On October 12, 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed seven (7) bills into law. These new laws expanded the number and types of criminal charges that can be expunged from your record. To determine whether your specific convictions can be expunged, you will need to give us a call for a free consultation. There are many exceptions, however, there also many limitations, and we will need to consult with you to determine you are eligible.

The highlights of the new Clean Slate Laws are:

1. After April 12, 2021, up to three (3) felony charges and anunlimited number of misdemeanors can be expunged through an Application to Set Aside Conviction.
2. No more than two (2) assaultive crimes can be expunged, and no more than one (1) felony conviction for the same offense if the offense is a crime punishable by more than ten (10) yearsimprisonment.

   Assaultive Crimes:

   • Threats, assaults, and batteries against family independence agency employees,
   • Any felony or misdemeanor assault of any type,
   • Carjacking and Robbery,
   • Offenses involving explosives, harmful chemicals, biological substances, radioactive material, electronic or electromagnetic devices, offensive or injurious substances or compounds, combustible substances,
   • Offenses related to terrorism,
   • Murder, Homicide, Assault with Intent to Murder, and Mayhem,
   • Kidnapping, Unlawful Imprisonment, or taking an adult or child hostage, Stalking,
   • Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC), Molestation, Child Abuse, and Rape,
   • A crime resulting in miscarriage, stillbirth, or death or harm to an embryo or fetus,
   • Home Invasion, and
   • Felonious Discharge of a Firearm.

3. The waiting period is three (3) years for many misdemeanors, five (5) years for a serious misdemeanor or up to one felony, and seven (7) years for multiple felony convictions.
4. After October 12, 2022, at the earliest, a maximum of 2 felony convictions and up to 4 misdemeanors will be subject to automatic expungement, with various exceptions, including an assaultive crime, crime of dishonesty, a felony punishable by 10 or more years, a crime against a child or vulnerable adult, or a crime related to human trafficking.
   1. For an offense to be eligible for automatic expungement, there must be no contact with the criminal justice system for 7 years from the imposition of sentence for a misdemeanor and 10 years from the conclusion of probation or incarceration, whichever is later, for a felony.

5. Traffic convictions, other than OWI/DUI, traffic crimes that resulted in death or injury, or traffic offenses involving a commercial vehicle's operation can be set aside under the Clean Slate Laws.
6. Crimes that aren't eligible for expungement include:
   • life felonies or attempted life felonies,
   • felony domestic violence with a previous misdemeanor domestic violence conviction,
   • child abuse,
   • most criminal sexual conduct offenses (CSC),
   • OWI/DUI,
   • crimes committed during the operation of a commercial vehicle,
   • traffic offenses causing injury or death,
   • permitting a 16-year-old or younger female to be in a house of prostitution,
   • holding an individual in debt bondage,
   • any offense directly or indirectly related to human trafficking for forced labor,
   • or any offense related to terrorism.

7. There is a streamlined process for expunging a conviction for marijuana possession, including no waiting period (if filed on or after April 21, 2021).
8. Multiple felonies or misdemeanors that arise within the same 24-hour period count as one conviction (“one bad day” rule) for expungement, except for assaultive crimes, offenses involving the use or possession of a dangerous weapon, or crimes that carry a maximum penalty of 10 or more years in prison.

Key Factors of the Clean Slate Laws

• If a criminal sexual conduct conviction is expunged, the individual remains “convicted” for the Michigan Sex Offender Registration Act's purposes.
• An expunged conviction can still be used to enhance the maximum possible punishment for a post-expungement felony conviction under Michigan's habitual offender laws, MCL 769.10 et seq.
• The expunged conviction will be part of a nonpublic record that is available to the governor, law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts for a variety of purposes, including pardon decisions, employment with MDOC or law enforcement, plea bargaining, licensing through the judicial branch of government, sentencing for either a felony or misdemeanor punishable by more than one year of imprisonment and consideration of future set-aside applications.
• The “one bad day rule” applies to non-automatic expungement and expungement under the special marijuana provisions of the Clean Slate Laws.

Application Process

Michigan law allows a person to file an application to have a conviction set aside when certain conditions are satisfied:

(1) the circumstances and behavior of the applicant since the date of the conviction warrant the requested relief; and (2) the setting aside of the conviction is consistent with the public welfare.

To be successful, a persuasive and credible argument must be made that setting aside the conviction is in the public welfare. If the court is not convinced by this argument, the motion to set aside the conviction will be denied. If this occurs, one cannot file again for three (3) years.