Major Changes Made to Virginia’s New “Expungement Law”

What to Know From 2025 Legislative Session

The Virginia legislature has made significant changes to Virginia’s new criminal record sealing laws, also often referred to as Virginia’s new “expungement law “or Clean Slate Law. First, implementation or the effective date has been delayed until January 1, 2026. Second, the Virginia legislature restricted the number of charges that can be sealed by petition under Virginia Code Section 19.2-392.12. The legislature did increase the number of people that will qualify for criminal record sealing by allowing “ancillary” matters like violations of probation and failure to appear to be sealed.

On February 22, 2025, a joint conference between the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates unveiled the amended legislation. The Senate passed the law with a vote of 28-12, while the House approved it unanimously, 98-0. Although the governor’s signature is still pending, the significant bipartisan backing suggests it will soon become law.

Major changes to Virginia’s Clean Slate Law:

• Delayed Implementation

The effective date for the new “expungement law” will be delayed from July 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026. This means that petitions to seal criminal convictions cannot be filed in Virginia courts until January 1, 2026. Likewise, judges do not have the authority to seal convictions under the legislation until that date.

• New Date Restrictions for Eligibility

Sealing of all criminal convictions is limited to convictions or charges that were deferred and dismissed with an offense date of January 1, 1986, and after. Under the new legislation, no charges with an offense date prior to January 1, 1986, can be sealed. While the original 2021 legislation did not have a date restriction, the current law will only allow convictions or charges that were deferred and dismissed to be sealed with an offense date after January 1, 1986.

• Inclusion of “Ancillary Matter(s)”

Charges that previously could not be sealed due to subsequent violations of probation convictions or a failure to appear conviction can now be sealed under Virginia Code Sections 19.2-392.12 and 19.2-392.12:1. The legislature enacted a provision that allows “ancillary matter(s)” to be sealed. For example, if a petitioner had a grand larceny conviction, and later had a violation of probation conviction, under the new amendments for 2025, both the grand larceny, and the violation of probation can be sealed.

Virginia Code Section 19.2-392.5 defines “ancillary matter” as “any (i) violation or alleged violation of the terms and conditions of a suspended sentence, probation, or parole; (ii) violation or alleged violation of contempt of court; (iii) charge or conviction for failure to appear; or (iv) appeal from a bail, bond, or recognizance order.” The law also extends the waiting period to qualify for sealing. The waiting period now begins to run from the date of the violation of probation conviction. For example, if a grand larceny conviction occurred on January 1, 2000, and the person later had a violation of probation conviction on January 1, 2001, the grand larceny and the violation of probation would be eligible to be sealed on January 1, 2011, provided the person was otherwise eligible.

• No Filing Fee

The legislature eliminated the court filing fee when filing a petition to seal under Virginia Code Section 19.2-392.12. So, filing to seal a prior conviction will be fee.

• Automatic Sealing

The charges that will be automatically sealed remain largely unchanged under Virginia Code Section 19.2-392.6. Petit larceny, concealing merchandise, three types of trespass, misdemeanor distribution of marijuana and disorderly conduct can be automatically sealed, provided “seven years have passed since the date of the conviction and the person convicted of such offense has not been convicted of violating any law of the Commonwealth… and the person was [not] convicted of another offense that is not eligible for automatic sealing.”

If one of the charges that are eligible for automatic sealing is deferred and dismissed, under the new legislation a petition would have to be filed with the circuit court under Virginia Code Section 19.2–392.12. Under the new legislation, charges that were deferred and dismissed will not be automatically sealed, they must be sealed by court order after petition to the circuit court.

• Certain Charges Excluded

The legislature will now exclude or prohibit several charges that could originally be sealed under the 2021 version of the law. Under the 2025 amendments, charges that can no longer be sealed under the law include:

(this is not a comprehensive list)

• 4.1-309.1. Possessing or consuming alcoholic beverage while operating a school bus
• 5.1-13. Operation of aircraft while under influence of intoxicating liquors or drugs; reckless operation
• 18.2-36. Involuntary manslaughter
• 18.2-36.1. Involuntary manslaughter
• 18.2-36.2. Involuntary manslaughter; operating a watercraft while under the influence
• 18.2-47. Abduction and kidnapping
• 18.2-49.1. Violation of court order regarding custody and visitation
• 18.2-51.5. Maiming, etc., of another resulting from operating a watercraft while intoxicated
• 18.2-57.2. Assault and battery against a family or household member
• 18.2-59.1. Sexual extortion
• 18.2-60. Threats of death or bodily injury to a person or member of his family
• 18.2-60.3. Stalking
• 18.2-60.5. Unauthorized use of electronic tracking device
• 18.2-130. Peeping or spying into dwelling or enclosure
• 18.2-130.1. Peeping or spying into dwelling or occupied building by electronic device or unmanned aircraft system
• 18.2-144. Maiming, killing or poisoning animals, fowl, etc.
• 18.2-144.1. Killing or injuring police animals
• 18.2-154. Shooting at or throwing missiles, etc., at train, car, vessel, etc.
• 18.2-266. Driving motor vehicle, engine, etc., while intoxicated
• 18.2-266.1. Persons under age 21 driving after illegally consuming alcohol
• 18.2-268.3. Refusal of (breath) tests
• 18.2-282.1. Brandishing a machete or other bladed weapon with intent to intimidate
• 18.2-324.2. Use of unmanned aircraft system for certain purposes
• Former subsection B of § 18.2-346- Prostitution
• 18.2-405. Riot
• 18.2-406. Unlawful assembly
• 18.2-472.1. Providing false information or failing to provide registration information
• 19.2-62. Interception, disclosure, etc., of wire, electronic or oral communications
• 29.1-738. Operating boat or manipulating water skis, etc., in reckless manner or while intoxicated
• 29.1-738.02. Persons under age twenty-one operating watercraft after illegally consuming alcohol
• 29.1-738.2. Consent to blood or breath test
• 37.2-912. Conditional release
• 40.1-100.2. Employment involving sexually explicit visual material
• 40.1-103. Cruelty and injuries to children
• 46.2-341.24. Driving a commercial motor vehicle while intoxicated
• 46.2-341.26:3. Refusal of tests
• 9.1-902. Offenses requiring registration with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry

Given all the current 2025 changes to Virginia’s new “expungement law,” contact Clean Slate Virginia today to learn more about the new laws! Clean Slate Virginia continues to be dedicated to helping Virginian’s across the state take control of their financial future and Erase Your Record!

*This article has been updated to reflect Virginia legislative changes during the 2025 session. When Virginia’s Clean Slate Law was originally passed in 2021 the effective date was scheduled for July 1, 2025. The Virginia legislature extended the effective date to January 1, 2026, during the 2025 legislative session.