Three years later: The wins and wait times of Michigan’s “Clean Slate” expungement laws

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When legislation to expand eligibility and access for Michiganders to have certain old criminal convictions wiped clean from their record was becoming law in 2020, leaders from across the political spectrum touted the reform as a win for families and communities.

But on Thursday, the three year anniversary of Clean Slate laws going into effect, supporters say the victories have not been without setbacks.

More than 30,000 individuals have been able to file for expungement under expanded eligibility since 2021, said Safe & Just Michigan Executive Director John Cooper on a video call with other expungement stakeholders. And since last year, when Michigan State Police began its mandated responsibility under the new laws to begin a process to automatically expunge qualifying criminal convictions, more than 1.4 million conviction records have been concealed.

“Because expungements are such a net positive for society, it follows that we should ensure that the Clean Slate law is maximizing its impact and while its impact has been massive…there is much more to do to improve its reach and effectiveness,” Cooper said.

Starting on April 11, 2021, expanded eligibility began and thousands of Michiganders flocked to expungement fairs and other resources to see if they could get their records scrubbed. On April 11, 2023, the first day of automatic expungements, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that she expected by the end of the day over 1 million residents would see expungements, giving 400,000 residents a 100% clean public criminal record. 

There are limits on how many offenses can be expunged and bars on expunging assaultive crimes, amongst other more serious offenses.

Michigan is amongst several states that in the last few years have implemented a system to automatically scrub some previous convictions. But like in other states, many Michiganders face long wait times in the process. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when courts were dealing with existing backlogs and delays, some of the wait times for the petition process for expungement lasted for up to a year.

But the effects of finally getting old convictions set aside have widespread impacts on all parts of a person’s life and Clean Slate is worth making better and more effective, said Michigan Advocacy Program Pro-Bono Manager Sarah Munro on the video call.

“Virtually every application that we file is granted at the hearing…in addition, these hearings are generally positive experiences for everyone involved. They’re kind of a bright light in the court’s docket,” Munro said. “Usually the judge is thrilled to be having this hearing and being in the position to set aside someone’s conviction that is impeding their life and just not representative of the kind of person that they are now.”

In addition to wait times, Safe & Just Michigan Clean Slate Program Manager Kamau Sandiford added that many people have no idea that their previous convictions have been expunged, without notification from the state. 

“We have and will continue to advocate for the implementation of a Clean Slate portal. We believe that the lack of any type of notification process, letting people know when their offenses have been expunged means that people will continue to check the box on employment or housing applications even when they may not have to do so,” Sandiford said.

Safe & Just Michigan released a report outlining suggestions to improve Clean Slate in time for Thursday, showing that from the 25 expungement fairs the organization or its partners have hosted about half of the people showing up are eligible for expungement, but about 14% aren’t showing up in the state’s conviction database. 

And that situation is happening a lot, Munro said. This is in part because many people have sought out legal assistance for navigating expungement, having been checking off previous criminal convictions that have kept them from housing, educational and employment opportunities, when in reality their record had been automatically expunged.

Sandiford added on the call that there needs to be more oversight of private background check companies, as the likelihood that expungements are being reflected there, and in a timely manner is unlikely.

“One of the continuing themes that we hear throughout the state is the fact that people may have had convictions that were expunged either through the automated process or through the petition process, but those convictions are still showing up on commercial background check companies or background checks run by employers or landlords,” Sandiford said. “Obviously that kind of defeats the purpose of the law.”

On a call with members of the media, Cooper added that Safe & Just Michigan would like to see automatic expungements to be expanded further, while noting that many of the easy to process cases have been expunged, which was the goal of the automatic system. However, when it comes to cases that are a little more complicated to process, investment from the state in making the petitioning process easier and less costly is crucial.

“The thing I’ve been encouraging the state to do is to think about helping poor people with criminal records as an investment,” Cooper said. “We know that, because there’s a bunch of research that’s been done that says if you give someone an expungement, you’re gonna see a 23% increase in their income in the first year .”

When years have gone by and people have served their debt to society and are a lot different than who they were when they made a mistake, expungement can make all the difference in the world, Cooper said. Expungement offers the opportunity for there to be a cap on how long a person can be punished in their efforts to get a job and live their lives which in turn is good for the state’s economic and social development.

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