As of July 1, 2023 with the passage of Senate Bill 731 and Assembly Bill 1076 – The Clean Slate Act, most people’s arrest and conviction records will get automatically cleared through a process called “automatic relief”:
Misdemeanor arrests will be sealed after 1 year if there are no charges, and felony arrests will be sealed after 3 years if there are no charges.
Charges that get dismissed should be cleared right away.
Convictions of cases where the judge granted probation should be cleared once the case closes.
Otherwise, misdemeanors convictions should be cleared 1 year after the case ends, while felony convictions should be cleared 4 years after the case ends. (This does not apply to serious, violent, or sex offender felonies.)