Source: https://www.nowpi.com/clear-criminal-record/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 01:23:06+00:00

Document:
The legal term used to clear your criminal record is “Expungement”. The expungement legal process is performed by requesting the court reopen your criminal case. You would assert that you want to withdraw the plea, set aside the guilty verdict, dismiss the charges, and re-close the case without a criminal conviction. Therefore, in reality you will not be labeled as a convicted person. Eventually, when a background check is processed there will be no criminal records or convictions on the report.
Penal Codes that permit Expungement is limited to cases in which the defendant convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony that could have been allowed. Expungement of criminal records are expressly prohibit certain types of convictions from being dismissed. Most of these exceptions involve serious vehicle code violations and sexual offenses against minors. In other words, all sexual offenses are not permitted for expungement or allowed to clear a criminal record.
For a detailed list of exceptions see Penal Code (PC) § 1203.4 and PC § 1203.4a.
1. The first, PC § 1203.4, is used to expunge cases in which probation was part of the sentence.
2. The second, PC § 1203.4a, is used expunge cases in which there was no probation.
3. The third, PC § 17, is used to reduce a felony conviction to a misdemeanor, which can then be dismissed. Felonies meeting the criteria under PC § 17 are often called “wobblers,” meaning they could be charged as either a felony or misdemeanor.

References: § 1203
 § 1203
 § 1203
 § 1203
 § 17
 § 17