State-initiated expungement relief: Preliminary findings from the RTI Clean Slate Initiative research project

• In Event: Policy Panel: Effects of Automated and Petition-Based Criminal Record Clearance, Expungement, and Sealing

Abstract

A criminal arrest or conviction affects a person’s ability to find and secure suitable housing, employment, public benefits, and often excludes a person from other services, such as the ability to vote or receive federal student loans. Further, criminal records follow people long after their sentences are completed. States offer a range of record-clearing relief, from shielding arrests that do not result in convictions to the ability to apply for a governor’s pardon. The research regarding the clearing of criminal records is limited but suggests that very few eligible persons apply for and are granted relief—hence a more recent focus on automatic or government-initiated expungement relief. With support from the New Ventures Fund and the Clean Slate Initiative (CSI), RTI International is conducting a multi-state examination of recent expungement and record clearing legislative efforts, including a legal review of the expungement and record clearing statutes in the 50 states and District of Columbia and an in-depth legislative analysis of efforts in eleven states. Findings from these efforts and future plans for implementation and outcome analysis in a subset of states will be presented.

Authors

• Pamela K. Lattimore, RTI International

• Suzanne Strong, RTI International

• Karima Modjadidi, RTI International

• Debbie Dawes, RTI International