What is convicted felon

The general rule of thumb is that the more serious the crime committed, the less likely a person can have it expunged. Thus, felonies such as sex crimes, first-degree murder, and child pornography are typically not eligible for expungement. Some factors that make it more likely that the court will consider a request for expungement include if the person was a minor when the crime was committed, the nature of the crime charged, the amount of time that has passed since the conviction or arrest, and if they have completed all court-ordered requirements for their sentence.

Note that there is a difference between when a defendant gets arrested for a felony versus when they are charged with a felony. A felony arrest simply means that the suspect is in custody based on the belief that they committed a felony.

On the other hand, a felony charge means that an official legal proceeding has been initiated against the person. Although still not an easy feat, it is much more likely that a court will expunge an arrest for a felony than a felony charge.

A felon is a person who has been charged and convicted of a felony offense. This often means that they received a jail or prison sentence for at least one year, and possibly longer. Having a record will make it difficult to find a job, gain custody rights over children, and can take away the right to vote in elections.

Additionally, if a felon is charged and convicted of another crime in the future, their resulting punishment will most likely be more severe than their last e. If you are facing charges for a felony offense, then you should strongly consider hiring a local criminal defense attorney for assistance.

Your attorney will be able to explain how the laws in your state apply to your particular case, the consequences of a conviction, and the next steps you should take. In addition, your attorney can help you prepare and file documents with the court for your case, and can provide representation on your behalf as well. Your attorney will also be able to determine if there are any defenses you can raise against the charges and whether there is a possibility to have your charges reduced or dropped.

Therefore, it would be in your best interest to consult an attorney. Without one, not only is there a higher risk of receiving a conviction, but you also miss out on the opportunity to argue for a lower sentence. As such, it is very likely that you could be looking at significant jail time and heavy criminal fines. Jaclyn Wishnia. Jaclyn started at LegalMatch in October Her role entails writing legal articles for the law library division, located on the LegalMatch website.

Prior to joining LegalMatch, Jaclyn was a paralegal and freelance writer. After several years of working for both criminal defense and entertainment law firms, she enrolled in law school. While in law school, her law journal note was selected for first-round publishing, and can be found on various legal research databases. Jaclyn holds a J. Cardozo School of Law, specializing in both intellectual property law and data law; and a B. You can learn more about Jaclyn here.

Jose Rivera. Law Library Disclaimer. Can't find your category? Click here. Define Felon and Felony Cha Choose a Legal Category: Family Law. Other felonies may include tax evasion, espionage, treason, fraud and burglary. Felony is a term that has its roots in English common law. Originally, a person who was convicted of a felony faced the punishment of having their property and possessions confiscated. Most countries in the world no longer use terms such as felony or misdemeanor in distinguishing or classifying types of crime; however, the United States is a major exception.

A person who has been convicted of a felony will usually have difficulties when seeking employment. Many employers perform background checks on potential employees; the presence of a felony often excludes a person from consideration. Also, a convicted felon must be forthcoming in denoting their history to potential employers, or may be disqualified from consideration.

Convicted felons face other consequences in addition to imprisonment and fines. In the United States, a person who has been convicted of a felony may not serve on a jury. Additionally, a convicted felon may not vote in elections even after being released from jail or prison.

Examples of felonies include murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping, but felonies don't always involve violent crimes. For instance, forgery, theft, and fraud can result in felony penalties, if the amount of money involved is large enough.

Sentences for felonies can range anywhere from one year to life in prison and, in some states and in the federal system, a sentence can include the death penalty also called capital punishment.

Generally speaking, the more serious the crime is, the longer the sentence can be. But other factors, such as a person's prior criminal history, can affect the length of sentence. Felons usually serve out their sentence in state or federal prison, while misdemeanants serve their sentences in a local jail.

But a judge can order a felon to serve a shorter sentence in jail, usually as part of probation. More on probation below. The opposite, however, isn't true—a judge cannot order a person convicted of a misdemeanor to serve a sentence in prison.

Just because a statute classifies a crime as a felony and it carries the possibility of a prison sentence doesn't mean that every convicted felon will go to prison. For less serious or first-time felonies, the judge can usually sentence a person to either jail time or probation, instead of prison.

If the crime involves serious physical harm, like murder or aggravated assault, a convicted felon will likely face a lengthy prison sentence. As an alternative to a prison sentence, a judge might sentence someone to felony probation.

Probation includes conditions that the convicted person must successfully complete to avoid being sent to prison.

Common conditions of probation include:. Let's say Melissa shoplifts a bracelet from a jewelry store. The penalty for theft generally depends on the value of the stolen item s and varies from state to state. However, because Melissa has no prior offenses on her record, the judge decides to sentence her to probation rather than incarcerating her.

But the threat of incarceration remains. Her probation requires her to obey all laws, report to a probation officer, perform 50 hours of community service, pay restitution of the amount stolen to the jewelry store, and stay away from the jewelry store.

As long as she fulfills these obligations, she can avoid incarceration. Parole and supervised release differ from probation. A judge imposes probation as an alternative to prison, whereas parole and supervised release occur near the end of a person's sentence and involve systems of early release. In states that use parole, parole boards not judges decide if a felon should be released on parole, and the board takes into consideration the felon's behavior while incarcerated.

Persons on parole called parolees must remain law-abiding no new crimes and meet certain conditions in order to maintain their freedom.