The procedure would be nearly identical to the current law which allows defendants convicted of Public Intoxication to expunge their records.

Those convicted of PAULA would be required to avoid any criminal convictions (aside from Iowa traffic tickets) for two years following the date of the conviction. After this period has passed, they would need to petition the court to have the charge expunged.

This is an excellent bill, which would help young people become conviction-free by the time they graduate.

There is also no risk of “violating probation” that would accompany a deferred judgment. If a defendant commits a new violation, there is no probation to be revoked and the court does not need to get involved. The only penalty is that the defendant would not have the option to petition the court for expungment.

The first way to have your Initial Appearance is by being summoned at a later date.  This is most often the case with scheduled violations, such as Speeding or Possession of Alcohol Under Legal Age.

For these “tickets” the peace officer will usually write an Initial Appearance date down on the bottom of the ticket, he will ask you to sign it to acknowledge that you understand you have to appear, and then he will let you go.  This date will usually be a few weeks in the future.

Sometimes, a peace officer will release a defendant for a later Initial Appearance date even when the charge is not a scheduled misdemeanor.  This can happen regarding a Possession of Controlled Substance charge, but usually, only the Iowa State Patrol will do this.  Local police and deputies will usually bring that person into the jail.  My guess is since the Troopers cover such a large area on their patrols, they feel their time is better spent on the road than processing someone at the jail.  And perhaps it is.

The other way an Initial Appearance can occur is when the defendant is brought before the judge while still being held in jail.  This is common for all non-scheduled misdemeanors.

Either way, at the Initial Appearance the judge has the obligation to tell the defendant what they have been charged with, what the maximum and mandatory minimum penalties are, and then to set their bond (if any).

For scheduled violations, the question of the penalty rarely comes up because it is written on the ticket.  Also, it would be exceedingly rare for bond to be discussed.  The main issue is whether the defendant wishes to plead guilty, or request a trial.

For crimes greater than  simple misdemeanors, guilty pleas cannot be accepted.  The case must be halted until the state’s lawyer files a Trial Information (it’s like an indictment).

If you are questioning what plea to enter for a simple misdemeanor, you should plead not guilty.  There will be time afterward to weigh the situation and discuss your case with a lawyer.  Not guilty pleas can always be changed to guilty, but changing a guilty plea to not guilty is very difficult, and usually impossible.

A criminal history creates a unique problem for some charged with a criminal offense in Iowa.

Aside from the small exception for Public Intoxication convictions, the only way to plead guilty to a charge and have it expunged from your record is to obtain a deferred judgment.  There are no post-sentencing methods to erase (non Public Intox) convictions from your record in Iowa.

Even if someone of the highest status were to obtain the theoretical governor’s pardon, the charge may still show up as “pardoned” as opposed to being erased, or expunged, entirely.

Now, what is “expungment” anyway?  The legislature does not do a good job of providing us a definition.

One thing is certain, when a charge is “expunged” it is no longer a “conviction.”  This is very important, and for a large percentage of situations, this is all that matters.  When the job application says, “Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense?”  Someone with an expunged charge can say “no” and be totally correct.

Physically, in Johnson County (Iowa City) anyway, an expunged file is removed from the normal stacks of criminal files, and it is placed into the “sealed” box.  Nobody, no judges, lawyers, police or the defendant themselves, is allowed to look at the sealed file without a court order.  Furthermore, the entire record of the case will be removed from the Iowa Courts Online public database.  (Again, other counties may do this differently.)

So, for most all practical purposes, an expungment can make the case like it never happened.  In some ways, this is better than a dismissal.  A dismissal means that no guilt was ever established.  But that charge will still remain online, despite there being no conviction.  An expunged charge should be invisible online.

How does one go about getting a charge expunged?  Two words:  Deferred judgment.

Iowa’s deferred judgment procedure is what allows a defendant to be given the opportunity to expunge the charge after a successful period of probation.

The moral of the story is to plan ahead, and get that deferred judgment, so that you are not stuck in the position of looking for an expungment that is legally impossible in the state of Iowa.