Expungement and Other Criminal Record Mitigation Strategies Sharon M. Dietrich, Managing Attorney Community Legal Services, Inc. Philadelphia, PA November 12,

An Explosion of Criminal Record Reports About 65 million people have criminal records (National Employment Law Project) 87% of employers conduct background checks (Society for Human Resource Management) Relationship between criminal records and poverty 2

Employment: Any Record a Barrier Arrests not resulting in convictions Juvenile cases Minor offenses Old convictions (despite social science findings that new offenses become less likely as time passes) Blanket bans remain common – employer demands “clean record” 3

What is on a Criminal Record? Convictions Arrests Juvenile proceedings? Mistakes! Best strategy to help people with records: clear or mitigate it! 4

How Can A Record Be Cleared? Expungements/sealing Set Aside Certificates of rehabilitation Pardons (by Governor) Both the name and the form of the remedy depends on the state. Each state is different! 5

Expungement/Sealing What it means: To remove a case from a criminal record. Most states require a petition and court hearing, by a judge. A few others: automatic. Convictions are least likely to be expunged. 6

Things That Can Be Expunged in Most States Arrests: More than 2/3 of states (States that don’t expunge arrests: ID, MT, ND, WI; federal government) Juvenile proceedings Diversionary programs/deferred adjudications (not guilty if probation is completed) 7

Expungement of Convictions Only several states allow many adult felonies to be expunged (KS, MA, NV, NH, PR, UT, WA). Other states notable for allowing some felony or misdemeanor convictions to be expunged (CO, DE, DC, IN, IL, KY, MD, MN, MO, NC, OH, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, VT, WI WY). Usually legal criteria must apply – certain offenses, after certain waiting periods. 8

Set-Asides What it means: Do not remove case, but try to limit its effect. Might, or not, need to be disclosed by job seeker or given in response to background check. Most notable state: CA. Others: AZ, MI, ND. 9

Governor’s Pardons Every state has them, but some don’t use them. Governor may have a board to work with. Not applying legal standards; discretionary. Procedures vary greatly. Only 14 states grant many of them (AL, AR, CT, DE, GA, ID,IL, IA, NE, NV, OK, PA, SC, SD). 10

Certificates of Rehabilitation Doesn’t change record, but vouch for person. Might eliminate legal consequences. Might protect state against negligent hiring. Done by court or agency. Most notable state: NY. Other states recently adopted this: IL, CT, NC, OH. 11

12 Critical resource: