Record Expungment

ArchCity Defenders plans to help thousands of people in the St. Louis region who are experiencing housing insecurity or need help navigating the justice system. It released a guide to help renters find adequate and safe housing in Missouri and information on expunging criminal records.

The Clean Slate campaign is backing four Missouri bills, which all provide for a more automated expungement process for low-level offenses.

At the same time when courts are required to dig through decades of non-digitized records for expungements, they are also involved in a large redacting project to make court records accessible online.

More than 40,000 marijuana cases have been expunged, but one advocate said some courts “have made little or no effort.”

Amendment 3 legalized recreational marijuana in Missouri. It also required all nonviolent marijuana-related misdemeanors and felonies to be expunged by June 8 and December 8, respectively. But the state doesn’t know how many cases are left, and experts say the courts aren't equipped to handle those that remain before June or December.

A huge selling point for those who voted for Amendment 3 in November was the automatic expungement provision — meaning people who have already served their sentences for past charges will have their records cleared. All marijuana-related misdemeanors must be expunged by June 8 and felonies by Dec. 8.

More than a million voters approved a constitutional amendment to legalize weed in Missouri, but the historic vote was just the beginning.

Thanks to voter-approved Amendment 3, Missouri residents will be able to legally use marijuana recreationally in the state, and thousands of people will be able to expunge criminal convictions.

Parson has also been outspoken against a November ballot issue that would amend the Missouri Constitution to legalize recreational marijuana and expunge the records of nonviolent offenders.

Legal experts worry expungement proposals currently being considered might cause more harm than good.