1M Michiganders Can See Old Convictions Erased In New Police Program

MICHIGAN — A new automatic expungement program that launched Tuesday can erase over a million Michiganders' old convictions.

The new program, spearheaded by Michigan State Police, will search the state’s criminal historical record database system daily for eligible convictions to automatically expunge.

Those recommendations will then be sent over to courts for possible expungement under Michigan’s new "Clean Slate" law, which was signed into law in 2020 and went into effect in April 2021.

Convictions that are eligible to be erased in the program include, all misdemeanors punishable by less than 92 days imprisonment after seven years, up to four misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more imprisonment after seven years and up to two felonies after 10 years.

Convictions that are not eligible to be automatically erased include:

• An assaultive crime
• A serious misdemeanor
• A crime of dishonesty
• Any offense punishable by more than 10 years imprisonment
• Violation of state laws that include either a minor, vulnerable adult, injury or serious impairment, or death
• Human trafficking
• Any traffic offense that causes injury or death

For those that don't qualify for the automatic expungement process, there are still options to erase your past convictions, such as expungement fairs hosted by the attorney general's office.

You can use the IChat webpage to see if someone qualifies for automatic expungement. It costs $10 to use.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said some 400,000 Michiganders were "completely conviction free" on the program's first day.

"My department has been traveling the state for years, hosting expungement fairs to help eligible residents clear their records in the hopes of improving employment and housing eligibility, as well as significantly reducing the chances of that resident winding up back in the court system," Nessel said.