In North Carolina, an expunction is the destruction of a criminal record by court order. An expunction of a criminal record restores the individual, in the view of the law, to the status he or she occupied before the criminal record existed.
Public Defenders in North Carolina are prohibited from handling expunction cases. Individuals may, however, be able to receive help with an expunction from the North Carolina Justice Center, which has provided resources online to explain the process.
Another good resource is the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which runs the Clean Slate project to help individuals clean up their past criminal records.