It is a good idea for the benefit of the person concerned that all dismissed criminal records be erased or expunged. Expungement is a process where the criminal records are sealed or destroyed.

The cases that were found not guilty on Rhode Island and any other place, should not be allowed to remain in the records.

Several people do not understand the reason behind having to expunge such records, because their contention is, if there are no guilty findings and the case has been dismissed, what difference does it make, as it does not affect the criminal record concerned.

The thing is, even if a case is dismissed and the person not found guilty, the details of what had happened remain in the criminal records and nobody would want such history. Any place in the criminal records, even if there is nothing to it, is always seen as a negative aspect and can affect the individual in several ways, by creating problems with finding employment or even just ruin the social reputation.

Since all criminal records in Rhode Island are allowed to be accessed by the public, nobody wants people snooping on them and finding a criminal history, even that of a dismissal.

Police treatment also depends on the criminal record history and you will be treated differently, even if you have a dismissal.

For this expungement to take place, the person will have to file a motion with the court and may have to attend a court hearing. At the end of the year, all the year’s filings can be expunged.

Non-expunged dismissals haunt a person later at some point in time, even in cases where the person has no hand in. That makes it essential for people to ensure all such cases are expunged without fail at the end of the year, to ensure a clean record with no criminal entries.