Fees & Cost

Alabama Expungement Fees & Cost

Are you in need of the Expungement of your eligible criminal record in the State of Alabama? We will work with you to make the process as smooth as possible. We can generally provide you with a simple, flat attorney’s fee for our petition for expungement representation. Our goal is to put you in a very strong position with the Court based on our custom petitions for expungement for each client. Remember, even if your case is eligible for an expungement, the District Attorney can file an objection and the Circuit Court has discretion in ruling on petitions for expungement in Alabama. Therefore we prepare custom petitions to highlight the positive information for each client and the grounds for and reasons why each client’s petition should be granted by the Circuit Court.

If your Alabama Expungement Case is not set for a hearing court hearing, then we can represent you for a reduced flat fee. Generally, if the District Attorney or other party required to receive notice does not file a written objection with the court to the expungement of your arrest record within forty-five (45) days, then a court hearing may not be required.

Or, if you may wish to hire us only to prepare the proper Petition for Expungement documents for you in the State of Alabama. You may wish to file the petition, serve notice on the required parties on your own, and represent yourself (pro se) at any court hearing. We can discuss with you a fee for this limited scope representation for a reduced flat fee and the possible pitfalls you need to avoid.

The new 2021 Expungement Law of the State of Alabama has a mandatory Administrative Filing Fee of Five Hundred Dollars ($500) per petition. All charges from a single arrest or incident only have one Administrative Filing Fee. “In addition to any cost of court or docket fee for filing the petition in Circuit Court, an administrative filing fee shall be paid at the time the petition is filed and is a condition precedent to any ruling of the court pursuant to this chapter. The administrative filing fee shall not be waived by the court …” Code of Ala. § 15-27-4(a).

In addition, the Circuit Court where your Petition for Expungement must be filed also may charge a separate filing fee. These fees are paid to the Clerk of the Circuit Court. You must have the required documents and properly completed Petition of Expungement filed and served on the necessary parties or your Petition will likely be denied. In addition, we will go over all the fees with a breakdown of fees for everything involved, so there are no surprises.

As a part of your Petition for Expungement, a copy of your certified criminal history is required to be attached as an exhibit to your petition. This report must be obtained from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). An application to obtain your certified criminal history records must be completed and there is a fee of $25 payable to the ALEA. We will provide you with this paperwork upon retaining our law office for representation.

Also, as a part of the Petition for Expungement in Alabama, a certified copy of the record of arrest, disposition, or the case action summary from the appropriate agency for the court record the petitioner seeks to have expunged must be obtained and attached to your petition as an exhibit. There will be a small fee for certified copies of the case action summary due to the clerk of the court from which the certified case action summary is obtained.

Alabama Expungement Lawyer, Jordan M. Copeland can determine if your criminal record qualifies to petition the court for an expungement. If you retain Attorney, Jordan M. Copeland you can count on our hard work and years of experience in criminal courts across Alabama to serve you well in our representation of you seeking to obtain an expungement.