The client carried a Class 4 Felony Burglary in the Third Degree conviction out of Maricopa County Superior Court from a 2001 case. Future First filed the Application to Set Aside under ARS § 13-905 and the court granted the application in 184 days, vacating the older felony and restoring firearm rights in the same order.
At a glance
| Original conviction | Burglary in the Third Degree (ARS § 13-1506), Class 4 Felony |
| Application filed | Application to Set Aside, ARS § 13-905, 2024 |
| Court | Maricopa County Superior Court |
| Result | Set Aside Granted. Conviction vacated, judgment of guilt dismissed, all civil disabilities lifted. |
| Rights restored | Firearm rights restored in the same order under ARS § 13-905(D). |
| Time from application to grant | 184 days from application filing to granted |
The challenge
A Class 4 Felony Burglary 3rd Degree conviction from a 2001 case had followed the client for over two decades. Burglary convictions show up on every background screen and trigger automatic questions on employment forms, rental applications, and financial reviews. The client had served the sentence, finished probation, and lived clean for over twenty years.
Old cases live in archive court systems. The original docket, sentencing minute entry, and absolute discharge paperwork have to be pulled from older storage. Set aside under ARS § 13-905 is available regardless of age, but the older the case, the more documentation work the application needs.
What we did
Future First filed the Application to Set Aside under ARS § 13-905 in Maricopa County Superior Court. The application reconstructed the 2001 case file from court archives, documented full sentence completion and absolute discharge, laid out the two-decade-plus clean record, and addressed each statutory factor under § 13-905(A). The firearm rights restoration request under § 13-905(D) ran in the same filing.
Older Maricopa cases take longer to process. The court has to retrieve the archived file, route the application through the assigned criminal division, and confirm the sentence-completion record. The 184-day grant reflects the work cycle on an old burglary case where the underlying paperwork lives outside the active docket system.
The judge signed the order. Set aside granted on the Class 4 Felony Burglary 3rd Degree. Firearm rights restored. The conviction is vacated, the guilty judgment is dismissed, and the civil disabilities lift in full.
What our clients say
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If you have a decades-old Arizona felony
Time alone does not remove an Arizona felony conviction. The case stays active until a set aside order vacates it. Sealing under ARS § 13-911 does not run automatically either. The applicant has to file and meet the statutory criteria. A conviction from 2001, 1991, or earlier remains on the record until those steps are taken.
Older cases bring documentation hurdles, not legal barriers. The court archive system holds the records. The clerk’s office can retrieve them. Probation files from older eras sometimes require an extra step. The application work is unchanged. Build the documentation, file in the court of conviction, and address the statutory factors.
For older Class 4 Felony cases, the sealing wait under ARS § 13-911 has already run. Five years from judge-ordered non-financial completion is the baseline wait. Decades-old cases meet that on day one. Set aside opens the door, and sealing follows once the set aside order is on the record.
Related resources
Call us
Want to clear your record in Arizona? Call Future First Criminal Law at 602-900-6240 or request a free consultation. We have handled hundreds of Arizona record removal applications across every statute path. The cleanup is permanent and the process moves faster when handled by a firm that knows the local court.
Anonymized in line with firm policy. Client name not used. Specific dates approximated to year only. Outcome described reflects this client’s actual results. Past outcomes do not guarantee future results. For more detailed information on Arizona record removal law, visit the Arizona State Legislature website.
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