By Nathan Cate, N. Cate Law | 222 2nd Avenue North, Suite 220, Nashville, TN 37201 | (615) 664-8083
A felony conviction in Tennessee follows you through every background check, every job application, every rental form, and every professional license inquiry for the rest of your life — unless it qualifies under the narrow expungement statute. Most felonies do not. A specific, limited list does. Knowing which category your case falls into is the difference between filing a productive petition and wasting months on a filing the court has no authority to grant.
I’m Nathan Cate, a Nashville criminal defense attorney with N. Cate Law. I’ve been declared a court-qualified criminal defense expert witness by a Tennessee judge and I handle expungement matters in Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Sumner, and Wilson Counties. This page explains exactly which Tennessee felonies are expungeable, which are not, and what the process looks like.
The short version
- General rule: Most felony convictions in Tennessee cannot be expunged.
- Statutory exception: Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-32-101(g) lists specific Class E felonies (and a handful of Class C and Class D felonies) that are eligible for expungement.
- Waiting period: 5 years after completion of sentence (including probation and supervised release).
- Clean record: No subsequent convictions. No pending charges.
- One bite (mostly): A petitioner may expunge no more than two eligible offenses in a lifetime, and they must arise from the same set of circumstances or be otherwise eligible under the statute.
- Hard exclusions: DUI, violent offenses, sexual offenses, offenses involving a minor, and most Class A and Class B felonies — never expungeable.
- Diversion is different: A case resolved through judicial diversion under § 40-35-313 can be expunged after successful completion, without the 5-year wait that applies to convictions.
The takeaway: a small slice of Tennessee felony convictions are expungeable. Most are not. The single most important question is whether your specific offense is on the eligibility list.
The statutory framework
Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-32-101(g) — eligible felony convictions
Subsection (g) of the expungement statute is the operative provision for felony-conviction expungement. It lists eligible offenses by statutory citation. The list has been expanded multiple times since 2012, and as of the current version it includes a meaningful number of Class E felonies and a smaller number of Class C and Class D felonies. Examples of offenses that have appeared on the list at various times include certain theft offenses below specified value thresholds, forgery, certain drug possession offenses, and several non-violent property offenses.
The list is not intuitive. Two offenses with similar names can have very different eligibility status. A defense attorney pulling current eligibility runs the specific Tennessee Code Annotated section against the current version of § 40-32-101(g), not against a general impression of “non-violent felony.”
The five-year waiting period
The waiting period runs from completion of sentence — not from the date of conviction. “Completion of sentence” includes:
- Discharge from custody.
- Completion of probation, including any extensions.
- Completion of community corrections.
- Payment of court costs and restitution (some judicial districts require costs paid before petition; others permit installment plans to continue).
A petition filed before the five-year clock runs is denied without prejudice; you can re-file once eligible.
Clean record requirement
A petitioner must have no convictions in the waiting period and no charges pending at the time of the petition. Subsequent convictions reset eligibility analysis and in many cases eliminate it. A pending charge requires the petitioner to wait until that case is resolved.
Limit on the number of expungements
The statute caps the number of eligible felony expungements per petitioner. As of the current version, the cap is two eligible offenses per lifetime, with limitations on whether multiple counts in a single case count as one offense or multiple. The specifics matter — a multi-count indictment may be expungeable as a single unit if the counts arose from the same incident.
Hard exclusions
The following are never expungeable as convictions in Tennessee:
- DUI under § 55-10-401.
- Class A felonies and most Class B felonies.
- Sexual offenses and offenses requiring SORA registration.
- Crimes of violence as defined by statute.
- Offenses involving a victim under 18.
- Offenses involving elderly or vulnerable adult victims in specified circumstances.
- Certain weapon offenses.
If your conviction is on this list, no petition under § 40-32-101(g) will succeed. The remedy in those cases is restoration of rights (where available) and, for federal-law purposes, a separate analysis.
The practical reality: what the process looks like
Step one: eligibility review
The first thing I do in any expungement consult is pull the certified judgment from the trial court and run the offense against the current eligibility list. Many would-be petitioners walk in believing their case is eligible because someone told them “non-violent felonies can be expunged after five years.” That’s an oversimplification of a statute with very specific carve-outs.
Step two: the petition
The petition is filed in the trial court that entered the conviction. It identifies the offense, the date of conviction, the sentence, the date of sentence completion, and the statutory basis for expungement. Court costs and the $280 expungement fee under § 40-32-101(g)(11) are paid at filing in most districts (some districts have moved to a $0 fee for certain offenses under recent amendments — fee structure is one of the items I confirm before filing).
Step three: the district attorney’s response
The DA’s office is served and has the opportunity to object. Common DA objections:
- The offense is not on the eligibility list.
- The five-year period has not run.
- There are subsequent convictions.
- The petitioner has already used the lifetime cap.
- Restitution is not paid in full.
A well-prepared petition addresses every objection in the filing itself, with documentation attached.
Step four: the hearing
Most uncontested petitions are decided on the papers. Contested petitions get a hearing, typically brief. The judge enters either an order of expungement or an order denying the petition with the reasons stated.
Step five: distribution of the order
Once granted, the order is distributed to TBI, the arresting agency, the court clerk, and (when applicable) the Tennessee Department of Safety. Records are sealed, not destroyed — they remain accessible to law enforcement for limited purposes, but they no longer appear on public records checks.
Common exceptions and edge cases
Judicial diversion — a different path
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-313, a defendant who pleads guilty (or is found guilty) to certain Class C, D, or E felonies (excluding the same hard exclusions as above) may be placed on judicial diversion. If the defendant successfully completes diversion, the case is dismissed and becomes immediately expungeable as a dismissal under § 40-32-101(a)(1)(A) — no five-year wait. This is the cleanest path off a felony record, but eligibility for diversion has to be established at the time of plea, not afterward.
Dismissals and not-guilty verdicts
Felony charges that ended in dismissal, nolle prosequi, retire, or not-guilty verdict are expungeable under § 40-32-101(a)(1)(A) without the five-year wait. These are typically straightforward filings.
Pre-trial diversion
A separate diversion track under § 40-15-105 results in dismissal and expungement after successful completion. Pre-trial diversion is less commonly granted than judicial diversion but produces the same end result.
Multi-count cases
If a single indictment had multiple counts that arose from the same incident, current statutory language treats them as a single offense for eligibility-cap purposes in many circumstances. The drafting of the petition matters.
Out-of-state convictions
Tennessee’s expungement statute reaches Tennessee convictions in Tennessee courts. Convictions from other states require separate proceedings in the convicting state. Tennessee cannot expunge a conviction it did not enter.
What a defense lawyer can do about it
The work in a felony expungement case is mostly procedural:
- Eligibility analysis against the current version of § 40-32-101(g).
- Records pulled — certified judgments, sentence-completion documentation, restitution-paid confirmation.
- Petition drafted to address anticipated DA objections in the initial filing.
- DA negotiation where the eligibility question is close.
- Hearing where the petition is contested.
- Follow-through — confirming TBI, the arresting agency, and DOS all received and processed the expungement order, because incomplete distribution is a recurring problem.
The cases where defense counsel makes the largest difference are: (1) judicial diversion successfully completed but not yet expunged, where timing and paperwork matter; (2) borderline eligibility cases under § 40-32-101(g) where a careful read of the statute and the underlying judgment makes the difference; and (3) cases with restitution or cost issues that need to be resolved before filing.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Class E felony always expungeable after five years?
No. The Class E felony has to be on the specific list in § 40-32-101(g). Many Class E felonies are listed; many are not. The class of the offense is necessary but not sufficient.
Does completing probation reset the five-year clock?
The five-year period runs from completion of sentence, which includes successful completion of probation. The clock starts when probation ends, not when it began.
Can I expunge a DUI in Tennessee?
A DUI conviction cannot be expunged in Tennessee. A DUI charge that was dismissed or resulted in not-guilty can be expunged as a dismissal under § 40-32-101(a)(1)(A). See my detailed treatment of DUI permanence in How Long Does a DUI Stay on Your Record in Tennessee?.
How long does the expungement process take?
Most uncontested felony expungements in Middle Tennessee take 60–120 days from filing to entry of the order. Contested petitions take longer. After entry, TBI typically updates records within another 30–60 days.
Will an expunged felony still show up on background checks?
After full distribution of the expungement order, the conviction is removed from TBI’s public-facing records and from DOS records. Federal records (FBI) are also updated, but on a slower schedule. Private background-screen vendors are required to remove the record once notified, but in practice, some commercial vendors keep stale data — a follow-up dispute letter under the Fair Credit Reporting Act is sometimes necessary.
Can I expunge a felony conviction if I’m still on probation?
No. The five-year clock has not started. You become eligible only after sentence completion.
What I do for clients seeking felony expungement
- Eligibility analysis — running the offense against the current § 40-32-101(g) list and identifying any reductions or amendments to the judgment that might affect eligibility.
- Records pulled — certified judgments, sentence-completion proof, restitution confirmation, TBI history.
- Petition drafted and filed in the original trial court.
- DA negotiation where the eligibility question is contestable.
- Hearing representation for contested petitions.
- Post-order follow-through to confirm TBI, FBI, and DOS have processed the expungement.
Free consultation, 24/7
If you’re considering filing for expungement of a Tennessee felony, call or text (615) 664-8083. I’ll pull your record, run the eligibility analysis, and tell you within one conversation whether your case can be expunged.
N. Cate Law · 222 2nd Avenue North, Suite 220, Nashville, TN 37201 · Office hours Monday–Friday until 5:30 PM · Phones answered around the clock.
Related reading
- Nashville Criminal Defense Attorney
- Tennessee Expungement
- Davidson County Criminal Defense Attorney
- Williamson County Criminal Defense Attorney
- Contact / Free Consultation
- Recent TN Decisions Hub