Clearing a criminal record in Nevada
In Nevada it is called record sealing: sealing removes the record from general sources but does not destroy it; the law treats the case as if it never happened. Some misdemeanor and felony convictions may be cleared, and Nevada also clears some records automatically.
Checked against official sources: October 25, 2026. · Free letter and checklist ↓
Can my record be cleared in Nevada?
Record sealing — Sealing removes the record from general sources but does not destroy it; the law treats the case as if it never happened. Courts can reopen it only in narrow cases, and some agencies (gaming and insurance regulators, the pardons board, sex-offense registry staff) can still look at certain sealed records.
Nevada has 5 ways to clear a record. Each covers different records and has its own waiting period.
Sealing Records After Conviction (NRS 179.245)
Most misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor and felony convictions (category A to E).
| Kind of case | Waiting period | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
Misdemeanor (most) | 1 year You can petition 1 year after your release or after your suspended sentence ends. | Release from actual custody or end of a suspended sentence, whichever is later |
Misdemeanor battery, harassment, stalking or violating a protection order | 2 years Wait 2 years. | Release from actual custody or end of a suspended sentence, whichever is later |
Misdemeanor DUI, misdemeanor domestic battery, or Medicaid fraud (NRS 422.540-422.570) | 7 years Wait 7 years. | Release from actual custody or end of a suspended sentence, whichever is later |
Gross misdemeanor | 2 years Wait 2 years. | Release from actual custody or discharge from probation, whichever is later |
Category E felony | 2 years Wait 2 years. | Release from actual custody or discharge from parole or probation, whichever is later |
Category B, C or D felony | 5 years Wait 5 years. | Release from actual custody or discharge from parole or probation, whichever is later |
Category A felony, crime of violence, or residential burglary | 10 years Wait 10 years. | Release from actual custody or discharge from parole or probation, whichever is later |
- Not eligible
- Crimes against a child; sexual offenses; home invasion with a deadly weapon; felony DUI; DUI causing death or substantial harm; vehicular homicide; felony boating under the influence. You must have no new conviction (other than minor traffic) and no pending charges during the waiting period.
- Limits
- If denied, you can ask for a rehearing after 2 years, or appeal.
Law: NRS 179.2405-179.301 (esp. 179.245, 179.2445, 179.265); NRS 179.265
Source: Official text
Sealing After Dismissal, Declined Prosecution or Acquittal (NRS 179.255)
Arrests where charges were dismissed, the prosecutor declined to charge, or you were acquitted.
| Kind of case | Waiting period | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
Charges dismissed | No waiting period You can petition any time after the dismissal. | The dismissal |
Acquittal | No waiting period You can petition any time after the acquittal; the court must seal if no further action is expected. | The acquittal |
Prosecution declined | 8 years You can petition 8 years after the arrest, or earlier once the statute of limitations has run or if the prosecutor agrees. | The arrest |
- Limits
- Rehearing after denial: 2 years.
Law: NRS 179.255; NRS 179.265
Source: Official text
Sealing of Decriminalized Offenses (NRS 179.271)
Convictions for conduct that is no longer a crime, such as possessing small amounts of marijuana before legalization (not traffic offenses).
| Kind of case | Waiting period | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
Decriminalized offense | No waiting period You can send a written request at any time. | No waiting period |
- Not eligible
- Traffic offenses.
Law: NRS 179.271
Source: Official text
Sealing After Discharge From Deferred Probation (NRS 176A.265)
Cases where the court suspended proceedings and placed you on probation, then dismissed the case or set aside the conviction.
| Kind of case | Waiting period | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
Deferred judgment completed | No waiting period The court must order the records sealed without a hearing, unless the Division of Parole and Probation shows good cause. | Discharge from probation or dismissal |
Deferred DUI or domestic battery case | 7 years You may petition after 7 years and the court must seal. | The conditional dismissal or set-aside |
- Not eligible
- Records cannot be sealed under this section if you were charged with child abuse or neglect or abuse, neglect or exploitation of an older or vulnerable person.
Law: NRS 176A.265; NRS 200.508; NRS 200.5099
Source: Official text
Sealing After Reentry Program (NRS 179.259)
A single non-violent felony for people who completed a correctional or judicial reentry program.
| Kind of case | Waiting period | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
Reentry program completed | 4 years The court may seal 4 years after you complete the program, usually without a hearing. | Completing the reentry program |
- Not eligible
- Crimes against a child and sexual offenses.
Law: NRS 179.259
Source: Official text
When can I file? Waiting periods in Nevada
Pick your kind of case and the date the waiting period runs from. We add the waiting period from the law; nothing else.
How to file in Nevada
Sealing Records After Conviction (NRS 179.245)
Get your current verified Criminal History Report from the Central Repository (DPS). File a petition with a proposed order in the court that convicted you, listing every agency holding the records. The court notifies the police and prosecutor. If the prosecutor agrees, the court must seal; if no objection within 30 days, the judge may seal without a hearing; otherwise there is a hearing. The law presumes sealing should be granted if you meet the requirements.
Law: NRS 179.2445
- Cost
- Court filing fees vary by court: e.g. $74 in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas Justice Courts, $270 in the Eighth Judicial District Court; $71 in Sparks Justice Court (Washoe County). Criminal History Report from DPS: $27, not waivable, plus fingerprinting ($5-$25 depending on agency) and certified copies ($3 each).
- If you can't pay
- File an Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis with the court clerk. No fees at all if you were a sex-trafficking victim when the crime was committed.
Law: NRS 179.2445; NRS 179.245(9)
Sealing After Dismissal, Declined Prosecution or Acquittal (NRS 179.255)
File in the court where the charges were dismissed or the acquittal was entered (for declined cases, the court with jurisdiction) with your verified DPS record and the disposition. The same stipulation / 30-day objection / hearing process applies.
- Cost
- Court filing fee varies by court (see conviction sealing).
- If you can't pay
- Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis.
Sealing of Decriminalized Offenses (NRS 179.271)
Send a written request to the court that convicted you. The prosecutor has 10 judicial days to object; with no objection the court must grant it. With an objection there is a hearing and the court grants it unless the prosecutor shows good cause by clear and convincing evidence.
- Cost
- No fee may be charged.
Law: NRS 179.271(2)
Sealing After Discharge From Deferred Probation (NRS 176A.265)
Sealing is ordered by the court when you complete the program; for DUI and domestic battery cases you file a petition after 7 years.
Sealing After Reentry Program (NRS 179.259)
The court may order sealing; Parole and Probation can ask for a hearing. Licensing boards and the Division of Insurance can still inspect these records.
Court self-help
Free help in Nevada
- Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada - Criminal Record Sealing classes and forms clinic · (702) 386-1070
- Nevada Legal Services - record sealing forms
- Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org
National help
Free letter and checklist
Letter: ask for a copy of your own record
A request to the state records office (Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History (Nevada DPS Records, Communications and Compliance Division)) with your name, date of birth and mailing address.
Checklist: what to gather before you file
Case numbers, court papers, proof you finished your sentence, forms and fees for Nevada.
Clearing a record in Nevada by topic
Sealing Records After Conviction (NRS 179.245) in Nevada
Which records each remedy covers, who is not eligible and what changes afterwards.
Waiting periods in Nevada
How long you wait for each kind of case, and a date helper.
How to file in Nevada
The steps, the cost, fee waivers, the forms and court self-help.
Automatic relief in Nevada
- Law
- Automatic sealing in limited cases (deferred probation, unconditional pardons, juvenile records)
- What is cleared
- The court seals records without a petition when you finish a deferred-judgment probation or certain specialty court treatment programs; the court and the Central Repository seal records once they receive a certified unconditional pardon; juvenile records are sealed within 60 days after age 18. There is no automatic sealing of ordinary adult convictions.
- Started
- Pardon sealing added in 2021; juvenile automatic sealing since 2003 (amended 2015, 2021); deferred-probation sealing since 2001.
- Check your record
- Official status page
Law: NRS 176A.265; NRS 179.273; NRS 62H.140; NRS 176A.245, 176A.295
Marijuana records in Nevada
On June 16, 2020 the State Board of Pardons Commissioners unconditionally pardoned everyone convicted in Nevada of possessing one ounce or less of marijuana not for sale; you can ask the Board for a pardon document, and pardoned records are sealed. You can also ask the convicting court to seal a decriminalized offense at no cost.
Law: NRS 179.273; NRS 179.271
Juvenile records in Nevada
Juvenile records are sealed automatically within 60 days after you turn 18, or after juvenile court jurisdiction ends. Before 21 you can petition 3 years after your last adjudication; records of certain serious delinquent acts not sealed by 21 cannot be sealed until age 30.
Law: NRS 62H.140; NRS 62H.130; NRS 62H.150
Pardons in Nevada
- Who decides
- State Board of Pardons Commissioners (the Governor, the Supreme Court justices and the Attorney General)
- How
- File the Application for Pardon with the Board. A pardoned record is sealed automatically when the court and Central Repository receive the certified pardon, or you may petition the court at no cost.
Law: Nev. Const. art. 5, § 14; NRS 179.273
After your record is cleared in Nevada
After sealing, the proceedings are deemed never to have occurred and you may answer any inquiry, including a job application, as if they did not happen; your rights to vote, hold office and serve on a jury are restored, but not the right to own a gun unless a pardon restores it. Exceptions: gaming and insurance regulators can inspect sealed records related to gaming or insurance, the Central Repository can report sexual offenses to employers under federal law, and the pardons board can inspect records of applicants.
Law: NRS 179.285; NRS 179.301
Get your own record in Nevada
Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History (Nevada DPS Records, Communications and Compliance Division) · (775) 684-6262
Submit the Request for Nevada Criminal History (DPS-006) with an FD-258 fingerprint card and a $27 money order or certified check (fee cannot be waived), or the electronic request from inside Nevada. The report is valid for sealing for one year.
Letter: ask the state records office for a copy of your record
Good to know in Nevada
- Nevada law states a public policy favoring second chances, and courts must presume sealing should be granted when you meet the requirements.
Law: NRS 179.2405, 179.2445
- One petition in district court can cover records from several justice and municipal courts.
Law: NRS 179.2595
- By a single resolution on June 16, 2020, the Board of Pardons unconditionally pardoned everyone convicted in Nevada of possessing one ounce or less of marijuana not for sale; the resolution counts 15,592 such misdemeanor convictions from 1986 to 2017 (Board resolution, June 16, 2020).
Changes in 2024–2026
2025: AB 35 (83rd session) amended NRS 179.245 only to replace the term 'child pornography' with 'child sexual abuse material' in the list of sexual offenses; waiting periods and eligibility did not change. 36th Special Session (2025), AB 4, effective January 1, 2026: automatic sealing after deferred judgment and specialty court programs no longer applies to people charged with child abuse or neglect or abuse of an older or vulnerable person.
Law: NRS 200.508; NRS 200.5099; NRS 176A.245, 176A.265, 176A.295
Questions about clearing a record in Nevada
What is clearing a record called in Nevada?
Record sealing. Sealing removes the record from general sources but does not destroy it; the law treats the case as if it never happened. Courts can reopen it only in narrow cases, and some agencies (gaming and insurance regulators, the pardons board, sex-offense registry staff) can still look at certain sealed records.
Can convictions be cleared in Nevada?
Sealing Records After Conviction: Most misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor and felony convictions (category A to E). Sealing After Dismissal, Declined Prosecution or Acquittal: Arrests where charges were dismissed, the prosecutor declined to charge, or you were acquitted. Sealing of Decriminalized Offenses: Convictions for conduct that is no longer a crime, such as possessing small amounts of marijuana before legalization (not traffic offenses). Sealing After Discharge From Deferred Probation: Cases where the court suspended proceedings and placed you on probation, then dismissed the case or set aside the conviction. Sealing After Reentry Program: A single non-violent felony for people who completed a correctional or judicial reentry program.
How long do I have to wait in Nevada?
Misdemeanor (most): 1 year, counted from release from actual custody or end of a suspended sentence, whichever is later; Misdemeanor battery, harassment, stalking or violating a protection order: 2 years, counted from release from actual custody or end of a suspended sentence, whichever is later; Misdemeanor DUI, misdemeanor domestic battery, or Medicaid fraud: 7 years, counted from release from actual custody or end of a suspended sentence, whichever is later; Gross misdemeanor: 2 years, counted from release from actual custody or discharge from probation, whichever is later.
Does Nevada clear records automatically?
The court seals records without a petition when you finish a deferred-judgment probation or certain specialty court treatment programs; the court and the Central Repository seal records once they receive a certified unconditional pardon; juvenile records are sealed within 60 days after age 18. There is no automatic sealing of ordinary adult convictions.
How much does it cost to clear a record in Nevada?
Sealing Records After Conviction: Court filing fees vary by court: e.g. $74 in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas Justice Courts, $270 in the Eighth Judicial District Court; $71 in Sparks Justice Court (Washoe County). Criminal History Report from DPS: $27, not waivable, plus fingerprinting ($5-$25 depending on agency) and certified copies ($3 each). Sealing After Dismissal, Declined Prosecution or Acquittal: Court filing fee varies by court (see conviction sealing). Sealing of Decriminalized Offenses: No fee may be charged.
Can a marijuana record be cleared in Nevada?
On June 16, 2020 the State Board of Pardons Commissioners unconditionally pardoned everyone convicted in Nevada of possessing one ounce or less of marijuana not for sale; you can ask the Board for a pardon document, and pardoned records are sealed. You can also ask the convicting court to seal a decriminalized offense at no cost.
Can juvenile records be cleared in Nevada?
Juvenile records are sealed automatically within 60 days after you turn 18, or after juvenile court jurisdiction ends. Before 21 you can petition 3 years after your last adjudication; records of certain serious delinquent acts not sealed by 21 cannot be sealed until age 30.
What can I say after my record is cleared in Nevada?
After sealing, the proceedings are deemed never to have occurred and you may answer any inquiry, including a job application, as if they did not happen; your rights to vote, hold office and serve on a jury are restored, but not the right to own a gun unless a pardon restores it. Exceptions: gaming and insurance regulators can inspect sealed records related to gaming or insurance, the Central Repository can report sexual offenses to employers under federal law, and the pardons board can inspect records of applicants.
How do I get a copy of my criminal record in Nevada?
Submit the Request for Nevada Criminal History (DPS-006) with an FD-258 fingerprint card and a $27 money order or certified check (fee cannot be waived), or the electronic request from inside Nevada. The report is valid for sealing for one year.
Where can I get free help in Nevada?
Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada - Criminal Record Sealing classes and forms clinic and Nevada Legal Services - record sealing forms.