News & Announcements

More States Consider Automatic Criminal Record Expungement

As of May 2021, Stateline found a dozen bills introduced across 10 states this year that push for automatic clearing, expungement or sealing of criminal records.

JPMorgan Chase & Company's Jamie Dimon Talks Second Chance Hiring

Detroiters Seek to Expunge Their Criminal Records for a Fresh Start

At recent job fairs for positions being offered by Fiat Chrysler ahead of the east side plant expansion, Detroit residents are getting assistance through a program called Project Clean Slate to clear their records of old criminal offenses.

Filing Fee Eliminated to Seal Records

Union County State District Judge Jack W. Barker is reminding the public that the Arkansas Legislature recently passed Act 680 of 2019, which will go into effect on July 24. It abolishes the $50 per charge filing fee for obtaining an order of seal (expungement) for felony or misdemeanor criminal or traffic court arrests or convictions in circuit and district courts. This act amends the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013.

Changes in Ohio Laws Could Help Give Ex-Offenders New Opportunities

Over the last seven years, Ohio’s been slowly changing a set of laws that many believe keeps people from getting jobs, paying child support, even volunteering in their community. In the first of two stories on Ohio’s official second chances, we examine how some of these changes are playing out.

Public Defenders to Help Some in King County Remove 'Scarlet Letter' of Criminal Conviction from their Record

There are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of residents in King County who feel their lives are defined by their criminal pasts, but a new unit at the Office of Public Defense wants to change that by helping some of them vacate their old convictions and reclaim their lives.

Rap Sheets Haunt Former Inmates. California May Change That.

After spending more than seven years in prison for robbery and auto theft, Jay Jordan tried to get work selling insurance, real estate and used cars, but was repeatedly turned away, he said. People with a felony record are often barred from obtaining professional licenses, and an opportunity to be a barber at a friend’s shop fell through for the same reason.

Lawmakers Introduce Bill that Would Wipe Out Non-Violent Criminal Records for Low Level Offenses

There’s a lot of the debate in Colorado right now about abolishing the death penalty. Democrats will likely introduce a bill this month that would ban the death penalty on Monday. But there's another measure lawmakers are considering that would also reform the criminal justice system.

Criminal Records, Even Minor Ones, Mean Life of Obstacles, Report Says

Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society, according to a sweeping new report published Thursday.

City’s Lawyers Will Help Job Seekers Expunge Criminal Records at Upcoming WorkBaltimore Convention

The city’s Law Department plans to offer thousands of attendees at an upcoming employment convention downtown the chance to clear many types of arrests and convictions—or at least kick off the process of doing so—through an expungement clinic.

Louisville Organizations Mount Effort to Clear Criminal Records en Masse

More than a thousand people showed up to an expungement clinic hosted by the Louisville Urban League in February. About 300 of them made it inside. Those whose records were determined to be expungeable under Kentucky law had more than 1,900 cases total.

Where Marijuana Is Legal, Some Cities Help People Still Haunted by It

There's a small but growing movement among prosecutors to automatically reduce sentences and expunge criminal records from before the drug was legal.

New SC Expungement Law Set to Give Offenders a Better Chance to Enter Workforce

A new law aims to make job searching easier for those who committed "low level" crimes. The law is an expansion of the former South Carolina expungement law, with the goal of bolstering the workforce in South Carolina.

Should Criminal Records Be Temporary?

With recreational marijuana now legal in Vermont some people arrested for having pot are getting those crimes removed from their records. But marijuana misdemeanors aren’t the only crimes people can get expunged.

Portland to Launch Criminal Expungement Pilot, Opening Doors to Affordable Housing

The City of Portland plans to launch its first pilot program designed to help people expunge their criminal records in an effort to give them access to better housing options.

Criminal Convictions Behind Them, Few Have Had Their Records Sealed

Carlos grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in the 1990s, then a rough-and-tumble neighborhood where he struggled to stay out of trouble. He later moved with his wife and two children to the South Bronx, where he made a career as a taxi driver.

Expungement Day: ‘I’m Not Going to Be Looked at as a Criminal’

Joseph Day walked into a building on the campus of Vermont Law School on Saturday morning as a convicted drug offender and left about an hour later well on his way to losing that label, and the consequences that come with it.

Wisconsin's Criminal Expungement Rules Keep Needed Workers out of Jobs, Study Says

Wisconsin's quirky, limited law regarding when someone can get a criminal conviction erased from public records is keeping thousands of potential workers from employment, a new study finds.

Portage Court Programs Help Seal Criminal Records

Portage County Clerk of Courts Jill Fankhauser announced this week a pilot program that would help criminal defendants remove sealed or expunged court records from online databases where they might interfere with future background checks.

Ninth BREES Expungement Event Coming in June

For those with East Baton Rouge convictions, your next opportunity to expunge them from your record is coming next month.

Stadelman Announces Chance to Expunge or Seal Criminal Records

Rockford - Senator Steve Stadelman along with Prairie State Legal Services and United Way of Rock River Valley want to help those who have past transgressions to make a stride in employment and helping them support themselves and their families.

Gov. Charlie Baker Signs Landmark Massachusetts Criminal Justice Overhaul, Despite Concerns

Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday signed a major overhaul of Massachusetts' criminal justice system, calling it a bill that "takes our criminal justice system and makes it better."

Salt Lake County's First 'Expungement Day' Helps Dozens Clear Criminal Records

Rows of tables and computers lined the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall across the street from the Rio Grande homeless shelter Thursday, where attorneys met with clients to fill out and exchange paperwork.

Counties Offer Clean Slates for Second Chances

The Hamilton County Fresh Start Expungement Clinic (Fresh Start) operates out of the county’s Public Defender Office. Fresh Start began in October 2013 to provide county residents with assistance in sealing or expunging their criminal or juvenile records.

Nevadans with Misdemeanor Pot Convictions Want Records Expunged

Nevadans with past misdemeanor pot convictions can have their records sealed away, but the Clark County district attorney isn’t ready to wave a magic wand to make it happen.

Felon Forgiveness

Hundreds of Louisvillians stand outside Roosevelt Perry Elementary School on West Broadway, the line wrapping around the building and snaking into the parking lot. They’re all here for the pilot clinic of the Reily Reentry Project, a program through the Louisville Urban League designed to help people expunge their criminal records.

Clinic Will Help Expunge Those with Certain Criminal Records in Shawnee Co.

A clinic in April will provide a second chance to those arrested or convicted on certain crimes, for a price.

California Could Make It Easier to Erase Your Old Marijuana Convictions

When California voters legalized recreational weed in 2016, they made the law retroactive, allowing residents to petition to overturn or reduce old convictions for possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana.

Michigan Set-Asides Found to Increase Wages and Reduce Recidivism

Preliminary results of an empirical study by two University of Michigan law professors show that setting aside an individual’s record of conviction is associated with “a significant increase in employment and average wages,” and with a low recidivism rate. 

New Rio Grande Outreach Aims to Help People Clear Their Criminal Records

Salt Lake County is teaming with the state Departments of Workforce Services and Public Safety, Catholic Community Services of Utah, and a group of volunteer lawyers to help eligible candidates clean up, or expunge, their criminal records.

Nebraska Human Trafficking Bill Seeks to Help Survivors

Sex trafficking victims with a prostitution conviction could clear their criminal record under a bill Nebraska lawmakers will consider this year, the latest step in a larger effort to protect people who were coerced into prostitution.

Bill Proposes Sealing Records of Some Marijuana Possession Charges

House Bill 316, introduced in Juneau Wednesday by Democratic Rep. Harriet Drummond of Anchorage, seeks to seal public records related to certain marijuana charges.

‘We Are All Criminals’ Aims to Foster Empathy and Encourage Second Chances for People with Criminal Records

“We Are All Criminals,” examines mass incarceration in the U.S., what it means to have a criminal record and how race plays a role in the system.

States Featuring Bipartisan Support Rally for Criminal Justice Reform

When Lisa Graybill organized a rally for criminal justice reform at the Louisiana Capitol in April, she was expecting maybe 300 people. Twice that many showed up.

New Law Gives People Chance to Start Fresh

Since Dec. 1, more North Carolinians are able to expunge certain criminal records that give rise to severe barriers to employment, housing, and other essential opportunities.

Senate Criminal Reform Bill Addresses Juvenile Justice, Changing Age of Adulthood

Activists are applauding as a step in the right direction a package of juvenile justice provisions included in a comprehensive Massachusetts Senate proposal to reform the state’s criminal justice system, a sentiment not shared by a majority of the state’s district attorneys.

Taking Sides on Timing of Sealing Criminal Records

A comprehensive criminal justice reform proposal approved by the Massachusetts Senate would reduce the time frame for sealing these criminal records.

Expungement Law Changes Expand Opportunities for Missourians with Certain Convictions

Beginning in January 2018, Missourians convicted of certain crimes could have an easier time expunging offenses from their records due to changes in state law.

Five Years after Landmark Criminal Expungement Law Passed, Ohio Attorneys Remain Busy with Record Sealing Requests

Ohio attorneys have continued to see an influx of clients hoping to start over and rebuild their lives through expungement.

Soares: Seal Convictions of Those Who Turned Their Lives Around

Albany County District Attorney David Soares said Tuesday he will ask judges to seal the convictions of offenders – including some felons -- who have turned their lives around for at least 10 years.

Two New Nevada Record Sealing Laws Go into Effect

Assembly Bill 327 shortens the time people with a clean post-conviction record have to wait to get their records sealed. 

California Legislature Passes Bill That Could Give Former Juvenile Offenders a Fresh Start

Proposed by State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, the bill is intended to help eliminate hurdles to housing, employment, and post-high school education that former youthful offenders often face.

New Law Allows New Yorkers with Decade-Old Convictions to Seal Criminal Record

People with old convictions who can prove themselves reformed will have a chance at having their cases sealed, under a new state law.

UT's Expunction Project Gives pro Bono Help for Criminal Record Cleanup

Thanks to a free service from University of Texas law students that helps people expunge their criminal records.

Illinois Enacts Broadest Sealing Law in Nation

On Friday Illinois governor Bruce Rauner signed into law what appears to be the broadest sealing law in the United States, covering almost all felonies and requiring a relatively short eligibility waiting period of three years.

Facetime: The Justices and Injustices of Mugshots in a Digital Age

Law-enforcement officials release arrest photos to the public and the news media. The media often publishes them, without necessarily following up if a defendant is exonerated.