The client carried a Class 4 Felony Possession or Use of Dangerous Drugs conviction out of Maricopa County Superior Court that dated back to a 1993 case. Future First filed the Application to Set Aside under ARS § 13-905 and the court granted the application in 185 days, vacating the decades-old felony drug conviction and restoring firearm rights in the same order.
At a glance
| Original conviction | Possession or Use of Dangerous Drugs (ARS § 13-3407), Class 4 Felony |
| Application filed | Application to Set Aside, ARS § 13-905, 2025 |
| Court | Maricopa County Superior Court |
| Result | Set Aside Granted. The Class 4 Felony Possession of Dangerous Drugs conviction vacated, judgment of guilt dismissed, all civil disabilities lifted. |
| Rights restored | Firearm rights restored in the same order under ARS § 13-905(D). Civil rights restored. |
| Time from application to grant | 185 days from application filing to granted |
The challenge
A Class 4 Felony drug conviction from a 1993 case had been on the client’s record for over three decades. Possession or Use of Dangerous Drugs under ARS § 13-3407 sits in the controlled-substance offense category that pharmacy boards, healthcare licensing agencies, and any employer running a fingerprint clearance card check flag automatically. The felony class triggers the federal firearm prohibition that follows any felony for life.
The client had served the sentence decades ago. Every term was completed. The years since had been clean. The active conviction record was the last barrier between the client and full rights restoration. ARS § 13-905 was the cleanup tool.
What we did
Future First filed the Application to Set Aside under ARS § 13-905 in Maricopa County Superior Court. The application documented full sentence completion from the early 1990s, the multi-decade clean record since the case, full monetary compliance, and the statutory factors the court weighs under § 13-905(A). The firearm rights restoration request under § 13-905(D) was built into the same filing.
The State filed a response opposing the application based on a claimed unpaid balance. Future First documented the actual completion record and the financial compliance picture. The court reviewed the full file and the application held up at every step. Cases from the early 1990s sit in archive court systems and require additional retrieval steps; the 185-day grant cycle reflects the work to pull the 1993 file, route the application through the criminal motion docket, and respond to the State’s opposition.
The judge signed the order. Set aside granted on the Class 4 Felony Possession of Dangerous Drugs count. Firearm rights restored in the same order. The conviction is vacated, the judgment of guilt 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 drug case
Time alone does not set aside an Arizona conviction. The case stays active on the public record until an order under ARS § 13-905 closes it. A conviction from 1993, 1983, or earlier remains visible on the Arizona Public Access database. The applicant has to file and the court has to enter the order.
The advantage on older cases is the wait period. ARS § 13-905 has no fixed wait beyond completion of sentence; decades-old cases have already cleared every completion requirement many times over. The application is ready on day one and the statutory factors line up strongly when the years since the case are clean.
Sealing under ARS § 13-911 is the next stage. The sealing wait for a Class 4 Felony is ten years from judge-ordered non-financial completion. The completion that matters is the judge-ordered side.
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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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