Published December, 2025
A Community Guide to Record Clearing, CHLP (2025)
More than 79 million people in the U.S. have a criminal record and may face tens of thousands of collateral consequences long after their sentence ends. For people living and aging with HIV, these barriers stack up quickly, making it harder to access housing, healthcare, employment, and other essentials. Record clearing can be a complex and time-consuming process, but success can significantly increase access to necessary services and benefits.
These two new record-clearing resources were created to assist people living and aging with HIV in the record-clearing process.
- The guide explains the basics of criminal record clearing and why it is so important for people living with HIV. It describes the different types of record-clearing options available – from expungement to pardons, and more – and provides information on useful tools and resources.
- The directory is a state-by-state list of organizations that provide free or low-cost record-clearing services. Whenever possible, links to self-help resources and applicable forms have also been provided.
Copyright Information: CHLP encourages the broad use and sharing of resources. Please credit CHLP when using these materials or their content. and do not alter, adapt or present as your work without prior permission from CHLP.
Legal Disclaimer: CHLP makes an effort to ensure legal information is correct and current, but the law is regularly changing, and the accuracy of the information provided cannot be guaranteed. The legal information in a given resource may not be applicable to all situations and is not—and should not be relied upon—as a substitute for legal advice.