Can You Seal a Theft Conviction in Arizona?

A theft conviction follows you into every job application, every apartment screening and every background check. It might have been one item worth less than a thousand dollars when you were nineteen, or a felony case with restitution you finished paying years ago. Either way, the case still sits in the public court record, and you want to know whether Arizona will let you close it.

We handle Arizona record sealing every day, and most theft convictions qualify. AZ Record Removal is owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law, and sealing theft cases is routine work for us.

Can you seal a theft conviction in Arizona?

Yes, in most cases. A.R.S. § 13-911 lets a person convicted of theft apply to seal the case records once the sentence is complete and the waiting period for the class of offense has run. The law names the convictions it shuts out, and plain theft is not among them. That holds whether the judge entered a class 1 misdemeanor for a theft under $1,000 or a class 2 felony for a theft of $25,000 or more.

A granted order seals the arrest, the charge, the conviction and the sentence from public view. The clerk, the Department of Public Safety and the arresting agency all receive it. Our record sealing page covers the filing itself. As of 2026, the sealing law works this way, under the rewrite from SB 1639 that took effect on September 13, 2024. Shoplifting is charged under its own section of Arizona law, and this post covers theft only.

Which theft convictions does the sealing law exclude?

Almost none. A.R.S. § 13-911 bars sealing for a dangerous offense as defined in A.R.S. § 13-105, a dangerous crime against children, a serious offense or violent or aggravated felony, any offense with a deadly weapon or serious physical injury as an element, sex trafficking, and class 2 through class 5 felony sex offenses. Theft sits in chapter 18 of the criminal code, and none of those exclusions reach chapter 18.

Two neighbors of theft do get shut out. Armed robbery is a serious offense, and first degree burglary carries a weapon element. Both are separate crimes with separate section numbers, and neither one is theft. A theft case where the prosecutor alleged and proved a dangerousness finding would be excluded, but that finding is rare on a theft charge. If your judgment reads theft with no dangerous finding, the exclusion list does not touch you. Our post on the crimes Arizona will not seal walks the full list.

How long do you wait to seal a theft conviction?

It depends on the class on your sentencing order. A.R.S. § 13-911 ties the wait to the class of the offense, and Arizona’s theft law sets the class by the value of what was taken. Here is how the two line up.

Value taken	Class of offense	Sealing wait
Under $1,000	Class 1 misdemeanor	3 years
$1,000 to under $2,000	Class 6 felony	5 years
$2,000 to under $3,000	Class 5 felony	5 years
$3,000 to under $4,000	Class 4 felony	5 years
$4,000 to under $25,000	Class 3 felony	10 years
$25,000 or more	Class 2 felony	10 years

Two notes. A theft of a firearm, or of property taken from another person’s body, is at least a class 6 felony even when the value is under $1,000. And the dollar thresholds have moved over the years, so an older case follows the class the judge entered, not today’s table. Read the class off your judgment, not off the police report. A dismissed theft charge has no waiting period at all, and neither does a not guilty verdict or a vacated conviction.

Does unpaid restitution stop the sealing clock on a theft case?

No, but it stops you from filing. Those are two different rules under A.R.S. § 13-911, and theft cases trip over both. The clock starts the day you finish the nonmonetary terms of your sentence and the judge discharges you. That is the last day of probation, or the day you walked out of custody, or the date on the discharge order. Fines and restitution do not move that date.

Payment matters on the day you file. The law requires every fine, fee and restitution order to be paid in full at filing, and theft cases almost always carry restitution to the person or business you took from. An open balance of any size makes you ineligible on that date. The clock keeps running while you pay, though. If probation on a class 6 theft ended six years ago and you cleared the last of the restitution this month, your five-year wait already ran and you file now. The clerk of the sentencing court holds the ledger, and we confirm the balance before we quote a filing date. Our sealing timeline page covers how long the court takes once you file.

Does designating a class 6 theft felony shorten the wait?

Yes, by two years. Many thefts between $1,000 and $2,000 end as an undesignated class 6 felony, where the judge leaves the label open during probation. Under A.R.S. § 13-604, the judge designates that offense a class 1 misdemeanor on successful completion of probation, and the designation is mandatory on discharge unless you owe victim restitution or refused to pay. Once the case reads as a class 1 misdemeanor, the three-year wait governs instead of the five-year felony wait.

That swap matters for someone who finished probation four years ago. As a felony, sealing is a year off. As a designated misdemeanor, it is available now. We file the designation request and the sealing application together when a case qualifies for both. Start with our page on how to designate a felony to a misdemeanor if your judgment says undesignated or open.

Does the victim get a say when you seal a theft conviction?

Yes. Under A.R.S. § 13-911 the clerk sends your application to the prosecutor, and the prosecutor notifies any victim who asked for post-conviction notice. The victim has the right to be present and heard at any hearing. In a theft case the victim is the person or business you took from. A large retailer rarely responds. An individual sometimes does.

A victim objection does not end the application. The judge weighs it against the time that has passed, the restitution you paid and what you have done since. Paid restitution is the strongest answer to a victim objection, because it shows the harm was repaired. We write the application to put that fact in front of the judge before anyone objects.

Will the prosecutor object to sealing a theft conviction?

Sometimes. The prosecutor may respond and request a hearing. Objections on theft cases come most often when the dollar amount was large, when restitution was paid late or through collections, or when you picked up a new charge after the theft. On a single old misdemeanor theft with everything paid, most prosecutors file nothing.

The judge grants the application on a finding that sealing serves your best interests and the public’s safety. That is the standard you have to meet. A short application with proof of payment, proof of discharge and a plain statement of what has changed in your life does more work than a long one. Our post on winning the judge’s decision explains what judges look for.

What does sealing a theft conviction hide?

Sealing takes the case out of the public court record and out of the public Department of Public Safety record. A screening company that pulls Arizona court records after the seal gets nothing on that case. The same goes for a landlord who searches the Arizona courts public access lookup. Use our guide to search your Arizona record before and after so you see the change yourself.

Sealing does not reach the internet. A news story about the arrest stays up. A search result stays up. A mugshot site keeps the photo until someone asks it to take the photo down. The order binds the court, the police and DPS, and nothing else. The record also stays open to law enforcement, to the prosecutor in a later case and to the courts, and it still counts as a prior if you are charged again. Sealing hides the case from the public. It does not pretend the case never happened.

Do you have to admit a sealed theft conviction on a job application?

Usually no, with two exceptions written for theft. A.R.S. § 13-911 says a person whose records are sealed may state in all instances that they were never arrested for, charged with or convicted of that crime, including on employment, housing, financial aid and loan applications. For most jobs, that is a clean no.

The law then lists exceptions, and two of them name theft. First, if the theft was from a residential or nonresidential structure and you apply for a job that requires entering and working inside someone’s home, you must disclose it. Think cable installer, home health aide or house cleaner. Second, any conviction under chapter 18 of the criminal code, which is where theft lives, must be disclosed when you apply for a job that involves accounting, overseeing, transporting, handling or managing another person’s money or financial assets. A bank teller, a bookkeeper or an armored car driver falls in that group. Fingerprint clearance card applications, law enforcement and court jobs, and anything federal law requires stay open as well. Our guide to sealed records and background checks covers the rest of the list.

Should you set aside a theft conviction before sealing it?

Do both, and file them together. A set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905 sets aside the judgment of guilt and dismisses the charge. There is no waiting period, and the law bars the clerk from charging a filing fee. The record stays public, but it now reads dismissed, and the judge issues a certificate of second chance when you qualify, which lifts barriers to an occupational license. If the theft was a felony, a set aside also restores your right to possess a firearm under A.R.S. § 13-905, since theft is not a serious offense. Our page on how to restore firearm rights covers that order.

Sealing then takes the dismissed case out of view. The two filings answer different problems. A set aside fixes what the record says. Sealing fixes who sees it. Our set aside page explains the filing, and our comparison of record sealing versus set aside shows how they stack.

What happens after you file the sealing application?

Expect a 60-day hold. A.R.S. § 13-911 bars the judge from granting or denying the application for 60 calendar days after the court receives it, unless the prosecutor and every victim who asked for notice say they do not object. Most theft cases ride out the full 60 days. If anyone asks for a hearing, the judge sets one, and you usually appear by phone or video.

A grant produces a sealing order that goes to the clerk, DPS and the arresting agency. Each one updates its records on its own schedule, so plan on a few more weeks before a fresh background check comes back clean. A denial bars a new application for three years, which is why we check every eligibility box before we file. Our case victories page shows how long recent sealing grants took from filing to order.

Why choose AZ Record Removal for your theft case?

Arizona record clearing is all we do. We are owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law, and our founder, Zachary Divelbiss, sealed his own record before he sealed anyone else’s. We pull your court record first and tell you what it shows, the class on the judgment, the discharge date and any unpaid balance, before you pay us a dollar.

We file the sealing application, the designation request and the set aside together when your case qualifies for all three. We track the court through the 60-day hold, answer the prosecutor if an objection comes in, and send you the signed order. The fee is flat with no court costs on top, and the numbers sit on our pricing page. We work statewide and handle every step remotely. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day at 602-900-6240, and we schedule consultations during business hours. We carry 250+ five-star Google reviews from people who started where you are now.

Ready to seal your theft conviction in Arizona?

A theft conviction is one of the more straightforward records to seal in Arizona once the wait has run and the restitution is paid. Every month it sits public is another background check that reports it. Take our free eligibility quiz and learn in a few minutes whether your wait has run. Then call 602-900-6240 and we will tell you what we would file, when, and what it costs. No judge is required to grant any application, and putting a complete one in front of the right judge is what we do every day.

Assault convictions follow a different set of rules, and our guide to sealing an assault conviction in Arizona explains which ones qualify.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a theft conviction count as a serious offense in Arizona?

No. The serious offense list covers crimes like murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and first degree burglary. Plain theft is not on it, no matter the dollar amount. That means a theft conviction faces no serious offense bar to sealing under A.R.S. § 13-911 and no serious offense bar to firearm restoration on a set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905.

Does sealing a theft conviction remove it from Google?

No. Sealing binds the court, the police and the Department of Public Safety. It does not reach a news site, a search engine or a mugshot site, and those stay up until each one takes the content down. Sealing removes the public court record, which is the source most background check companies pull from, so new reports on that case come back clean.

How long do you wait to seal a felony theft in Arizona?

Five years for a class 4, 5 or 6 felony theft and ten years for a class 2 or 3 felony theft, counted from the day you finished probation or your sentence and were discharged. Every fine, fee and restitution order must be paid in full on the day you file. A class 6 theft designated a misdemeanor follows the three-year misdemeanor wait instead.

What if the judge denies the application to seal a theft conviction?

A denial under A.R.S. § 13-911 bars a new application for three years. The most common reasons on theft cases are an unpaid restitution balance, a miscounted waiting period or a new charge after the theft. Confirm the discharge date and the balance before filing so the first application is the one the judge grants.