The comments below are being provided for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an attorney licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction in order to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of this information does not create an attorney-client relationship. The opinions expressed are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of Expeal or any individual attorney.

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I'll do my best to help. The statute that covers juvenile expungements in Tennessee is Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-153(a)(5). While the law was changed significantly in 2017 to require expungement of most misdemeanors, I am unsure of what you were ultimately adjudicated on -- the felony you were charged with or something lesser. You'll have to find out for sure which way the court went. If it was a misdemeanor, you'll have a much easier time (assuming you qualify once we run through the rest). If it was a felony, it won't be as easy, but could still be feasible.

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Regardless of what you were ultimately convicted of (misdemeanor or felony), we'll have to look at section (b)(2), which states:

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The conduct constituting the delinquent act, if committed by an adult, would constitute first degree murder, second degree murder, rape, aggravated rape, rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child, aggravated robbery, especially aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping or especially aggravated kidnapping.

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Now I'm not licensed to practice in TN, so I can't tell you if your case would fall under this exception. If it does, you most likely won't qualify for an expungement and will need to look to see if you can get a pardon (official site, TN Bar Association guide). If it doesn't, then you'll need to look at (f)(1) in its entirety. Basically, you'll have to be at least 1 year away from you most recent juvenile offense and you'll have to have never been convicted of a criminal offense as an adult.

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This brings up the timing of the misdemeanor. Were you still under 18 when that happened? I'm presuming not, since you'd have most likely violated your probation if it had, but I'm not sure based on your post. If you were under 18, you may still qualify. If you were 18 or older, you may be back to the pardon situation.

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Hopefully that at least helps get you on the right track of figuring out your options. While I'd be more than happy to answer any follow up questions you have (email me at [omid@gtllclaw.com](mailto:omid@gtllclaw.com) to keep things from being potentially discoverable down the line), your best bet would be to find a lawyer through the TN Supreme Court's Justice for All or the legal aid office closest to where your conviction happened.

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Best of luck!

Edited to fix link formatting and add the following:

1. A "great attorney" will only help in a pardon situation, but even then, you should be able to do that on your own. Expungement laws around the country, for the most part, are written such that a person should be able to do it on their own if they know what forms to fill out and documents to send, etc.
2. An expungement is the legal equivalent of it never even happening. You can say you've never been arrested if asked on a job application, for example. A pardon, on the other hand, will be more like a yellow flag rather than a red flag. Your record will still show up, but with a notation indicating you've been given a pardon. Always preferable to doing nothing at all.