What Does it Mean to Have Your Conviction Set Aside?

To have a conviction set aside in Arizona is to have the court that entered the judgement of guilt against you set aside that judgement of guilt. It is an acknowledgment by the court that you have taken responsibility for your actions, improved upon your behavior since the time of the conviction and satisfied all of the terms that were associated with your conviction. A set aside does not remove the conviction from your record in any way or form other than that when a person does a background check, it will show that the conviction has been set aside.

One question often asked is once a person has their conviction of guilt set aside, do they need to disclose the conviction on an application asking if they have been convicted of a crime? The answer is yes. When asked if you have been convicted of a crime on documentation, the answer would still be yes. However, you can add an addendum to the application or other document and explain that the court of jurisdiction that entered a conviction against you has also set aside that same conviction. Remember though, not all criminal convictions are eligible to be set aside in Arizona.

If you need to have your conviction set aside or just have general questions regarding Arizona’s set aside process, you can contact me at our office (480) 363-0090 or through the Contact Me page on this site.