The Fresh Start Process FAQ
Our experienced attorneys review your criminal history, develop a detailed Fresh Start case plan, consult with you about the best strategies to move forward, and seek all appropriate methods of conviction relief for you.
How do I know you are screening my case?
What is the screening process?
Why do you investigate court debt?
How long does the screening process take?
How will I know when my Fresh Start Plan is ready?
What can I do to get ready for a Fresh Start while you are screening my case?
I received my Fresh Start Plan. What happens next?
Who will be working on my Fresh Start Plan?
What if I want to do the paperwork and take it to court on my own?
How long does it take to get conviction relief once the court paperwork is filed?
Will I be required to go to court?
How will I know the results of my Fresh Start Plan?
Once I know the results of my Fresh Start Plan, is there anything else I should do?
Can Fresh Start help me with federal convictions or convictions in other states?
Can Fresh Start help me with convictions from other California counties?
Do I need to live in San Diego for Fresh Start to help me?
Do you charge any legal fees for your work?
Can I apply to Fresh Start for someone else?
How do I know you are screening my case?
Once we receive your application, we send you an e-mail notifying you we are working on your case. The subject line of the e-mail is “Fresh Start”. If you do not have an e-mail address, we send you a letter. The e-mail/letter is from the attorney who will be developing your Fresh Start Plan.
What is the screening process?
Once we receive your application, we order a copy of your California Department of Justice Criminal History Report and potentially other court records to help us know exactly what you have on your record in California.
We may also investigate if you owe the court any money for fines, fees and restitution. A few types of record relief are more difficult to achieve if you owe court debt.
All information we gather is kept confidential.
Once we finish our research, we develop a detailed Fresh Start plan for you.
Why do you investigate court debt?
Some, but not all, types of conviction relief, are more difficult to achieve if you owe court debt. Sometimes, depending on your circumstances, we can ask the court to delete your court debt or grant the relief even if you owe court debt.
Knowing what type of debt you may have and the amount you owe helps us advise you about the best strategy to proceed.
Once we think we have the information we need about all your cases, we write up a plan of how we recommend cleaning up your record. The plan includes a list of all the cases we found, the conviction date, the type of conviction, and the specific steps we recommend for cleaning up each different case.
We generally e-mail the plan to you. Please check your e-mail, including your junk e-mail box, for emails with the subject line “Fresh Start” or with an e-mail address ending “@sdcounty.ca.gov”.
If you did not provide us with an e-mail address, we will send you a letter.
Please respond promptly to the e-mail/letter by either calling the attorney who sent you the e-mail/letter or responding to the e-mail.
How long does the screening process take?
The length of the screening process depends on the volume of applications we receive and the length of your criminal history. The longer your criminal history, the longer it takes for us to gather all the necessary information to develop the Fresh Start Plan. Also, if we need to find out if you owe court debt, that also takes time.
You may call us if you have a legitimate urgent need for conviction relief. We will do what we can to expedite our work, but we cannot make the courts work any faster.
How will I know when my Fresh Start Plan is ready?
We generally e-mail the plan to you. Please check your e-mail, including your junk e-mail box, for emails with the subject line “Fresh Start” or with an e-mail address ending “@sdcounty.ca.gov”.
If you did not provide us with an e-mail address, we will send you a letter.
Please respond promptly to the e-mail/letter by either calling the attorney who sent you the e-mail/letter or responding to the e-mail.
What can I do to get ready for a Fresh Start while you are screening my case?
• Make an accomplishment list. Write down of all the positive things you have done for yourself, your family, your neighborhood, etc. since your last case (for example: education, employment, family reunification, volunteer work, counseling, rehabilitative programs). Please try to collect any documents which show your achievements. Please also try to collect any certificates or other proof you completed court-ordered classes or programs if applicable. Hang on to these materials until you are contacted by our office with a Fresh Start plan.
• Keep in Touch. It is important that you keep in contact with us. If your contact information changes (e-mail address, phone number, mailing address), please contact us so we can update your information. Please check your e-mail, including your junk e-mail box, for emails with the subject line “Fresh Start” or with an e-mail address ending “@sdcounty.ca.gov”. Respond promptly to any e-mails, phone calls, or letters.
• Find out if you owe any court debt. Some, but not all, types of conviction relief depend on whether you owe the court money. You can sometimes find out about your court debt faster than we can. Check to see if you owe any court-ordered restitution and/or fines and fees, including any fines for traffic court matters. If you have paid these fines, please try to obtain proof of payment to show to the Court. Below is where you can obtain information on what you owe.
a) Felonies: call the Office of Revenue & Recovery at 619-515-6200, or visit https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/auditor/orrpage.html to determine if you owe any money on any felony cases. They will only be able to give you information over the phone for cases after 2005.
b) Misdemeanors:
a. Visit the Alliance One window at the court or call (877) 541-8420. Alliance One is a collection agency that contracts with the court to collect on overdue and unpaid fines and fees.
b. Visit or call the court’s misdemeanor business/accounting office. Below is the link to the website and phone numbers: http://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/portal/page?_pageid=55,1056982&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL.
Here are the courts accounting office phone numbers:
Downtown: (619) 450-7034
South Bay: (619) 746-6200
Vista: (760) 201-8600
El Cajon: (619) 456-4100
I received my Fresh Start Plan. What happens next?
You need to let us know how you would like us to proceed. Please promptly either call or e-mail the attorney who sent you the plan. Once we know you want us to move forward, we start preparing the necessary court paper work.
Depending on the type of conviction relief we are seeking on your behalf we may need you to fill out and sign some forms. We may also need to talk with you so we can write up a declaration to convince the judge to grant you conviction relief. The more quickly you work with us, the more quickly we can file the paperwork in court on your behalf.
We file required court paperwork and appear in court, if necessary, to represent you.
It is important you keep in contact with us. Please update us if you move, change phone numbers, or change e-mail addresses.
Who will be working on my Fresh Start Plan?
We have a staff of dedicated attorneys, paralegals, legal support assistants, and law students who assist with the work. You may hear from several different people in our office depending on the type of work we are doing for you. It is a good idea to write down the names and contact information of the Fresh Start staff who are working for you in case you have questions.
What if I want to do the paperwork and take it to court on my own?
You are welcome to fill out the required paperwork and file it in court on your own. The links to most of the paperwork you need are on the individual pages for each type of conviction relief on this website. You may also go to the San Diego Superior Court website for the paperwork. The San Diego County Law Library also has resources.
We do ask, however, that you let us know if you have already filed your own paperwork and are waiting for a court decision before applying to Fresh Start or if you decide to file your own paperwork after applying to Fresh Start.
Once you file paperwork in court on your own, you are considered your own lawyer. This is called being “pro per”. We cannot represent you if you are acting as your own lawyer. Further, we may still be working on your case, unaware you are representing yourself, needlessly duplicating the work.
How long does it take to get conviction relief once the court paperwork is filed?
It depends on the type of conviction relief we are trying to get for you. Some types can be resolved in a matter of weeks; others can take three months or more. You can find more information about how long the different sorts of conviction relief take on the FAQ web pages for each type.
Will I be required to go to court?
Maybe. Only a few types of conviction relief require a hearing in court in front of a judge. Most of this work can be accomplished with no court hearings.
If a court hearing is necessary, we notify you of the court date, time, and location. If you can be there, we would love to see you. Sometimes it helps the judge if you can be there to answer any questions the judge may have. As your lawyer, we are there with you to represent you. You do not need to see the judge alone.
If you cannot be there, you may give us your written permission to make the court appearance for you.
How will I know the results of my Fresh Start Plan?
We send you a copy of all court orders showing you what the judge decided. We generally e-mail the court orders to you.
If you did not provide us with an e-mail address, we send you a letter with the orders.
Once I know the results of my Fresh Start Plan, is there anything else I should do?
Yes. Hang on to the court orders. Keep them in a safe place. You may need to show them to prospective employers, landlords, schools, etc.
Also, it can take up to 90 days for the Department of Justice to update their records. You may want to order (or request our office order for you) a new criminal history report after that time to make sure the results are updated. For more information on ordering or correcting errors in your DOJ report, click here.
Can Fresh Start help me with federal convictions or convictions in other states?
No, but we do our best to refer you to an agency or organization which may be able to assist you.
Can Fresh Start help me with convictions from other California counties?
Rarely, but we do our best to refer you to an agency or organization which may be able to assist you.
Do I need to live in San Diego for Fresh Start to help me?
No, we may be able to assist you with your San Diego cases no matter where you are currently living.
Do you charge any legal fees for your work?
No, our services are free.
Can I apply to Fresh Start for someone else?
No. Because our work is confidential, we must work directly with the person who needs conviction relief. If you know someone who could benefit from a Fresh Start encourage them to apply.
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