Straight answers on New Mexico expungement.

Expungement seals your criminal record from public databases and most background checks. Once granted, employers, landlords, and licensing boards generally cannot see the record, and you can answer "no" when asked whether you have been arrested, charged, or convicted in most circumstances. The statute is the Criminal Record Expungement Act, NMSA § 29-3A.

No. Law enforcement, courts, and criminal justice agencies retain access for use in future criminal proceedings, firearms background checks, and NCIC inquiries. Expungement also does not remove information already in the public domain — news articles, social media posts, and third-party background check websites all stay up unless you separately ask each site to take them down.

New Mexico has two separate statutes and they operate very differently. Non-conviction expungement (§ 29-3A-4) covers cases that ended without a conviction — dismissals, acquittals, nolle prosequi, pre-prosecution diversion, conditional discharges, and certain Motor Vehicle Code deferred sentences. The waiting period is one year, the court "shall" grant a qualifying petition, and a hearing is often unnecessary. Conviction expungement (§ 29-3A-5) covers actual convictions. Waiting periods are two to ten years, the court has discretion to deny, you must prove that "justice will be served," and a hearing is mandatory.

No. Expungement does not restore firearm rights under federal or state law. The New Mexico Department of Public Safety has stated that expunged records remain accessible for criminal justice purposes, including firearm purchases. Restoring gun rights after a felony generally requires a governor's pardon.

The district court filing fee is $132.00. That fee is set by the court and applies to every expungement, whether you file with a lawyer or on your own. If you can't afford it, Form 4-222 lets you request a waiver.

Flat-fee pricing for most expungement matters (full breakdown on the pricing page): $2,250 for non-conviction petitions, $3,500 for conviction petitions, and identity-theft-related expungements billed hourly. Payment plans are available at $250/month. The fee covers preparation of the petition, attached records, service on required agencies, and representation at any hearing. See the pricing section on the home page for full details.

Non-conviction expungement typically takes four to six months. The biggest variables are how quickly DPS and the FBI return your records (two to six weeks) and the 30-day objection period that runs after the District Attorney, DPS, and the arresting agency are served. Conviction expungement takes longer — seven to ten months. The objection period is 60 days, the hearing is mandatory, and the court has up to 60 days after the hearing to issue an order. Cases in Bernalillo County (Albuquerque) and Doña Ana County (Las Cruces) tend to take slightly longer because those dockets carry the heaviest expungement caseloads in the state.

New Mexico uses the term “expungement” for what other states call “sealing.” The Criminal Record Expungement Act (NMSA § 29-3A) seals your record from public databases — it is not physically destroyed. Law enforcement retains access for criminal justice purposes. The practical effect is that most employers, landlords, and licensing boards will not see the record on a standard background check.

No. New Mexico expungement reaches public court systems and state databases, not the internet. News articles, social media posts, and third-party background-check aggregators (like Spokeo, BeenVerified, or Whitepages) are not required to remove information just because the underlying record is expunged. Each site has its own removal or opt-out process, and some will require evidence of the expungement order. We can advise on this during a consultation.

Filing a petition is a public court record until the expungement is granted — after which the court can expunge the expungement proceedings themselves, leaving no public trace. During the pendency of the petition, the record is technically accessible. For conviction cases, the District Attorney is formally served and the proceeding is publicly docketed. If confidentiality during the process is a concern, discuss the timing with an attorney before filing.

New Mexico restores voting rights automatically upon completion of your sentence, including parole and probation — not upon expungement. If you have finished your sentence, you are already eligible to register to vote regardless of whether your record has been expunged. Contact the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office if you have questions about your specific situation.

Federal immigration law does not treat a New Mexico expungement the same way state law does. A state expungement does not erase the conviction for immigration purposes in most circumstances. If you are not a U.S. citizen, consult an immigration attorney before filing an expungement petition — the act of filing may have consequences independent of the outcome. This is an area where getting it wrong is irreversible.

Juvenile records are handled under a separate statute — the Children’s Court Rules and the Delinquency Act — not under the Criminal Record Expungement Act (§ 29-3A). Many juvenile adjudications are automatically sealed at age 18 or after a period of time, but the rules differ significantly from adult expungement. Call us to discuss the specifics of your juvenile record.

For non-conviction petitions, an objection from the DA triggers a hearing that would otherwise not be required. For conviction petitions, a hearing is mandatory regardless. At the hearing, the DA must show cause why the expungement should be denied. We prepare a written response to any objection and appear at the hearing on your behalf. A denied petition may be appealed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, and in some circumstances can be refiled after facts change.

This is an identity-theft record issue, which is handled differently from a standard expungement. The process involves petitioning for a record correction rather than an expungement, and the scope of the work varies case by case. We handle these matters on an hourly basis — see pricing — after a free 15-minute consultation to assess the record.

No. New Mexico expungement only applies to records in the New Mexico court system. Federal convictions and federal court records are governed by federal law, and there is currently no general federal expungement statute for adult convictions. Some limited exceptions exist for certain drug offenses under the First Step Act. If your conviction is in federal court, consult a federal criminal defense attorney.

New Mexico agencies are not required to seal or disregard records from other states based solely on a foreign expungement order. If you have an out-of-state record that has been expunged in another state, the practical effect in New Mexico depends on what databases those records appear in and whether individual employers or agencies perform multi-state searches.

The court order alone does not complete the expungement — agencies must receive and process it. After the order is signed, we serve it on every agency holding your record. We then run a background-check verification at 90 days post-order to confirm the records no longer appear on standard searches. If records are still showing, we follow up with the relevant agencies directly.

Each case number requires its own petition. However, if multiple charges share one case number, they can be addressed in a single petition. If your cases are in different judicial districts, you file separately in each district court where the case originated. Many clients start with the most recent case and work backward. We can map out the full picture during a consultation.

Non-conviction cases use Form 4-952; conviction cases use Form 4-953. Both forms were updated effective December 31, 2025 — older versions are rejected by the courts. You will also need DPS and FBI criminal-history records dated within 90 days of filing. If you cannot afford the $132 court filing fee, Form 4-222 allows you to request a waiver. We handle all form preparation as part of the flat fee.

Yes, for most firearms purchases. Federal law requires that NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) background checks access records that are sealed by state expungement. A New Mexico expungement does not restore firearm rights lost due to a felony conviction. The most reliable path to gun-rights restoration after a felony is a governor’s pardon — a separate process with different standards and timelines.

Expungement does not reach media organizations or third-party websites. The article is not part of the court record and is protected by the First Amendment. We can provide you with the expungement order, which some news organizations will accept as a basis for voluntarily removing or updating the article — but they are not legally required to do so. Some sites have formal removal request processes; others do not. We can advise on how to approach specific sites after the expungement is granted.