Although there are definitely some shortcomings in the expungement process, “[t]he effect of expunging the records of a criminal charge is to restore the person to the position he or she occupied prior to the arrest or charge.”[6] This means that from a legal standpoint, the expunged offense “never occurred.”[7] Thus, anyone who has a record expunged “may properly decline to reveal or acknowledge the existence of the charge.”[8]
