No, misdemeanors do not go away after 7 years on their own. In most states, a misdemeanor conviction stays on your criminal record permanently unless you take legal steps to have it expunged or sealed. The seven-year figure people repeat comes from a federal background-check law, and that law specifically excludes criminal convictions from its seven-year limit.
Where the Seven-Year Idea Comes From
The source is the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which governs what background check companies can put in their reports. The FCRA imposes a seven-year limit on certain adverse information: civil judgments, collections, paid tax liens, and non-conviction criminal records like arrests that never led to a conviction, dismissed charges, and acquittals.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
The statute then carves convictions out. It says consumer reporting agencies cannot report “any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes” older than seven years. That single clause is the whole problem. A background check company can legally report your misdemeanor conviction indefinitely.2Federal Register. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening
If your case ended in dismissal or acquittal, the seven-year clock does apply. If it ended in a conviction, it does not.
States That Do Cap Conviction Reporting
Roughly a dozen states go beyond the FCRA and restrict how far back background check companies can look when reporting convictions to employers. In those states, convictions older than seven years generally cannot appear on an employment background report. Many of these laws only kick in below a salary threshold, though. Applicants for higher-paying jobs may still see the full history reported.
Even where these caps exist, the conviction itself does not disappear from the court system. Law enforcement and government agencies running security clearance checks can still see it. The limit only affects what third-party screening companies can include in reports to private employers, and not every employer uses one. Some pull records directly from court databases, which are often public and have no built-in time limit.
Whether It Shows Up Depends on the Check
The type of background check matters as much as the law that governs it.
Name-based checks are what private screening companies run using your name and date of birth against court records and commercial databases. They are standard for private-sector jobs and rental applications, and they are subject to FCRA rules and any state reporting limits. Accuracy varies.
Fingerprint-based checks run your prints through state and FBI criminal history databases. Government jobs, and positions in healthcare, childcare, education, and work with vulnerable populations often require them. These reach further than name-based checks, but they have a well-documented accuracy problem: FBI rap sheets frequently lack final disposition information, so they can show an arrest without noting that the charge was later dismissed or the record expunged.
For sensitive positions involving children, federal law authorizes comprehensive fingerprint-based FBI checks, and those are not subject to the consumer-report reporting limits.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC Ch 401 – Child Abuse Crime Information and Background Checks
So a private employer running a standard consumer check in a state with a seven-year cap may never see an old misdemeanor. A government employer, licensing board, or organization working with children usually will.
How to Actually Get a Misdemeanor Off Your Record
Since misdemeanors do not age off on their own, the only reliable route is a legal process, usually called expungement or record sealing depending on the state.
Expungement generally means the conviction record is destroyed or removed from databases. In some states, once a record is expunged you can legally answer “no” when asked about prior convictions on a job application. Record sealing is different: the record still exists, but it is hidden from public view. Most employers and landlords cannot see sealed records; law enforcement and certain government agencies usually can.
Terminology is inconsistent. Some states call their process “expungement” even when the record is technically sealed rather than destroyed. Others use “nondisclosure,” meaning the record stays intact but the state is barred from disclosing it in most background checks. What matters is what your state’s process actually does, not what it is called.
Roughly 45 states allow some form of misdemeanor record clearing. A handful offer no general process at all, leaving people with limited options even for old, low-level offenses.
Who Qualifies for Expungement
Every state sets its own rules, but eligibility generally turns on four things.
Type of Offense
Most states exclude certain categories entirely. Domestic violence, sexual offenses, and DUI convictions are commonly ineligible. Simple misdemeanors like petty theft, disorderly conduct, and minor drug offenses are the easiest to clear. Repeat offenses or a pattern of criminal behavior can also disqualify you even when the individual offenses would otherwise be eligible.
Completion of Sentence
You have to finish everything the court ordered: jail or community service, probation, and full payment of fines and restitution. Some states waive outstanding fines for demonstrated financial hardship, but many will not process a petition until the money is paid. An old fine you forgot about can block the whole process.
Waiting Period
Most states require a crime-free waiting period after sentence completion before you can file. For a first misdemeanor, that typically runs one to five years. Multiple misdemeanor convictions can push it to seven or ten. The clock usually starts from the date you finished your sentence, including probation, not from the date of conviction.
Cost
Court filing fees typically run between $100 and $400. An attorney handling a straightforward misdemeanor expungement generally charges $400 to $1,000, though complex cases or multiple convictions cost more. Fee waivers exist in some states for people who qualify as indigent, and legal aid organizations run free expungement clinics in a growing number of areas.
Clean Slate Laws and Automatic Clearing
More than a dozen states have enacted Clean Slate laws that automatically seal or expunge eligible records after a set waiting period, with no petition required. The first passed in 2018, and several more take effect in 2025 and 2026. The common model automatically seals misdemeanor convictions after a waiting period, commonly five to seven years, if the person has no new convictions. Some laws also cover felonies, usually with a longer wait and a narrower list of eligible offenses.
These laws exist because research consistently shows that most people eligible for expungement never file. The process is confusing, it costs money, and many people do not know it exists. If you live in a state with a Clean Slate law, your eligible misdemeanors may eventually be sealed without any action on your part, but the waiting period still runs and the automated systems are still being built in many places. Your local court or a legal aid organization can tell you whether your record qualifies.
Consequences That Can Outlast the Record
Even after a misdemeanor is expunged or sealed, some consequences can survive. This is where people get caught off guard when they assume “cleared” means gone in every context.
Firearm Restrictions
A misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence triggers a permanent federal ban on possessing firearms or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), commonly known as the Lautenberg Amendment.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts This applies regardless of a later state expungement, unless the expungement also restores firearm rights, and many state statutes do not. It covers plea deals and no-contest pleas, not just jury verdicts.
Immigration
For non-citizens, a misdemeanor can carry consequences that dwarf the criminal penalty. A single conviction for a “crime involving moral turpitude,” a category that includes fraud, theft, and many offenses involving intent to harm, can make a non-citizen inadmissible or trigger deportation.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens A narrow “petty offense” exception exists: if the offense carried a maximum possible sentence of one year or less and the actual sentence imposed was under six months, a single conviction may not trigger inadmissibility. Two or more such convictions eliminate the exception. State expungement does not necessarily remove a conviction for federal immigration purposes.
International Travel
Some countries screen visitors for criminal history, and even a misdemeanor can result in denied entry. Canada is the best-known example. A DUI conviction, classified as a misdemeanor in most U.S. states, is enough to make a person criminally inadmissible. You can overcome this by applying for individual rehabilitation after at least five years have passed since you completed your sentence, including probation. You may also qualify as “deemed rehabilitated” if enough time has passed and the offense carried a maximum sentence under ten years in Canada.6Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions Other countries have their own rules.
Professional Licensing
Licensing boards for healthcare, education, law, finance, and other regulated professions routinely ask about criminal history, and many require disclosure even of convictions that have been expunged or sealed. Nursing boards, teaching certification bodies, and real estate licensing agencies are common examples. A misdemeanor that would not concern a typical private employer can still block or delay a professional license, particularly when the offense relates to the duties of the profession — a theft conviction for someone seeking a financial services license, for instance.
Before assuming a state expungement will solve a specific problem, check whether it actually reaches the audience you care about. Expungement can clear a conviction from a standard employer background check but leave it visible to a licensing board or immigration authorities. An attorney who handles expungement cases in your state can tell you whether the relief available matches the obstacle you are trying to remove, and legal aid organizations and public defender offices often offer free assistance.