When you're arrested, it becomes part of the public record. Whether you're arrested for a DUI, public intoxication, robbery, or assault, your arrest becomes public so that anyone can find out that you've been arrested before. In some instances, you can even have criminal record expungement if you've been convicted of a crime.

Criminal record expungement removes information about your arrest from the public record, offering many benefits to you. These are just a few of the benefits record expungement brings and why you might want to arrange criminal record expungement if you've been arrested.

Defend Your Reputation

Perhaps the most important reason for record expungement is to defend your reputation. An arrest, even without a conviction, can cause you public embarrassment, increased scrutiny, and substantially damage your reputation.

Going through the process of criminal record expungement may not restore all public faith in you, but it can greatly improve how you feel about yourself, especially in the event of an unfounded arrest. More importantly, it can remove many possible repercussions based on the damage arrests can do to your reputation.

Enhance Employment Opportunities

While some states have laws banning the use of arrest records (arrests without convictions, specifically), most do not. This means that if employers discover that you have a criminal record, they can use this as a reason for not considering you for employment.

Most states have no restrictions on employers firing employees found to have had prior convictions. In some states, employers can even deny jobs for anyone who has a criminal conviction regardless of their age of conviction, extenuating circumstances, or exemplary record after conviction. Criminal record expungement can help you enjoy enhanced employment opportunities that would not be available to people with currently public criminal records.

Housing Opportunities

Prior convictions can also make it more difficult to obtain quality housing as well. Few states have protections in place for rental properties to those who have been convicted of various crimes. While some states only allow this sort of discrimination against violent offenders, many states have no protections in place for people who have been convicted of crime.

In fact, people can be denied access to funds for federal housing assistance based solely on arrests. Even those that do not result in convictions.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to consider criminal record expungement if you've been arrested with or without conviction of the crime. While some crimes may not be eligible for record expungement, it is often worth exploring the possibility.