Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity (CROP) helps you get a job or license after a conviction

A CROP is a certificate you can get from a judge that may make it easier to get a job, occupational license, or housing.

If you have finished your sentence for a criminal conviction, you can file a court petition asking a judge to sign a CROP which will be sent to the Washington State Patrol (WSP). WSP will note the CROP in your records.

Employers, licensing agencies, and landlords, will see your CROP if they do a criminal history check on you, and then: 

• A licensing agency cannot deny you an occupational license just because you have a criminal record
• Employers and landlords may consider a CROP when deciding whether to give you a job or housing, but they’re not required to. A CROP doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a job or housing, but some employers and landlords may think it’s a positive factor when considering your application.

A CROP does not: 

• Seal a criminal record
• Vacate a criminal conviction
• Restore your right to a firearm 
• Apply to future criminal convictions

You may be eligible for a CROP if you’ve: 

• Met and are in compliance with all your sentencing requirements
• Had no new arrests, convictions, or pending charges since completing your sentencing requirements
• Waited the required amount of time (see below).
• Paid all court-ordered legal financial obligations (LFOs), are up to date with payments under a payment plan, or the court finds you have good cause not to be. 

You may be able to get some LFOs reduced or waived.

You won’t be eligible for a CROP if your criminal record contains any convictions for: 

• Class A Felonies
• Sex offenses listed under RCW 9.94.030(47)
• Sexually motivated crimes under RCW 9.94A.835, 13.40.135, 9.94A.535(3)(f)
• First degree extortion, drive-by shooting, vehicular assault, or luring
• You have to register as a sex offender under RCW 9A.44.130.

You can, but it’s usually more helpful to seal, vacate, or destroy your juvenile records instead. Getting a CROP for a juvenile offense will cost more and the records won’t be sealed, vacated, or destroyed.

The judge may give you a CROP that covers all your convictions, even ones from other courts. But the judge could decide to give you a CROP that only covers convictions from the same court where you file your CROP petition. 

The waiting period depends on the type of criminal conviction you have.

• For a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor with no jail time, you must wait 1 year after sentencing (including deferred sentencing).
• For a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor with jail time, you must wait 1 year after your release from jail.
• For a Class B or C felony, you must wait 2 years from sentencing or release.
• For a violent offense, you must wait 5 years from sentencing. “Violent offense” is defined at RCW 9.94A.030(58).

You can read the law with these wait times at RCW 9.97.010(1)(a).

You can file your petition for a CROP in Superior Court in the county in which you live or the Superior Court in which you were convicted or sentenced.

However, if you file where you live but that’s not where you were convicted, the court may decide not to hear your case, and you may have to refile in the court where you were convicted. 

You can read this part of the law at RCW 9.97.020(8).

No. A CROP won’t apply for licensing or certification for these professions: 

• Accountants, bail bond agents, escrow agents, receivers, notary publics, real estate brokers
• Nursing home administrators, nurses, physicians, physician assistants, vulnerable adult care providers, long term care workers
• Law enforcement, private investigators, security guards
• Private investigators, security guards
• Lawyers
• Teachers

The full list of professions is at RCW 9.97.020(1)(a).

Vacating a conviction may be a better way to reduce the harm of a conviction on your ability to get a job, license, or housing, but it may take longer or you may not be eligible to vacate the conviction. In some cases you may be eligible for a CROP before vacating a conviction. 

For certain violent crime convictions or DUIs, you may not be eligible to vacate the conviction but may be eligible for a CROP.

You must fill out forms, serve copies on the prosecutor, file the forms with the court clerk and pay a filing fee (or get it waived), and wait for a decision. You may have to go to a court hearing, but in many courts a judge will approve a CROP without a hearing.

Fill out these forms in our Form Library:

• Petition for Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity (CRO 01.0100) – To file and start the case in court
• Notice of Filing a Petition for Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity (CRO 01.0200) – To notify the prosecutor’s office in your case
• Proof of Service of Notice of Filing a Petition for Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity (CRO 01.0300) –  To prove you notified the prosecutor
• Order and Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity (CRO 01.0700) – You’ll ask the judge to sign this Order to grant you a CROP

You must give copies of your completed forms to the prosecutor’s office in the county where you’re filing your CROP petition and to prosecutors in any other county where you were sentenced within the last 5 years. You can send copies to the prosecutors by mail or personally deliver them. 

Bring your completed forms to the Superior Court clerk’s office to file. Give the clerk the originals of all your forms for filing except you should ask the clerk what to do with the proposed Order. Follow the clerk’s instructions. 

The court clerk will charge a filing fee, but if you can’t afford it you can ask the court for a fee waiver.

The court may decide to grant the petition without a hearing. Or the court may send you a notice of hearing. Go to any hearing the court schedules. You can contact the Superior Court Clerk’s office where you filed your CROP petition to ask about the status of your case. 

If the judge approves your petition, they’ll issue the CROP and forward it to the Washington State Patrol to be noted with your criminal history. That way, if anyone searches your criminal history, they’ll also see that you have a CROP. 

If the judge doesn’t approve your petition, they’ll issue an Order of Dismissal of Petition of CROP that explains why they didn’t approve it. You may be able to correct the problem and refile a new or amended petition for a CROP in the future.