When can I expunge an underage-drinking conviction in Pennsylvania?

Once you've fully satisfied the sentence imposed under § 6308 — fines, alcohol education, any probation — and you've turned 21, you can petition under § 6308(d) to have the record expunged.

What if my marijuana charge was dismissed or resolved through ARD?

A dismissal proceeds under the applicable non-conviction provision. If the charge was resolved through ARD, Pa.R.Crim.P. 320 directs the judge who dismisses the charges to order expungement of the arrest record, subject to the limit in § 9122(b.1).

Does a local decriminalization ordinance mean I don't have a criminal record?

It depends on how the citation was actually issued and processed. Some municipalities treat small-amount possession as a civil infraction under local ordinance, but state police, campus police, and many departments still charge under the state statute, which does create a criminal record.

Will an underage-drinking or marijuana record affect financial aid or a professional license?

It can. Some financial-aid applications and many professional-licensing background checks (nursing, teaching, law, and other licensed fields) ask about criminal history in ways that an unresolved record can complicate, which is part of why clearing the record while it's still recent matters.

Is Clean Slate sealing the same as expungement for a marijuana conviction?

No. Sealing limits access but does not erase the record. Where sealing does not apply, an unconditional pardon can trigger automatic expungement under § 9122(a.1).

How long does a § 6308(d) underage-drinking expungement take?

Once the petition is filed with proof of sentence satisfaction and proof of age, most counties process these petitions on a similar timeline to other summary expungements — typically a few months from filing to a signed order.

Expungements & Pardons · Underage Drinking & Marijuana Expungement

One statute makes underage drinking easy to clear. Marijuana isn't the same fight.

Pennsylvania treats these two common college-age and young-adult charges differently once the case is over. Underage drinking under § 6308(d) has a specific expungement provision once the sentence is satisfied and the person turns 21. A small-amount marijuana dismissal proceeds under the applicable non-conviction provision, and ARD expungement is governed by Pa.R.Crim.P. 320. Act 36 of 2023 made drug offenses under 35 P.S. § 780-113 qualifying offenses eligible for automatic sealing after ten years conviction-free, with court-ordered restitution paid, unless a minimum sentence of 30 months or more or a maximum of 60 months or more was imposed. Eligibility turns on the sentence actually handed down, not the statutory maximum.

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How the remedy works

Expunging Underage Drinking and Small-Amount Marijuana Records.

Authority: 18 Pa.C.S. § 6308(d)[1] [2]

Record relief, in context

Underage drinking has a clean, statutory off-ramp at 21. Marijuana convictions are the harder record to clear — know which door you're actually walking through before you file anything.

expungement & pardon lawyer · pardon vs. expungement · DUI expungement

Section 6308(d) gives underage-drinking cases a specific expungement mechanism separate from the general summary-offense rule: once a person has satisfied the sentence imposed for a conviction or adjudication under § 6308, and has since attained the age of 21, that person may petition to have the record expunged. This is narrower and generally faster than waiting the standard five arrest-free years that applies to most other summary convictions, because it's tied to a fixed, foreseeable event — turning 21 — rather than an open-ended waiting period.

Small-amount marijuana possession under 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(31) is a different animal. If the case ended in a dismissal, an acquittal, or successful completion of ARD, it may be expungeable through the applicable non-conviction or Rule 320 process. If it ended in an actual conviction, § 9122 generally does not authorize direct expungement. Act 36 of 2023 made drug offenses under 35 P.S. § 780-113 qualifying offenses eligible for automatic sealing after ten years conviction-free, with court-ordered restitution paid, unless a minimum sentence of 30 months or more or a maximum of 60 months or more was imposed. Eligibility turns on the sentence actually handed down, not the statutory maximum. An unconditional pardon remains the route where sealing does not apply and triggers automatic expungement under § 9122(a.1).

Local decriminalization ordinances add confusion but don't change the underlying state law calculus. Some Pennsylvania municipalities have adopted local ordinances treating small-amount marijuana possession as a civil infraction rather than a criminal charge within city limits. But state police, campus police, and many suburban and rural departments continue to charge under the state statute, § 780-113(a)(31), which carries an actual criminal record. Whether a given citation was issued under a local ordinance or state law changes what record — if any — exists to expunge.

The stakes for both categories are real for young people specifically: financial-aid eligibility questions on some applications, campus disciplinary consequences separate from the criminal case, and professional-licensing background-check disclosures (nursing, teaching, law, and other licensed fields) all ask about criminal history in ways that an unresolved record can complicate for years after the underlying conduct.

Eligibility at a glance

What qualifies — and what does not.

Expunging Underage Drinking and Small-Amount Marijuana Records: eligibility categories under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6308(d)
Situation	What the law allows	Condition
Underage-drinking conviction or adjudication under § 6308	Expungeable once sentence is satisfied and the person turns 21	This is a purpose-built pathway distinct from the general five-year summary-offense rule and generally moves faster
Small-amount marijuana case dismissed, acquitted, or resolved through ARD	Potentially expungeable through the applicable non-conviction provision or Pa.R.Crim.P. 320	Acquittal of all charges after trial is governed by § 9122(a)(4); ARD expungement is governed by Rule 320
Small-amount marijuana possession conviction (§ 780-113(a)(31))	Potentially eligible for automatic sealing after 10 years	Act 36 made § 780-113 drug offenses qualifying offenses, subject to the sentence-imposed thresholds, conviction-free period, restitution requirement, and the rest of the record
Citation issued under a local decriminalization ordinance	May carry no state criminal record at all, or a municipal-only record	Whether an ordinance citation created any expungeable state record depends on how the municipality structured its ordinance and how the citation was actually processed
Underage-drinking case still pending, person not yet 21	Not yet eligible for § 6308(d) expungement	The petition can be filed once both conditions are met — sentence satisfied and age 21 reached — not before
Multiple underage-drinking or marijuana charges from the same incident	Each disposition is evaluated on its own terms	A combined citation, such as underage drinking plus a marijuana possession charge from the same stop, may have two different expungement pathways depending on how each count was resolved
Marijuana conviction eligible for Clean Slate automatic sealing	Sealed rather than expunged after the applicable waiting period	Sealing limits visibility to most background checks but does not erase the record the way expungement or a pardon-based expungement does

Eligibility categories are statutory, but how a specific docket is graded and disposed controls which category applies. Nothing here is a prediction about a particular record.

The process

Step by step.

Step 1
Underage drinking: confirm sentence completion and age
Verify the § 6308 sentence — fines, alcohol education, any probation — has been fully satisfied, and confirm the person has actually turned 21 before filing.
Step 2
Underage drinking: file the § 6308(d) petition
The petition is filed with the court that handled the case, citing satisfaction of sentence and attainment of age 21 as the statutory basis for expungement.
Step 3
Marijuana: determine how the case actually ended
Pull the docket to confirm whether the case was dismissed, resolved through ARD, or resulted in an actual conviction — this single fact determines which pathway, if any, is available.
Step 4
Marijuana dismissal or ARD: identify the correct authority
A dismissal proceeds under the applicable non-conviction provision; ARD expungement is governed by Pa.R.Crim.P. 320, with § 9122(b.1) supplying a limit.
Step 5
Marijuana (conviction): evaluate pardon or Clean Slate eligibility
For an actual conviction, evaluate whether a governor's pardon application makes sense given the person's overall record and goals, or whether Clean Slate automatic sealing will occur on its own timeline.
Step 6
Confirm outcome and follow up
Whichever path applies, confirm with a certified criminal-history check that the record reflects the expungement, sealing, or pardon-based relief that was actually obtained.

Jurisdiction & venue

Where the petition is filed.

Dauphin County

Underage-drinking § 6308(d) petitions in Dauphin County are processed by the clerk of courts once age-21 and sentence-completion documentation is submitted; marijuana convictions requiring a pardon route through the statewide Board of Pardons process rather than the local court.

Cumberland County

Cumberland County, home to several colleges, handles a steady volume of underage-drinking § 6308(d) petitions; marijuana cases resolved through ARD or dismissal follow the county's standard expungement unit process.

York County

York County's DA expungement unit reviews § 6308(d) petitions for underage drinking and standard § 9122(a) petitions for dismissed marijuana cases through the same office.

Adams County

Adams County processes both underage-drinking and marijuana-dismissal expungement petitions through its clerk of courts, with smaller docket volume generally allowing quicker turnaround.

Perry and Franklin Counties

Both counties handle § 6308(d) and standard marijuana-dismissal petitions through the local court of common pleas and DA's office, with pardon applications for marijuana convictions going to the statewide Board of Pardons regardless of county.

Lancaster County

Lancaster County, with several colleges and a large young-adult population, sees a substantial volume of underage-drinking § 6308(d) filings, and its expungement unit is accustomed to the age-21 documentation requirements.

Where these petitions are won or lost.

Don't file a § 6308(d) petition before turning 21
The statute requires both sentence satisfaction and reaching age 21; filing prematurely just gets the petition rejected or delayed.
Identify the actual disposition before assuming marijuana relief is available
Whether a marijuana case was dismissed, resolved through ARD, or ended in conviction is the single fact that determines whether standard expungement, a pardon, or Clean Slate sealing applies.
Check whether a citation was issued under a local ordinance or state law
This affects what record exists in the first place, and municipal-ordinance records may not require the same relief as a state § 780-113(a)(31) charge.
Weigh a pardon application early if a conviction is the obstacle
Pardon timelines run years, not months, so someone facing licensing or financial-aid consequences from an old marijuana conviction should start that process well before it becomes urgent.
Don't wait passively for Clean Slate sealing if faster relief exists
Clean Slate sealing happens automatically on its own schedule, but it doesn't erase the record the way an expungement following a pardon does — evaluate which outcome actually solves the problem at hand.
Flag licensing and financial-aid disclosure questions specifically
Many professional-licensing and financial-aid applications ask about criminal history in ways that don't track exactly with what's expunged or sealed, so review the actual disclosure question before assuming a cleared record solves it.

Where we file

Record relief across Central Pennsylvania.

Other record-relief guides.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Common questions about underage drinking & marijuana expungement in Pennsylvania — eligibility, procedure, and what the order actually changes.

Once you've fully satisfied the sentence imposed under § 6308 — fines, alcohol education, any probation — and you've turned 21, you can petition under § 6308(d) to have the record expunged.
An actual conviction under 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(31) is not directly expungeable through the underage-drinking pathway. Act 36 of 2023 made drug offenses under § 780-113 qualifying offenses eligible for automatic sealing after ten years conviction-free, with court-ordered restitution paid, unless a minimum sentence of 30 months or more or a maximum of 60 months or more was imposed. Eligibility turns on the sentence actually handed down, not the statutory maximum. An unconditional pardon remains the route where sealing does not apply.
A dismissal proceeds under the applicable non-conviction provision. If the charge was resolved through ARD, Pa.R.Crim.P. 320 directs the judge who dismisses the charges to order expungement of the arrest record, subject to the limit in § 9122(b.1).
It depends on how the citation was actually issued and processed. Some municipalities treat small-amount possession as a civil infraction under local ordinance, but state police, campus police, and many departments still charge under the state statute, which does create a criminal record.
It can. Some financial-aid applications and many professional-licensing background checks (nursing, teaching, law, and other licensed fields) ask about criminal history in ways that an unresolved record can complicate, which is part of why clearing the record while it's still recent matters.
No. Sealing limits access but does not erase the record. Where sealing does not apply, an unconditional pardon can trigger automatic expungement under § 9122(a.1).
Once the petition is filed with proof of sentence satisfaction and proof of age, most counties process these petitions on a similar timeline to other summary expungements — typically a few months from filing to a signed order.

[1]18 Pa.C.S. § 6308(d) — Expungement of an underage drinking record — available after the sentence is satisfied and the person turns 21.
[2]35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(31) — Possession or distribution of a small amount of marijuana (30 grams or less, or 8 grams or less of hashish) for personal use, or distribution without remuneration.
[3]18 Pa.C.S. § 9122 — Expungement of criminal history record information — § 9122(a) covers non-conviction data, unconditional pardons under (a)(2.1), underage drinking under (a)(3), and acquittals under (a)(4); § 9122(b) covers discretionary summary, age-70 and deceased-defendant expungement.
[4]18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.1 — Petition-based limited access (sealing). Act 36 of 2023 reduced the misdemeanor waiting period to 7 years and added § 9122.1(a.1), which allows petition sealing of F3 and ungraded felonies — criminal mischief, criminal trespass, Chapter 39 theft, Chapter 41 forgery and fraud, welfare fraud, and drug qualifying offenses — after 10 years. Felonies of the first and second degree are excluded.
[5]18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2 — Clean Slate automated limited access — sealing by court order without a petition. Act 36 of 2023 set the periods at 5 years for summary convictions, 7 years for M2/M3 and misdemeanors punishable by no more than 2 years, and 10 years for qualifying drug felonies under § 9122.2(a)(1.1). Conditioned on payment of court-ordered restitution only — unpaid fines and costs do not block sealing.
[6]Act 36 of 2023 — Clean Slate 3.0 — P.L. 334, No. 36 (HB 689), signed December 14, 2023. Petition-sealing and definitional changes effective February 12, 2024; automatic sealing and automatic post-pardon expungement effective June 11, 2024.
[7]Pa. Const. art. IV, § 9 — The Governor's pardon and commutation power — exercisable only on the written recommendation of a majority of the Board of Pardons, except in a case of a sentence of death or life imprisonment, which requires the Board's unanimous written recommendation after full hearing in open session upon due public notice.

Statutes are summarized for public reference. Confirm current text at palegis.us. This page is attorney advertising, not legal advice.

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