Burlington, WI asked in Criminal Law, Appeals / Appellate Law and Libel & Slander for Wisconsin

Q: Can a judge deny expungement due to a failed drug test during probation?

Class I Felony, Delivery of THC (party to the crime). 18 months probation. I failed 3 drug tests, one of which was my first day meeting with the probation officer, and was never revoked or had a violation hearing. At the time of sentencing I was told that expungement would be available once probation was completed.

1 Lawyer Answer

A: The law is that you must successfully complete your probation. That differs from whether you were revoked. But given that you were not revoked, I have question about why your case ended up back in front of a judge. Expungement is supposed to happen automatically when the clerk of court receives paperwork from the probation office. Because you were not revoked, I wonder why clerk of court did not expunge the record. It sounds like a mistake on the clerk's part.

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