The sentence ends. The conviction does not.
Arizona suspends specific civil rights on a felony conviction, and a set of practical consequences follows that no judge announces at sentencing. Most of it can be addressed, and almost none of it resolves on its own.
What Gets Suspended
Under A.R.S. § 13-904, a felony conviction suspends four civil rights.
The right to vote. The right to hold public office of trust or profit. The right to serve as a juror. And the right to possess a firearm.
During imprisonment, other rights may be suspended where reasonably necessary for institutional security or public protection.
A felony conviction can also prevent a person from obtaining business and professional licenses, government secured loans, and housing. Those are not suspensions of a right in the legal sense. They are consequences, and they frequently matter more day to day than the four rights above.
Voting
Suspended on conviction, and restorable. For a person with a single felony conviction, restoration happens automatically on completion of probation or absolute discharge from imprisonment, provided all victim restitution has been paid.
That restitution condition is the part people miss. Unpaid restitution blocks automatic restoration, which is one more reason the restitution figure deserves scrutiny when it is first ordered rather than years later.
Firearms
This is the consequence with two separate layers, and clearing one does not clear the other.
Arizona law. Firearm rights are suspended on a felony conviction and are treated separately from other civil rights. Even where other rights are restored automatically, firearm rights generally require their own application under A.R.S. § 13-910.
Under A.R.S. § 13-907, the automatic restoration provision expressly does not reach firearm rights where the person was convicted of a dangerous offense or a serious offense as those terms are defined by statute.
Waiting periods apply. A person convicted of a violent or aggravated felony is barred from even applying to restore firearm rights for ten years from absolute discharge.
Federal law. Separately, federal law prohibits firearm possession by anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year. Federal law also reaches qualifying misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, which is why a misdemeanor can end firearm possession permanently even though no civil right was suspended under state law.
State restoration does not automatically resolve the federal prohibition in every circumstance. Anyone facing a weapons charge after a prior conviction should have both layers examined before touching a firearm, because possession by a prohibited person is itself a serious offense.
Employment and Licensing
Arizona regulates dozens of occupations, and a conviction can block or delay licensure in health care, education, real estate, security, commercial driving, and the trades.
Background checks reach further than people expect, and a conviction generally shows up whether or not it was set aside. What a set aside does is add a notation, which changes how the record reads rather than removing it.
Fingerprint clearance cards, required for many positions involving children or vulnerable adults, carry their own eligibility rules and their own appeal process.
Housing, Education, and Benefits
Private landlords screen, and many decline applicants with felony records. Public and subsidized housing has its own eligibility standards.
Federal student aid eligibility, certain professional certifications, and some benefit programs carry conviction related restrictions.
None of this is uniform, which is why an accurate understanding of what your record actually says matters more than a general assumption that everything is closed.
Immigration
For anyone who is not a United States citizen, including lawful permanent residents, a conviction can carry consequences entirely separate from the sentence, up to and including removal.
The category of offense matters more than the sentence length, and a plea that looks favorable in criminal terms can be the worse choice in immigration terms. That is why status belongs in the first conversation with counsel rather than the last, particularly in cases charged near the border.
Restoring Civil Rights
- One felony conviction. Restoration is automatic on completion of probation or absolute discharge if all victim restitution is paid. No application is required, and if a person files one anyway, the court must grant it without a response from the State or a hearing.
- Two or more felony convictions, or unpaid restitution. An application to the superior court is required, and restoration is discretionary with the judicial officer.
- Firearm rights. A separate application under its own statute, with the waiting periods and exclusions described above.
Arizona’s civil rights restoration statutes have been reorganized more than once in recent years, and additional bills are introduced most sessions. Verify the current provisions rather than relying on an older summary.
Set Aside, Sealing, and Expungement Are Three Different Things
Arizona pages get this wrong constantly, so here is the accurate version.
- Set aside. Under A.R.S. § 13-905, a person who completes probation or their sentence and is discharged may apply to have the judgment of guilt set aside. It releases you from most penalties and disabilities resulting from the conviction, and the record is annotated to show it. The record remains public. Arizona also now provides for a Certificate of Second Chance in connection with a set aside, which addresses certain licensing and liability barriers.
- Sealing. Under A.R.S. § 13-911, effective at the end of December 2022, a person may petition to seal case records where they completed all terms of a sentence including monetary obligations, where a charge was dismissed or resulted in a not guilty verdict, or where they were arrested and no charges were filed. A granted petition generally lets you state on employment, housing, and financial aid applications that the arrest or conviction never happened. Waiting periods apply and vary by offense class, and sealed records remain usable by the State for specified purposes including sentence enhancement.
- Expungement. Arizona has this only for certain marijuana offenses, under the law voters passed in 2020. For everything else, expungement in the ordinary sense does not exist here.
If someone has told you they can expunge your felony, ask which statute they mean.
Talk to an Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney
Most of these consequences have a remedy, and most remedies require somebody to file something. Citrine Law handles criminal defense throughout Yuma County, including federal matters and cases where the classification of the charge is what determines the rest of someone’s life, as our guide to felony and misdemeanor charges explains. The consultation is free, we work in English and Spanish, and nothing you tell us leaves this office. Call us today.