Can You Seal a Disorderly Conduct Conviction in Arizona?

A shouting match, a bar fight, or a loud argument at home brought the police to your door, and the case ended in a plea to disorderly conduct. You paid the fine and finished the classes years ago. The conviction still shows up every time an employer or a landlord runs your name.

We file Arizona record sealing applications every day, and AZ Record Removal is owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law. As of 2026, the sealing law works this way for a disorderly conduct conviction.

Can you seal a disorderly conduct conviction in Arizona?

Yes, in most cases. The usual disorderly conduct conviction under A.R.S. § 13-2904 is a class 1 misdemeanor, and Arizona’s sealing law, A.R.S. § 13-911, covers it. Once you finish every term of the sentence and the waiting period runs, you apply to seal the arrest, the charge, the conviction and the sentence in one filing.

Two situations change the answer. If your conviction is the class 6 felony version, where a weapon was involved, the law adds an element bar you have to clear. If the judge entered a finding that the offense was dangerous, sealing is closed. A domestic violence tag changes neither the eligibility nor the waiting period. Start by pulling the record. Our page on finding your Arizona criminal record online shows what a screener sees today.

What counts as disorderly conduct under A.R.S. § 13-2904?

Six kinds of behavior, and the paragraph you pled to sets the class of your conviction. Under A.R.S. § 13-2904, a person commits disorderly conduct by doing one of these with intent to disturb the peace of a neighborhood, family or person, or knowing that is the effect.

• Fighting, violent behavior, or behavior that seriously disturbs the people around you.
• Making unreasonable noise.
• Using abusive language or gestures likely to provoke an immediate physical response.
• Making a protracted commotion to stop a lawful meeting or gathering.
• Refusing a lawful order to disperse near a fire or another emergency.
• Recklessly handling, displaying or discharging a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.

The first five are class 1 misdemeanors. The sixth is a class 6 felony. Most people reading this hold the misdemeanor version, often as a plea down from an assault charge. Your plea agreement or the sentencing minute entry names the paragraph, and that paragraph sets your waiting period.

How long do you wait to seal a disorderly conduct conviction?

Three years for a class 1 misdemeanor and five years for a class 6 felony. A.R.S. § 13-911 starts the clock when you finish the nonmonetary terms of the sentence and the judge discharges you, not on the arrest date or the plea date. If you served 12 months of probation, the clock started the day probation ended.

Disorderly conduct conviction	Class	Wait before filing
Paragraphs 1 through 5	Class 1 misdemeanor	3 years
Paragraph 6, weapon or dangerous instrument	Class 6 felony	5 years
Class 6 felony designated a misdemeanor	Class 1 misdemeanor	3 years

Every fine, fee and restitution order has to be paid in full on the day you file. An unpaid balance does not stop the clock, but it blocks the filing, so we check the court’s ledger before we file. Once filed, timing moves with the county. Our report on how long record sealing takes in Arizona breaks it down by court.

Does a domestic violence tag block sealing in Arizona?

No. A disorderly conduct conviction marked DV is still a class 1 misdemeanor, and A.R.S. § 13-911 does not exclude it. The tag comes from A.R.S. § 13-3601, which lists disorderly conduct under paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 6 as a domestic violence offense when the other person was a spouse, a former partner, a household member, a relative, or someone you share a child with. The tag adds domestic violence classes to the sentence. It does not change the three-year wait.

What the tag changes is who gets a voice. The prosecutor must notify any victim who asked for notice, and that person has the right to object and to speak at a hearing. We have sealed DV misdemeanors, and the applications that get denied usually involve a new arrest since the plea. The tag also raises a separate federal firearm question that turns on which paragraph you pled to, and our post on gun rights after an Arizona domestic violence case covers it.

Can you seal a felony disorderly conduct with a weapon?

Sometimes, and the plea paperwork decides it. A.R.S. § 13-911 bars sealing for any offense that has the discharge, use or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument as an element. Paragraph 6 of A.R.S. § 13-2904 reads recklessly handles, displays or discharges. Discharge sits in both lists, so a conviction for firing a weapon meets the bar head on. Handling or displaying a weapon is not the same wording as use or threatening exhibition, and the prosecutor and the judge do not always read that overlap the same way.

Two other checks come first. If the plea carried a finding of a dangerous offense under A.R.S. § 13-105, both sealing and the set aside are closed. Most weapon pleas are negotiated as non-dangerous, and the minute entry says so. Disorderly conduct is not on Arizona’s serious offense list, so the 10-year rule for serious offenses does not apply. We read the plea agreement and the sentencing order before we tell you whether this filing is worth your money.

What if your disorderly conduct was a plea down from assault?

The sealing application covers the whole case, including the assault count the prosecutor dismissed. A background check often prints the original charge beside the conviction, so a screener reads assault, dismissed, then disorderly conduct, guilty, and the hiring manager stops at the first word. Sealing under A.R.S. § 13-911 takes the arrest, every charge in the case and the conviction out of public view together.

The judge does see the original charge. The prosecutor’s file and the police report describe what happened in your case, and the judge weighs it when deciding whether sealing serves your interests and public safety. A plea down from a shoving match with no injury reads differently from a plea down from an aggravated assault with a weapon. Our post on sealing an assault conviction in Arizona covers the case where the conviction itself stayed an assault.

What does sealing remove, and what stays?

Sealing removes the public court record, the Department of Public Safety record, and the arrest record held by the police agency. Once the order takes effect, the case drops off the public case lookup, and a background check that pulls from the court or from DPS comes back clean on that case. A.R.S. § 13-911 also lets you say you were never arrested for, charged with, or convicted of the sealed offense on a job application, a rental application or a loan application.

Sealing does not remove a Google result, a news story or a mugshot website. The order does not reach them. A few applications still require disclosure, including a fingerprint clearance card application and a job with a police agency, a prosecutor’s office, a court or a probation department. Our post on when background checks still show a sealed record lists each one.

What does the judge weigh before granting the application?

Your best interests and public safety. That is the test A.R.S. § 13-911 gives the judge, and it is the whole test. Meeting every deadline does not force a grant, so the filing has to make the case for you. The judge looks at how long ago the conduct happened, what you have done since, whether any new arrests appear, and what the prosecutor and any victim say.

The clerk sends the application to the prosecutor, who has the option to object and ask for a hearing. The judge waits 60 days after the filing before ruling, unless the prosecutor and every victim who asked for notice say they do not object. Most disorderly conduct applications get decided on the paperwork with no hearing. A denial carries a real cost, because a denied applicant waits three years before filing again. We attach proof the sentence is finished, proof of payment and a statement of what your life looks like now.

Should you set aside the conviction too?

Yes, if your case qualifies, and most disorderly conduct cases do. A set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905 sets aside the judgment of guilt and dismisses the charge. The record stays public, but it shows the dismissal, and the judge releases you from the penalties and disabilities of the conviction. There is no waiting period beyond finishing the sentence, and the law bars the clerk from charging a filing fee on the application.

Sealing hides the case. A set aside changes what the case says. The set aside also brings a Certificate of Second Chance for many applicants, which helps with occupational licensing and housing. We file the set aside as soon as the sentence is finished and the sealing application the day the waiting period runs. Read our set aside page and our guide to the Certificate of Second Chance.

Does a disorderly conduct conviction take your gun rights?

A misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction does not take your Arizona gun rights. The class 6 felony version does, because any felony conviction makes you a prohibited possessor under Arizona law until a judge restores the right. The route back is A.R.S. § 13-910, which lets you apply once you complete probation or receive an absolute discharge. A dangerous offense is barred from restoration and a serious offense waits 10 years. Felony disorderly conduct with a non-dangerous plea is neither, so no waiting period applies. Restoration stays in the judge’s discretion.

A set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905 restores the right to possess a firearm on its own for anyone not convicted of a serious offense, which is why we file it alongside the sealing on a felony case. Sealing restores nothing. It hides the case. Our firearm rights restoration page explains both routes.

What if the class 6 felony is still undesignated?

File for designation first, because it cuts the sealing wait from five years to three. Many weapon pleas under paragraph 6 leave the class 6 felony open. Under A.R.S. § 13-604, the judge treats an undesignated class 6 as a misdemeanor for most purposes, but the public record still reads class 6 felony and the firearm bar still applies until the judge enters the designation order.

A.R.S. § 13-604 directs the judge to designate the offense a misdemeanor when you successfully finish probation and get discharged. If probation ended years ago and nobody filed the request, the door is still open. Once the order enters, the conviction is a class 1 misdemeanor for all purposes, and the three-year sealing clock governs. We file designation, the set aside and the sealing application together when the clock has already run. Start with our page on designating a felony to a misdemeanor.

Why should you choose AZ Record Removal?

Arizona record clearing is the only work we do, and AZ Record Removal is owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law. Our founder, Zachary Divelbiss, cleared his own record before he cleared anyone else’s. He had six convictions from when he was young, and he used a set aside and sealing to take them off background checks.

Here is what that means for your disorderly conduct case. We pull the record and tell you what it shows before you pay. We read the plea agreement and the minute entry to find the paragraph, the DV tag and any dangerous finding. We file the sealing application, the set aside and the designation request when they fit, and we track the court until the judge rules. One flat fee per case with no court costs added, laid out on our pricing page. We hold 250+ five-star Google reviews. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 602-900-6240, and we schedule consultations during business hours.

What should you do next?

Find out which paragraph of disorderly conduct sits on your record and when your clock ran. Take our free eligibility quiz. It asks about the class, the sentence date and any DV tag, and it tells you in a few minutes which filings fit. Then call 602-900-6240. We will tell you what we would file, what it costs, and whether the weapon paragraph or a dangerous finding changes the answer. No judge is required to grant a sealing application, and three years is a long wait after a denial. Filing once, completely, is the job.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a disorderly conduct conviction stay on your record in Arizona?

Until a judge seals it. Arizona does not drop a misdemeanor conviction after a set number of years. The public court record and the DPS record stay searchable until a judge grants a sealing application under A.R.S. § 13-911. For a class 1 misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction, you become eligible to file three years after you finish the sentence and pay every fine.

Does a disorderly conduct conviction show up on a background check?

Yes. A disorderly conduct conviction appears on a court records search, a DPS background check and most commercial screening reports. If the case started as an assault charge, the dismissed assault count often prints beside it. Sealing removes the whole case from the public court and DPS records. A set aside alone leaves it visible with the dismissal noted.

Is disorderly conduct a felony or a misdemeanor in Arizona?

Both versions exist. Disorderly conduct under paragraphs 1 through 5 of A.R.S. § 13-2904, which cover fighting, noise, abusive language, breaking up a lawful meeting and refusing to disperse, is a class 1 misdemeanor. Paragraph 6, recklessly handling, displaying or discharging a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, is a class 6 felony. Your plea agreement names the paragraph you pled to.

What happens after the judge grants the sealing order?

The clerk, the Department of Public Safety and the arresting agency seal their records of the case. The public case lookup stops showing it, and you are allowed to answer no when asked about the arrest or the conviction on most applications. The order does not reach news articles, mugshot sites or search engines, and a fingerprint clearance card application still requires disclosure.