It’s not unusual for a person to have a youthful indiscretion in his or her past that resulted in an arrest or even a conviction.  Because potential employees and school volunteers are being asked to sign releases for criminal and motor vehicle record checks, that youthful indiscretion can come back and haunt you.  It can affect whether or not you will be hired for a job.

Like many states, New Hampshire had a statute that allowed individuals to annual convictions and arrests from their records.  The classification and disposition of the offense determined the date that the conviction or arrest could be removed.  However, in 2012 the New Hampshire Legislature changed the statute in a way that made obtaining an annulment worthless.  Instead of removing the conviction or arrest from the record and sealing the Court file, it merely put the word “annulled” next to the conviction or arrest and left it on the record.

In 2014, the legislature revised the annulment statute again, restoring the ability to remove a conviction or arrest from a record and seal the Court file.

If an individual has been arrested, the arrest is placed on a criminal record.  Even if the charge was later dropped or placed on file without a finding, the arrest will still appear on the criminal record. The only way an arrest can be removed from a criminal record is to have it annulled. Thus, if a person was arrested for an offense and the State did not pursue the charge, a potential employer would still see the arrest on the criminal record.  Many employers cannot interpret criminal or motor vehicle records and will assume that an arrest is a conviction.  If you were ever arrested and/or convicted of an offense as an adult, you should consider having it annulled from your record.  

I can assist you in determining your case disposition and whether you have met the requirements for annulling your record.  Don’t let the past taint your future.  Get a fresh start with a clean record.