Arizona DUI & Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
If you have an old Arizona marijuana case, you might hope that Proposition 207 clears everything off your record. A recent Arizona Court of Appeals decision from November 12, 2025, shows that some marijuana convictions still do not qualify, especially when the underlying conduct involved selling cannabis, even if the final conviction does not use the word “sale.” This ruling matters if you resolved a case through a plea to charges like facilitation or solicitation that initially came from sale or transport-for-sale counts.
The court explained that judges look at what actually happened in your case, not just the title printed on the judgment, when they decide whether Arizona’s expungement statute applies. That approach can help some people, but it also denies relief to others whose cases involve conduct that Prop 207 never legalized.
How Prop 207 Marijuana Expungement Works In Arizona
Proposition 207, the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, legalized certain adult possession and use of marijuana and created a special expungement process for older cases. Under Arizona Revised Statutes section 36-2862, you can ask the court to vacate judgments, dismiss complaints, and seal records when your case is based on qualifying marijuana conduct that occurred before November 30, 2020.
The statute covers three main categories. First, it covers possession, use, or transport of a small amount of marijuana for personal use. Second, it covers possessing, growing, or processing a limited number of plants at a primary residence. Third, it covers paraphernalia associated with those personal-use activities. If your case fits squarely into those categories, the law tells the court to grant expungement unless a prosecutor proves you are not eligible.
Trouble arises when the facts show conduct that Prop 207 did not bless, such as selling cannabis, transporting commercial quantities, or involving other types of drugs. That is where the recent appellate decision comes in.
What The New Arizona Court Decision Says About Sale-Related Cases
In the new decision, the person seeking expungement initially faced several counts of sale or transportation for sale of marijuana, along with possession-for-sale charges. Through a plea agreement, the State dismissed some counts and reduced others to facilitation and solicitation offenses. After completing probation and having the convictions designated as misdemeanors, the individual filed a petition under section 36-2862 to expunge all of the marijuana-related convictions.
The trial court granted expungement for a count tied to simple possession, but denied relief for the counts that flowed from sale or transport-for-sale conduct. On appeal, the Court of Appeals upheld that result. The panel reasoned that the expungement statute does not cover selling cannabis, because the Act never legalized unlicensed sales in the first place. In other words, Prop 207 relaxed the rules for personal use, but it did not wipe out every offense that involves marijuana.
That distinction between personal-use conduct and commercial activity sits at the center of the decision.
Courts Focus On Your Conduct, Not Just The Charge Label
One key part of the ruling is the court’s approach to the record. Instead of focusing solely on the statutory elements of facilitation or solicitation, the panel examined the plea agreement, factual basis, and sentencing materials to determine what conduct actually occurred. Those documents showed that the convictions arose from admitted marijuana sales. Because the expungement statute does not authorize relief for that type of conduct, the court concluded that the sale-related counts were not eligible.
For you, that means the label on your conviction does not always control. You might have a judgment that lists “facilitation,” “attempt,” or “solicitation,” yet the underlying facts still involve selling cannabis or moving product for sale. When that happens, a judge may treat the case as a sale matter and deny expungement, even though the words on the judgment sound less serious than “possession for sale.”
Why Some Marijuana Convictions Still Cannot Be Cleared
The new case fits into a broader pattern of Arizona courts defining the outer limits of Prop 207 relief. Earlier decisions allowed expungement for certain transport offenses when the conduct matched personal-use amounts. Other rulings made clear that unlicensed sales remain crimes even after legalization for adult possession. Taken together, these cases show that expungement is not automatic simply because marijuana appears somewhere in the file.
You may still be shut out if your case involved repeated transactions, larger quantities, other controlled substances, or paraphernalia tied mainly to non-marijuana drugs. You might also see mixed results if your case contained both eligible and ineligible counts. In that situation, the court might expunge one charge but leave others in place.
The bottom line is that Prop 207 gives significant relief, but it does not guarantee a clean slate for every cannabis conviction.
How To Prepare A Strong Marijuana Expungement Petition
If you want to seek expungement under section 36-2862, here are the preparation matters. You should gather as many records as you can before filing. That includes the original complaint or indictment, the plea agreement, written factual basis, sentencing orders, and any presentence reports. Those materials reveal whether your case appears to be a personal-use situation or a commercial operation in the court’s eyes.
A careful review can also highlight opportunities for partial relief. Even if you cannot clear an entire case, removing one conviction from your history may still help with employment background checks, housing applications, and licensing. In some situations, expungement can also interact with efforts to restore civil rights, though that analysis is highly specific to your history and current law.
Because the courts now focus so heavily on underlying conduct, you benefit from having someone walk through your record with an eye toward both the strengths and the weaknesses of your petition.
Talk With An Arizona Marijuana Expungement Lawyer About Your Record
If you have an Arizona marijuana arrest, charge, or conviction and want to understand whether this new Prop 207 ruling changes your chances for expungement under section 36-2862, you can contact The Law Office of James Novak for a free initial consultation at (480) 413-1499. The firm is available 24 hours a day to review your court documents, evaluate how judges may view any sale or transport allegations in your case, and help you pursue the most effective strategy to clear qualifying marijuana offenses from your record.