After submitting the last post I thought of expungement. The charges I had were (are) in Maryland. Well as it turns out one action is not enough by any means. One has to have state, court and police records cleaned seperately. Then there are the other independent agencies that already have your records. Then there is the FEDS. The FBI will NEVER totally erase your records. Money talks in every arena. So if someone has enough money and knows who to call, you can just about forget. I am not saying it's impossible; but it will be very expensive to clean records everywhere.
Of course that's just MY opinion. :x

Just as Stevebooth stated, I also have direct knowledge that you can have your record sealed, if you've behaved like a law abiding citizen for the past 20 years or so.

You say it is possible to have records sealed. Well that may be true. However since there are several entities that may already have this information; I can't believe all the 'cracks' will be filled. Hope you are right.

The Feds can always get access but they still need authorization to unlock the files. Only a judge can allow them to be seen. For the purposes of driving a truck or even working in a day care, nobody will ever find out.

I would suggest getting a short above the ear haircut, no beard, no mustache , jacket and tie. Hands clasped in front of you all the time and yes your honor and no your honor. This all shows great respect for the judge. I don't see any reason why the judge won't seal your record in less than 5 minutes.

There's always a scumbag at the place you apply to who knows a cop, and he'll have the cop look all the new guys up in the national database, and yes, he (or she) will tell everyone whatever they find, sealed or not. Every company with more than a few employees has a scumbag dedicated to finding out whatever dirt there is on any newcomers.

Not saying you will be fired if they uncover "sealed" information, since the HR guy knows it is sealed, and he's not supposed to know it, and might not confront you with the "sealed" info, but the scumbag will make sure everyone knows your past.

Depending on your state, you may be able to get your convictions expunged. Commonly referred to as "set aside", expungment clears the crime from your CCH (Combined Criminal History) for the state that you were convicted in. If you've ever been arrested (in any state) for anything higher than a Violation (i.e. Misdemeanor or Felony), it will be on your CCH. If you were not convicted it will only show up as an arrest, not a conviction. The arrests with no conviction cannot legally be used against you in any way.

Once it is cleared off your CCH, no private company, local, county or state law enforcement agency can find it on an initial records check. It will still be in the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) computers, but that never goes away. It gets sent to the NCIC center for crime statistics reporting and then becomes property of the federal gov't. The good thing is it can take up to a year or more for the federal NCIC results to come back, and the only people that can request that info are criminal justice agencies.

Some of the problems that might come up depend on the degree of felony you were convicted of. Take my state (Oregon) for example. There are 3 kinds of felonies in Oregon, class A, class B, and class C (A is the worst). In Oregon, you can only get a class C felony expunged, due to the fact that a Class C felony can be punished alternatively as a Class A misdemeanor. Class A and Class B are permanent no matter what. I'm not sure what state you were convicted in, but I suggest checking on the laws pertaining to expungment in your respective courts. You will probably be able to get the help you need by contacting your closest state court's office. If you want to pay for the assistance, there's a few place on the net to find help, for example www.clearmyrecord.com . I'd just contact your court though, much cheaper and usually quicker. They will at least be able to tell you if you qualify for record expungment or not.

One more thing. If you do get your state record expunged, check with the local agency and county that you were arrested by. They will possibly have the records still in existance on their own system or in hard files. They should be notified by the state court, but I'd check anyway. Once you get notice that your conviction has been expunged, request a copy of your CCH (combined criminal history), which is usually available through the state police for a fee. You should be able to see if it's been cleared or not.

This process is usually slow, but it's the norm in most states. It won't go away overnight, but you will have the peace of mind provided by knowing that it is gone from your criminal history.

And before someone chimes in with some sarcastic comment about how the information I've given is not right I'll let you know that I work in law-enforcement. I have been a dispatcher working extensively with the LEDS and NCIC databases, and am now a deputy sheriff. I deal with CCH's (almost daily) and answer expungment questions quite a bit.

I hope the information helps you and anyone else looking to clean up mistakes from their past. I don't believe that something you did 25 years ago when you were a different person should have negative effects on your success today. Good luck.

West_Coaster

Be honest like everyone else is saying and upfront so when you are there for oreientation they already know about it because if you lie thats the fastest way lose employment. even if the company only wants to know the last 10 years and you put down that it actually might be good on your part showing the company you are being honest with them from the start and you will continue to be honest with them. also with the felony that old and a spotless record since i think alot of companys would over look that and you should be able to hire onto almost any good company out there. even though you wont be able to get into Canada, most companys have other drivers who can go so you wont have to worry about it
keep your head up and best of luck in driving school dont be afraid to ask lots of questions to your instructors or in here