Nashville Expungement Lawyer | Clearing Eligible Criminal Records in Davidson County
Nashville Criminal Defense Lawyer & Former Prosecutor Kevin Kennedy. 615-205-7311. Call or text for a free consultation.
What Is an Expungement?
An expungement is the legal process used to remove eligible criminal charges or cases from the public criminal record. In Davidson County, the process begins at the local court where the case was handled.
An arrest does not necessarily have to remain on a person's public record forever. Whether it can be removed depends on the charge, disposition, criminal history, and Tennessee law.
Which Davidson County Cases May Be Eligible?
The Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk lists dismissed cases, nolle prosequi dispositions, no true bills, not-guilty dispositions, retired cases, and certain diversion cases among the dispositions that may qualify for expungement.
Some Tennessee convictions can also qualify, but conviction expungement has additional statutory restrictions. Eligibility should be checked for the exact offense rather than assumed from the general charge category.
Are Dismissed Charges Free to Expunge?
The Davidson County Clerk states that dismissed, nolle, no-true-bill, not-guilty, and retired cases do not require an expungement fee. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation likewise explains that dismissed, nolle prosequi, no-true-bill, and not-guilty charges are eligible for expungement without cost to the defendant.
Diversion and conviction expungements can involve clerk fees or other statutory requirements.
What About Judicial or Pretrial Diversion?
Successful completion of judicial diversion or pretrial diversion can create a path to expungement. The TBI explains that diversion eligibility is analyzed through its diversion process and that successful completion can support an expungement request.
Finishing diversion does not mean a person should simply assume every record has disappeared. The required expungement process should be completed.
How Do I Start the Davidson County Expungement Process?
The Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk provides an Expungement Inquiry process through its Compliance Department. The Clerk asks for identifying information and, when available, the case number so eligibility can be reviewed.
For someone with multiple arrests or cases, it can be useful to identify each case and disposition before deciding what can be cleared.
What If I Do Not Know My Case Number?
Davidson County provides a public criminal case search that can be used to locate many cases by name. Older records or records with unusual identifying information may require additional verification.
Expunged charges should not appear in the Clerk's public case-search information.
Can a Conviction Be Expunged?
Some Tennessee convictions can be expunged, but the rules are much narrower than for dismissed charges. The offense must satisfy Tennessee's conviction-expungement requirements, and other statutory conditions can apply.
A lawyer can review the judgment and criminal history to determine whether the conviction is potentially eligible.
Why Does Expungement Matter?
An old arrest or criminal case can affect employment, housing, professional licensing, education, and background checks. Clearing an eligible record can therefore have consequences long after the criminal case itself ended.
Third-party websites and cached internet results can present separate practical issues, but the first step is making sure the official record is legally expunged when the person qualifies.
Talk With a Nashville Expungement Lawyer
Kevin Kennedy is a former Davidson County prosecutor who now represents people in criminal and record-clearing matters in Nashville and throughout Middle Tennessee. Kevin Kennedy Law Firm offers a free consultation to discuss whether a Davidson County case may qualify for expungement.
Call Kevin Kennedy Law Firm at (615) 205-7311 for a free consultation.