As of April, Michigan joined three other states in the mission to expunge specific criminal records automatically. The other states include Pennsylvania, California, and Utah. The four states expect these automatic expungements to increase their residents’ employment and housing opportunities significantly. Helping the affected individuals also improves employers’ hiring efforts.

Michigan’s Clean Slate legislation states that its automatic expungement program scans in-state databases for qualifying criminal records. 

According to the law, Michigan’s state police rolled out the process. As such, they created a system that reviews the offense, checks the time elapsed since the conviction, and whether the individual has reached the maximum number of allowed expungements.

Before the Clean Slate’s enactment in 2020, eligible residents could apply for an expungement if they had two or fewer eligible misdemeanors or one felony conviction. However, residents only qualified if they did not commit more offenses for a minimum of five years. In addition, few non-violent crimes, such as traffic offenses, qualified for expungement.

Furthermore, having records expunged proved difficult and expensive. These challenges have left many eligible individuals unable to request expungements. According to research by the University of Michigan, of the individuals eligible for expungement, only 6.5% received an expungement within five years of their eligibility.

These complications and numbers led to the Clean Slate law passing in 2020 and changing the expungement process. This law allows individuals to expunge up to three felonies and unlimited misdemeanors. 

Individuals may have up to two felonies automatically expunged if they have not committed additional crimes in that time. The same applies to misdemeanors, allowing a maximum of four after seven years. However, these offenses cannot involve vulnerable adults or minors or be sex crimes, violent crimes, or other serious offenses. Some crimes do not qualify for automatic expungement; individuals can petition a judge to expunge these records.

This program has helped many people improve their employment, housing, and educational opportunities, and many expect it to improve more lives. Some have expressed interest in improving the process further. They suggest informing individuals of their eligibility and whether the courts have expunged their records.

These expungements could help many individuals get better job opportunities, helping employers to obtain more good workers. However, employers must ensure their policies comply to take the most advantage of the law. The best way to ensure compliance is by partnering with a trustworthy background screening provider. The right partner will use their experience in second-chance hiring to deliver accurate and informative reports for hiring needs.

Looking to easily verify your employment qualifications? Talk to a sales representative today about switching to pre-employment background checks.

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California’s Department of Justice (CA DOJ) recently announced new data concerning Assembly Bill 1076 (AB 1076), which the governor signed in 2019. The data indicates that the state has successfully expunged over 11 million arrest and conviction records. 

According to the CA DOJ, the automatic expungements occurred between July 1st, 2022, and December 31st, 2022. However, the reform that allowed these expungements did not give individuals the right to have their records expunged. Instead, it automated the expungement process for records already deemed eligible for expungement.

Before this reform, many found the expungement process lengthy and complicated. However, AB 1076 has mandated the CA DOJ to expunge old arrests that did not result in charges automatically. The bill also includes individuals with qualifying low-level offenses on their records that did not result in a prison sentence. They must have completed their entire sentence or diversion program.

In addition to AB 1076, lawmakers passed SB 731 in 2022. This bill considerably increased the number of offenses eligible for expungement. However, sexual offenses will not qualify for sealing. Additionally, “Arrest relief does not relieve a person of the obligation to disclose an arrest in response to a direct question contained in a questionnaire or application for employment as a peace officer, as defined in Section 830.”

Furthermore, “Relief granted pursuant to this section has no effect on the ability of a criminal justice agency, as defined in Section 851.92, to access and use records that are granted relief to the same extent that would have been permitted for a criminal justice agency had relief not been granted.”

Still, this law has helped many California residents improve their employment and housing opportunities. Though millions of individuals had eligible records for expungement, they could not afford it until the laws took effect. As such, many people earned less money and had fewer educational opportunities that might allow them to improve their situation. However, this has changed since the laws passed, allowing these people to enjoy more opportunities.

California employers must ensure that their employment policies comply with these laws. It has become more critical than ever for employers to ensure they perform background checks that comply with local, state, and federal laws governing the employment screening process. The best way to do this is to partner with a trusted screening provider experienced in maintaining compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Easily verify your employment qualifications when you switch to pre-employment background checks. Talk to a sales representative today.

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