Your specific criminal history can have a tremendous impact on your ability to gain employment, get professional licenses, acquire housing, and obtain benefits.

At the same time, there are many myths about what you may or may not be entitled to if you’ve been convicted of a crime. It is important to know and understand your rights and that laws change.

This presentation has general information about your rights and opportunities and about restrictions you may face. In addition, the UNC School of Government has created a C-CAT, an online tool to discover specific collateral consequences of criminal convictions.

Expunging a Criminal Conviction

In some cases it is possible to remove (or expunge) prior convictions from your record. The UNC School of Government has prepared an extensive Relief From A Criminal Conviction guide explaining what mechanisms are available under North Carolina Law.

Pisgah Legal Services offers expungement assistance for income-qualified individuals.