Virginia Code Section 19.2-392.12 (when effective on July 1, 2025 July 1, 2026) allows some misdemeanor and felony convictions to be sealed under certain circumstances.

Among other requirements, Virginia Code Section 19.2-392.12 requires “the person has not been convicted of violating any law of the Commonwealth that requires a report to the Central Criminal Records Exchange under subsection A of § 19.2-390” for seven year in misdemeanor cases and ten years in felony cases.

Fortunately, a Virginia reckless driving conviction under Virginia Code Section 46.2-852 (general reckless) and Virginia Code Section 46.2-862 (reckless by speed) does not prevent a criminal conviction from being sealed. The reason is that Virginia Code Section 19.2-390 does not require reckless driving convictions to be reported to the CCRE. Virginia Code Section 19.2-390 provides:

[Law enforcement] shall make a report to the Central Criminal Records Exchange, on forms provided by it, of any arrest, including those arrests involving the taking into custody of, or service of process upon, any person on charges resulting from an indictment, presentment or information, the arrest on capias or warrant for failure to appear, and the service of a warrant for another jurisdiction, for each charge when any person is arrested on any of the following charges:

1. Treason;
2. Any felony;
3. Any offense punishable as a misdemeanor under Title 54.1;
4. Any misdemeanor punishable by confinement in jail (i) under Title 18.2 or 19.2, or any similar ordinance of any county, city or town, (ii) under §20-61, or (iii) under §16.1-253.2; or
5. Any offense in violation of §3.2-6570,4.1-309.1, 5.1-13, 15.2-1612, 22.1-289.041, 46.2-339, 46.2-341.21, 46.2-341.24, 46.2-341.26:3, 46.2-817, 58.1-3141, 58.1-4018.1, 60.2-632, or 63.2-1509.

Since Virginia Code Section 19.2-390 does not require reckless driving convictions to be reported to the CCRE under Virginia Code Section 19.2-390, they do not prevent criminal convictions from being sealed under Virginia Code Section 19.2-392.12.

For more information about criminal record sealing, contact Clean Slate Virginia.

*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 July 1, 2026, during the 2025 legislative session.