CONSEQUENCES OF A DOMESTIC BATTERY CHARGE AND HAVING THEM REDUCED
What Are Some Of The Long-term Effects Someone Might Have With A Domestic Battery Charge Or Conviction On Their Record?
If somebody gets a conviction on their record for domestic battery, it impacts their right to have a firearm. Moreover, it is reflected on their criminal history, so if they get in some sort of trouble down the road, that is going to come back to haunt them. In case of domestic battery, especially in Johnson County, the county has got such an easily navigable criminal record system online that is basically for the world to see.
Once you have a domestic battery, every time you go for any job application after that, every time you go anywhere or meet anyone, you are going to wonder have they Googled me? Do they know that I have this domestic battery conviction on my record? In every interaction you have the rest of your life; this may come up.
Domestic battery has a terrible stigma. It’s not like a drug possession or a DUI. People can forgive that because everybody has gotten in a car and drove when they should not have or been around marijuana at a college party. Everybody is going to see domestic battery and they are automatically going to think the worst. They are going to think you beat up your wife and there is nothing you can say or do that is going to get that opinion out of their head. You are starting off behind the eight ball in every relationship from here on out. So, there is a lot that goes into it.
Can You Ever Seal Or Expunge Domestic Battery Charges?
Yes. That is one great thing about Kansas. Kansas has really tough criminal statutes but they do authorize expungement of certain criminal offenses and domestic battery is one of them. Usually it is going to be three years after the time that the person closes their case, which usually is at the conclusion of probation.
Usually, around four years after the time the person gets convicted, they will be eligible for an expungement, but it is not something that happens on its own. Most people hire a lawyer to prepare the paperwork, get it on file. Sometimes they are going to contest it and you have to go in and fight again about trying to keep it off your record.