In October 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a multi-bill package dealing with the expungement of certain criminal records. The bills for the most part took effect in April 2021. The Governor also signed bills in August 2021, that took effect February 2022, which allowed anyone with only one drunk driving conviction to have it expunged.
Among other things, the bills shorten the waiting time for applying for expungement by making it possible for an unlimited number of misdemeanors to be expunged after three years, serious misdemeanors or a single felony after five years and up to three felonies after seven years. The bills also created the “one bad night” expungement eligibility by treating any combination of up to three felonies or misdemeanors from the same 24-hour period as one conviction for expungement purposes.
However, assaultive crimes or those involving a dangerous weapon and those punishable by more than 10 years in prison cannot be included. The bills also exclude certain other crimes from expungement, such as domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, life offenses and traffic offenses where someone was seriously injured or died.
They do, however. allow for people with multiple marijuana misdemeanor convictions to also apply for expungement. Notably, no conviction can be set aside if there are any pending charges. And only two assaultive convictions can be set aside in a person’s lifetime.
Perhaps the most significant bill out of this package is the legislation scheduled to take effect April of this year. It provides for the automatic expungement of certain crimes, without the need for individuals to apply for it. The law will expunge up to four misdemeanor convictions after seven years and up to two felony convictions after ten years. It does, however, exclude crimes punishable by more than 10 years in prison, violent crimes, human trafficking, and other serious crimes.
These bills are an excellent way for someone to remove obstacles to becoming a productive member of society. Those seeking further information can contact Legal Services of Eastern Michigan at their state intake hotline at (888) 783-8190. You can also find information by visiting Michigan Legal Help at www.michiganlegalhelp.org and searching the topic Set Aside Convictions.
We here in Saginaw County courts have seen a significant uptick in people applying to have their convictions set aside since the passage of these bills. And I would encourage others to take advantage of the application process as well if they do not qualify for automatic expungement after April.
Darnell Jackson is the Chief Judge of all Saginaw County trial courts. He has been a circuit court judge for the past 17 years and previously served as a district court judge for five years before that. He was also the director of Michigan’s Office of Drug Control Policy, Saginaw city deputy police chief, and deputy chief assistant prosecuting attorney.
