New Law Reduces Tennessee’s Expungement Fee for Diversion Cases

By Nashville Expungement Attorney Daniel A. Horwitz:

*Note: This is a free informational resource about expungement law in Tennessee.  If you are looking to hire an attorney to expunge your record for you, please click here instead.*

A new law that reduces the fee for expunging criminal charges following the successful completion of a diversion program has been signed by Governor Haslam and will take effect on July 1, 2018.  The law reduces the total fee for expunging diversion charges from $450 to $280, bringing it in line with a similar reduction for expunging convictions that was enacted last year.

The new law is the latest in a growing series of expungement reforms that have been enacted in recent years concerning the expungement of multiple convictions, partial expungements, and the impact of driver’s license offenses, all of which expanded expungement eligibility.  In a sign that Tennessee lawmakers are becoming increasingly aware of the value that expungement provides, the new law also sailed through the Tennessee General Assembly and passed both houses unanimously.

As a general matter, Tennessee’s expungement law provides that defendants may expunge the records of their criminal charges if they successfully complete a pretrial diversion program or a judicial diversion program.  Diversion is often available to first-time offenders in Tennessee, and if a defendant successfully completes a diversion program, then they will not have a conviction on their record.  Most prominently—and with some controversy—diversion was offered to former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry earlier this year, whose criminal case will become eligible for expungement in 2021.

If you have a criminal record that you want expunged, there is no substitute for consulting a lawyer to review your own individual circumstances.  If you think you may be eligible to have your record expunged and want to hire an attorney to evaluate your eligibility or file your paperwork for you, please click here for an individualized case review.