Expunging Updates

FYI and For the Record, please never steal anything. 

It's not worth the paperwork headache later and I promise if the fines and all the "not being able to get a job" thing don't do it for you... the paperwork will! 

My husband is so happy that I "helped" (read: did) the paperwork for him because in his own words "there was no way" he would have been able to do it on his own...

so with that being said, its time for an EXPUNGE UPDATE! 

We received our certificate in the mail on the 18th from Utah's BCI. I noticed there was a phone number on the form to call if you had questions but it was too late and they would be closed. I tried looking things up online but I couldn't find a set list of things to print and send in that seemed like it was updated...

I honestly wasn't sure what forms I needed to print out because I've never been arrested before... So the next day after work I took the computer from my husband and I called the number armed with a million questions... and i'm so glad I called!

I repeat. I am so glad I called that number. I would have done everything wrong and wasted the certificate and lost out on yet another $56 and probably would have had to refile and wait for approval and another certificate!

So after spending a half hour on the phone with one gal, who gave me the phone number to another gal at the justice department, I then spent another 45 minutes on the phone with her as she walked me through the entire process. NICEST PEOPLE EVER!!! Seriously if there was a government employee who deserves a raise, it was those two women.

Thank you ladies... you saved my behind!

I learned that before I could mail my certificate back to them with the 1st form (yup, there are more forms to fill out), I first needed to send a photo copy of the certificate with a letter and a copy of the application to expunge to the City Attorney in the arresting city to notify them that we were going to attempt to expunge SCB's old record... and we would need to mail it certified mail, return receipt requested, because that little green card needed to be attached to another form which we had to fill out, "proof of service"...

and then there was a findings of fact form... 

and then the $135.00 filing fee... 

and then we would also need to pay for a copy of the certificate of expungement for not only our records, but one for the arresting agency, the City Attorney in that city, the Utah state BCI, the drivers licence division, and possibly other agencies that she could try to help look up for me but in short she recommended we purchase 7 official copies because you can only order the copies with the application and its OUR job to them mail them out once we receive them to all the different agencies so they can record and file them with their records.

So yes, I'm glad I called.

I also had to call back to figure out how to fill out the actual petition to file because I had no clue if it was  district court matter or a Justice Court matter... and I also needed to find the correct address of the court because SCB had no clue and couldn't remember where he went for all the hearings and such...

It was a headache...

To top it off, once I had everything copied for the application just to send off to the City Attorney's office, SCB started whining because I wanted him to drop what he was doing to sign the forms and then run off immediately to the post office to get it in the mail... (In his defense I might have also made him sit through  a very in-depth and detailed explanation of the entire process and why he should love me because of all the phone calls and research I was doing for him... and I might have been a little annoying and long winded (and she was having a bad day and i am the typical person that it ALL gets taken out on) ....his words, not mine are in blue.)

So in the end he went and mailed off the envelope and we waited...

On the 29th we got the green slip in the mail saying they received everything on the 25th. They also mailed a letter we got on the same day as the green card telling us the prosecutor in the case was also notified (didn't know we needed to do that-- phew- glad they worked in the same office!), and that they did not object or recommend anything...

Then I had to get back on the phone to make sure that I filled out our civil cover letter, petition to Expunge, Proof of service, and findings of fact forms all correctly... enclosed the original certificate, and then wrote a letter explaining that we had enclosed our filing fee of $135 and were also requesting 7 copies (at $6.50 a piece) of the expungement and asked them to mail them to our current residence.

It went in the mail on the 29th...

Now we wait for the forms to reach Utah again, for the judge to render his verdict, and for hopefully 7 copies of the form to come back to us so I can mail them out to the police department, city attorney, Utah BCI, and the drivers licence division...  

I can't wait for this to be done with!