Your CR-180 is ready. What to do next
- Check and sign
Open the PDF and read all three pages. If something is wrong, fix it here and download again. Sign page 3 by hand on the line “SIGNATURE OF PETITIONER OR ATTORNEY”. If you checked item 7b, you declare that item under penalty of perjury.
- Attach what you mention
If you listed more offenses than fit, the form says to use form MC-025. If you want to explain why dismissal is in the interests of justice at more length, the form says you can attach a letter or other documents, form MC-025, or form MC-031 (signed under penalty of perjury). If you checked 7b(1), attach the copy of your state summary criminal history information.
- Include the order, CR-181
The court guide says: “To request dismissal, use Form CR-180, and submit the order (Form CR-181) for the judge to sign.” and “The court will use form CR-181 to grant or deny your request.” We filled only its top part. Court guide
- If you are still on probation
The court guide says: “If you are still on probation in the case, you must also ask for early termination from probation, under Penal Code section 1203.3. There is no statewide form for this request, but you may write your own request and file it with the court.” Court guide
- File it in your criminal case
The petition is captioned with the Superior Court and the case number of your criminal case. Ask the clerk of that court how to file it, how many copies to bring, whether there is a fee or a hearing, and whether you must give a copy to anyone else. Court addresses: Find my court. Free help: Legal help to clean your record (public defender record-cleaning programs and Clear My Record).
- What happens next
The judge grants or denies your petition on CR-181. Read CR-181 items 6 to 11: they say what a dismissal does and does not do. For example, item 6 says that after a dismissal under section 1203.4, 1203.41 or 1203.42 you must still disclose the conviction in response to a direct question on an application for public office, for licensure by a state or local agency, or for contracting with the California State Lottery Commission, and item 7 says the prior conviction can still be pleaded and proved in a later prosecution.
Good to know
- The court guide says you can ask the court to dismiss your conviction if both: “You have no new cases pending” and “You are not on probation or parole in any case”.
- Waiting times in the court guide: misdemeanor or infraction without probation, at least one year from the date of conviction; felony county jail sentence, one year after you complete it with mandatory supervision or two years without; state prison sentence, two years after you complete it (since January 1, 2023, if the conviction did not require sex offender registration).
- The form’s note says your conviction may already have been dismissed automatically by the DOJ under Penal Code section 1203.425; you can request your RAP sheet from the DOJ to check, but this is not required.
Sources: California Courts Self-Help: Clean your record · Record cleaning: Misdemeanors · Record cleaning: Felony convictions and Prop 47 · Relief for human trafficking victims · Legal help to clean your record · form CR-180 · form CR-181.