The client carried a Class 6 Felony Drug Paraphernalia conviction, a Class 6 Felony Marijuana Possession conviction, and a Class 2 Felony Dangerous Drug Violation conviction out of Maricopa County Superior Court from a 1999 case. Future First filed the Application to Seal Records under ARS § 13-911 and the court granted the application in 181 days, sealing all three felony counts from public view and from background-check exposure.
At a glance
| Original conviction | Drug Paraphernalia (ARS § 13-3415), Class 6 Felony; Marijuana Possession (ARS § 13-3405), Class 6 Felony; Dangerous Drug Violation (ARS § 13-3407), Class 2 Felony |
| Application filed | Application to Seal Records, ARS § 13-911, 2024 |
| Court | Maricopa County Superior Court |
| Result | Sealing Record Granted. All three felony counts sealed from public view and from background-check exposure. |
| Rights restored | The applicant can lawfully deny the case in most non-law-enforcement contexts. Background checks that consume the sealed-records database no longer return the case. |
| Time from application to grant | 181 days from application filing to granted |
The challenge
Three felony drug convictions from a 1999 case had been on the client’s record for over two decades. The mix included a Class 2 Felony Dangerous Drug Violation, the highest non-life felony tier on Arizona’s controlled-substance schedule. Class 2 Felony exposure draws the heaviest weight on background checks, especially in healthcare, pharmacy, transportation, and any fingerprint-clearance-card role.
Sealing under ARS § 13-911 was the cleanup tool. The statutory wait for a Class 2 Felony is ten years from judge-ordered non-financial completion, the longest wait period in the sealing statute outside the disqualifying offense categories. On a 1999-era case, the wait was satisfied many times over.
What we did
Future First filed the Application to Seal Records under ARS § 13-911 in Maricopa County Superior Court. The application covered all three felony counts in one consolidated filing. The package reconstructed the 1999 case file, documented the wait period from judge-ordered non-financial completion across all counts (with the Class 2 Felony’s ten-year wait setting the controlling timeline), the multi-decade clean record since the conviction, full monetary compliance, and the factors the court weighs under § 13-911.
Cases from the late 1990s sit in archive court systems and require additional retrieval steps. The 181-day grant cycle reflects the work to pull the 1999 file, route the application through the assigned criminal division, and confirm the completion record on a conviction with mixed felony classes spanning F6 through F2. The application held up at every step.
The judge signed the order. Sealing Record Granted on all three felony counts. The case file is sealed from public view. Background checks that consume the sealed-records database no longer return the case.
What our clients say
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If you have a decades-old Arizona felony drug case
Time alone does not seal an Arizona conviction. The case stays open on background checks until an order under ARS § 13-911 closes it. A conviction from 1999, 1989, or earlier remains visible on the underlying database. The applicant has to file and the court has to enter the sealing order.
The advantage on older cases is the wait period. ARS § 13-911 sets a ten-year wait for Class 2 Felony cases, five years for Class 6 cases. Decades-old cases have already cleared every wait period in the statute. The application is ready on day one.
The work on older cases is the document retrieval and the multi-count coordination when felony classes vary. The 1999-era Maricopa file lives in archive storage. The application has to surface the full sentencing record, the completion data, and the court’s underlying minute entries across every count. Once that record is built, the application moves on the strength of the documentation.
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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