Expungement of Felony reduced to a misdemeanor waiting period fixed by new amendment to Indiana Expungement law.
Many individuals that have felony convictions often want their case expunged or at a minimum reduced to a misdemeanor. In Indiana the expungement wait period for a felony is 8 years and 5 for a misdemeanor. Previous to the the recent court of appeals ruling it was possible to reduce a felony after 5 years and then turn around and expunge it. On 9/6/19, the Court of Appeals in N.G. v. State of Indiana, 19A-XP-637 handed down a ruling, what the dissenting judge called unjust and ill-advised. If a petitioner files and has a felony reduced to a misdemeanor it no longer back dates to the time of the original conviction but rather starts the 5 year wait period from the time of the reduction. This essentially can make a longer wait period then just expunging the felony conviction. For example if your felony is 17 years old (and eligible for expungement) and you have it reduced to a misdemeanor, you now have to wait 5 more years.
GOOD NEWS is the 2020 amendment to IC 35-38-9-2 fixed this issue. I.C. 35-38-9-2 now provides the five-year waiting period where a felony is reduced to a misdemeanor runs from the date of conviction for the felony!!! The take away is that if you have a felony that has not met the 8 year time limit requirement but is more then 5 years old we may be able to reduce it to a misdemeanor and then expunge it.