Rule 400 Expungement of Criminal Record.

Here's a plain English summary:

If you have a criminal record in the Virgin Islands, the law allows you to ask a court to erase or seal that record in certain situations. This process is called expungement. Once your record is expunged, it's treated as if the arrest or conviction didn't happen, which can help you when applying for jobs, housing, or other opportunities where a background check might come up.

This specific rule doesn't create new rights to expungement. Instead, it explains the steps you need to follow in court to actually get your record expunged under the law already on the books (found in Title 5, chapter 314 of the Virgin Islands Code). Think of the underlying law as what makes expungement possible, and this rule as the instruction manual for how to file your request, what forms or steps are needed, and how the court will handle your case.

If you're thinking about applying for expungement, you'll need to look at both the underlying statute and this procedural rule together. The statute tells you whether you qualify, and this rule tells you how to actually make your request to the court.