Utah’s Government Expungement Fee Waivers: What you need to know

Expungement can open doors to better jobs and housing, as well as a more stable future. However, the cost of the expungement process is too high for many people, especially because a criminal record makes it harder to earn steady income. This is why Utah offers a way to get a government expungement fee waiver, which helps people move through the expungement process without having to pay government fees. In this guide, we explain what fee waivers are, how they work, and how you can access them.

Understanding Utah Fee Waivers

Before we talk about who qualifies, it helps to understand what fee waivers are and how they work in Utah’s expungement process. Fee waivers were implemented to make sure everyone can access the justice system, even if money is a concern. This is especially true during the expungement process, which has several steps and multiple points in the process that come with government imposed fees.

In General

A fee waiver is a court decision that based on your income, the state of Utah will waive the requirement that you have to pay certain government fees. Government fees are charges for doing things like filing paperwork or doing the work required to process your paperwork or expunge your record. Government fees do not include fines or restitution owed to the state or victim as part of a sentence.

When a government fee waiver is granted, the court issues an order that says you do not have to pay government fees in order to move forward with the expungement process. While you cannot get a waiver for all fees, if you qualify for a government fee waiver, you may be able to get rid of most of them. The opportunity to get a waiver helps people access the justice system without choosing between paying a fee and meeting their basic needs.

Getting a Fee Waiver For Expungement

Normally, when you apply for an expungement in Utah, you have to move through several steps. You must:

• submit an application to BCI
• purchase certificates of eligibility
• petition the court
• provide notice to the prosecutor
• wait for the court review your documents
• If successful, wait for BCI to remove your criminal record from your history

After you go through this entire process, your expungement is complete. However, you must pay government fees to complete many of these steps.  Those fees are as follows:

• BCI Application Fee: $65 (cannot be waived)
• BCI Certificate Fee: $65 per case (can obtain a fee waiver)
• Court Filing Fee: $150 per case (can obtain a fee waiver)

If you have multiple cases, these fees can really add up fast.

If you think you qualify for a fee waiver, the expungement process looks slightly different. You still apply to BCI and must pay the $65 application fee, which is not waivable.  However, at the time you apply, you can indicate on the application that you believe you qualify for a fee waiver. When you do this, if the court agrees that you qualify for a fee waiver, BCI will provide your Certificates of Eligibility free of charge. Then, you file your expungement petition and your government fee waiver request at the same time. If both are approved, you can move forward with your expungement without paying government fees.  Hiring Rasa can save you a lot of money in government fees, because we are experts on the fee waiver process and can file paperwork for you to obtain those waivers.

Who Qualifies for a Utah Fee Waiver

Utah law controls who is eligible to get a government fee waiver during the expungement process. These rules determine whether you can apply for a waiver, though there is some wiggle room in certain cases. Below, we explain the most common ways people qualify and how Rasa can help you navigate the process.

Economic Hardship

Economic need is one of the biggest reasons people receive fee waivers, but the limits in the law can be confusing to understand. In Utah, a household of one, two, or three people can qualify for a government fee waiver for expungement if their income is at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for a family of three. This number comes from the current year’s federal poverty guidelines. As of 2025, if you make $3,331.25 per month, and your household has three people or less, you may qualify for a fee waiver. For people in households with four or more people, they must be at or below 150% of the FPL for their household size.  Here is a chart that shows what these income levels are up to a household of 8:

If your income is above these thresholds, you may also qualify for a government fee waiver if you can show that you cannot afford to pay the government fees for an expungement and take care of your basic needs like food, housing, and utilities.  Getting a waiver in this circumstance requires a lot more work, however. You must fill out this long form about your monthly income and expenses, the value of your personal property, house if you own one, your bank balances, car payments and other financial information.

Other Ways to Qualify

There are a couple of other ways to qualify for a government fee waiver. If you receive government assistance through programs like SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, and SSI, you can ask for your fees to be waived. You may also be eligible to get your government fees waived if you are working with a non-profit legal aid provider like Utah Legal Services, or a pro bono lawyer who is representing you free of charge. Both of these routes to a waiver require the attorney working with you to fill out an affidavit and help you file it in court.

As we’ve seen, there are multiple routes to getting a government expungement fee waiver. Still, it can be hard to know for sure whether you qualify. The rules can be confusing, and every case is a little different. That’s where we come in.

We Can Help

You can use our eligibility tool to see if you qualify for expungement and our team can determine whether you also qualify for a government fee waiver. If you do qualify, we can help you apply for the waiver and move through the expungement process without government fees. This is one of the ways Rasa helps make record clearance faster, easier, and more affordable than trying to handle everything on your own.