Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Background Check Procedures
Under certain circumstances, the sentencing judge may order that an offender’s court record should be expunged upon successful completion of the sentence. If the offender is on probation that means his or her probation has not been revoked and he or she has satisfied the conditions of the probation. The court must order expungement at the time of sentencing in order for an offender to be eligible for expungement.
Expungement is often reserved for first time, young offenders. A court may expunge a criminal record under two circumstances only:
Misdemeanor and certain felony convictions for persons under the age of 25 at the time of the commission of the crime and upon successful completion of the sentence, or
Juvenile convictions upon request and upon reaching the age of 17.
Expunging a record means a court, not the governor, seals the entire criminal case file, both paper and electronic, and will not allow anyone to access the file without a court order. Note, this only pertains to records maintained by the courts. Records maintained by the DOJ, FBI, DA, and other agencies are not sealed. Additionally, an expungement does not overturn or void a conviction. Refer to section 5.4.2 for additional information on handling expunged barred offenses.
A governor’s pardon, on the other hand, forgives the ongoing penalty of the conviction but not the crime itself. A pardon does not expunge, erase or seal an individual’s criminal record, but the public record will reflect that a pardon was issued. Refer to section 5.4.3 for additional information on handling barred offense with a Governors Pardon.
The CBU or a certification agency may not deny an application or revoke a license/certification or issue an ineligible background check determination for providing false information on the Background Check Request form if the individual did not disclose:
A charge that has been previously dismissed;
A conviction that has been expunged by the court;
A conviction that has been pardoned by the governor.
This page last updated 04/2023.