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Virginia's Clean Slate Law: What Changes for Expungement Eligibility in 2026

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For most of Virginia’s history, a conviction meant a permanent public record. No matter how long ago the offense occurred, no matter how much a person’s life had changed, the record stayed. That changes on July 1, 2026, when Virginia’s Clean Slate Law takes effect and creates the state’s first-ever pathway to seal conviction records. For people who were told years ago that nothing could be done, that answer has changed.

The law is nuanced. There are three separate effective dates, a lifetime cap on petition filings that most people haven’t heard about, and a list of excluded offenses that will disqualify applicants who were hoping they’d qualify. At Dischley Law, PLLC, our attorneys bring over 30 years of combined experience in Northern Virginia courts, including the Prince William County Circuit Court where Manassas-area petitions are filed. We’ve been tracking these changes closely, and what follows is an honest breakdown of what the law does, who it covers, and how to prepare.

What the Clean Slate Law Does and What It Doesn’t

The Clean Slate Act, codified at Virginia Code 19.2-392.5 through 19.2-392.17 and refined by SB1466 and HB2723 in 2025, creates Virginia’s first mechanism for sealing conviction records. That distinction matters. Sealing restricts public access to a record, but it doesn’t destroy it. Courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, and certain employers in sensitive fields retain access. If you’re hoping the law makes a conviction disappear entirely, that’s not what sealing does.

True expungement (the complete removal of a record) remains available under Virginia Code 19.2-392.2 for non-convictions: dismissals, nolle prosequi outcomes, and acquittals. Sealing is the new tool the Clean Slate Law adds for people who were actually convicted. The two remedies serve different situations and are governed by separate statutes.

Three Key Dates That Determine When You Can Act

The Clean Slate Law doesn’t flip a single switch on one day. Three separate dates trigger different categories of relief, and knowing which applies to your situation is the starting point for any plan.

July 1, 2026
Petition-based sealing opens for eligible misdemeanor and felony convictions. Filing fees and fingerprint requirements are eliminated for sealing petitions on this date. Marijuana possession records are automatically sealed on this date regardless of when the offense occurred.

October 1, 2026
The Virginia State Police begins transmitting lists of eligible conviction records to courts for automated sealing. This is when automatic sealing of listed misdemeanor convictions (including petit larceny, disorderly conduct, and misdemeanor marijuana distribution) actually begins processing for records that have already cleared the seven-year waiting period. The automation happens on the back end; you don’t petition for automatic sealing.

December 1, 2026
The expungement statute expands when the “otherwise dismissed” language is repealed, allowing more people arrested or charged for eligible offenses to petition for expungement. Dismissed traffic infractions also become expungeable on this date. This is a separate pathway from sealing and applies to non-conviction dispositions.

Automatic Sealing vs. Petition Sealing: Which Track Applies to You

The law creates two tracks, and which one applies depends on the offense, the disposition, and how much time has passed.

Automatic Sealing

You don’t file anything for automatic sealing. It applies to misdemeanor non-convictions dismissed with prejudice or resulting in acquittal on or after July 1, 2026, to marijuana possession records regardless of offense date, and to a defined list of misdemeanor convictions after a seven-year conviction-free waiting period. The Central Criminal Records Exchange, maintained by the Virginia State Police, handles the identification and routing process.

Petition-Based Sealing

Most qualifying convictions not covered by automatic sealing require a petition. Misdemeanor convictions carry a seven-year waiting period measured from the later of the conviction date or the end of any sentence served. Class 5 and Class 6 felonies (such as grand larceny and drug possession) carry a ten-year waiting period, and those petitions are discretionary, meaning a judge evaluates rehabilitation evidence before deciding whether to grant relief.

Two details that most discussions of this law skip entirely: first, charges with offense dates before January 1, 1986 can’t be sealed under current law. If your record includes older charges, they fall outside the statute’s reach regardless of how much time has passed. Second, there’s a lifetime cap of two sentencing events for petition-based sealing. If you have multiple separate convictions across different cases, the order in which you petition matters. Filing for the wrong conviction first can permanently foreclose a more valuable one.

Offenses the Law Won’t Seal

The excluded offense list is where a lot of cautious optimism gets corrected. The following categories are permanently excluded from sealing under the Clean Slate framework:

It’s also worth being clear about what sealing doesn’t restore. A sealed felony conviction doesn’t automatically restore firearm rights or other civil rights lost upon conviction. Civil rights (such as the right to vote, hold office, and serve on a jury) require a separate petition through the Governor’s office. Firearm rights require a separate two-step process: the Governor must first restore civil rights, and then the individual must petition the circuit court for a firearm rights restoration order. The Governor doesn’t have authority to restore firearm rights directly.

One thing the 2025 amendments did fix: ancillary matters tied to a sealed conviction (such as probation violations, failures to appear, and bond appeals carrying the same case number) are now automatically sealed along with the underlying conviction. Previously, those related records stayed visible even after the primary conviction was sealed. That gap is closed for petitions filed under the updated law.

How the Process Works in Prince William County & Manassas

If your case originated in Prince William County or the City of Manassas, your petition goes to the Prince William County Circuit Court at the Judicial Center, 9311 Lee Avenue, Manassas, VA 20110. Starting July 1, 2026, there’s no filing fee and no fingerprint requirement for sealing petitions filed there.

Before you file, three preparation steps matter:

  • Pull the full disposition record for each charge from the clerk’s office where the case was heard, not just what you remember about the outcome
  • Confirm the exact offense date and sentencing date to calculate whether the seven-year or ten-year waiting period has actually run
  • Check the excluded offense list for every charge before assuming eligibility, including any ancillary charges that appeared in the same case

For anyone with multiple convictions across different cases, the two-sentencing-event lifetime cap makes sequence critical. Filing in the wrong order doesn’t just delay relief for the second conviction. It can eliminate it entirely. Having our attorneys review your record before any petition is filed protects whatever sealing eligibility you still have.

The July 1, 2026 effective date is close, and courts will begin receiving petitions as soon as it arrives. People who have their records pulled, their waiting periods calculated, and their petitions drafted in advance won’t be caught in the backlog that always follows a major statutory change. If you have a conviction on your record in Manassas or Prince William County and want to know whether the Clean Slate Law applies to your situation, Dischley Law, PLLC offers free consultations and can walk you through the eligibility analysis before you file. Reach our team at (703) 215-9337.