blog entries to report on the progress of this important legislation. If you have any questions about this issue please feel free to contact our office.