Legislation gives reformed citizens access to better job opportunities

State Rep. Luke Meerman has introduced legislation as part of a bipartisan plan to expand Michigan’s expungement laws and give hundreds of thousands of residents with old, low-level criminal convictions the ability to start fresh.

“Reforming Michigan’s expungement laws will allow good people to move beyond the mistakes in their past so they can earn a decent living,” said Meerman, of Coopersville. “It will also expand the pool of skilled people who are employable, which benefits all of the local businesses having a difficult time finding the workers they need to grow and thrive.”

Michigan’s current expungement law allows people with certain convictions to petition for the expungement of one felony or two misdemeanors after being free of contact from the court system for a minimum of five years.

The six-bill legislative package:

• Expands the number of people who qualify for expungement. A person with up to three felonies may apply to have all their convictions set aside if none of the convictions are for an assaultive crime. If the person has an assaultive crime on their record, they can apply to have up to two felonies and four misdemeanors set aside.
• Establishes automatic expungement for certain offenders. This would be available to people who would otherwise qualify for expungement via petition if none of the convictions are for an assaultive crime or serious misdemeanor and all are punishable by less than 10 years imprisonment.
• Allows the expungement of marijuana convictions. People with misdemeanor marijuana convictions would be able to petition to have the convictions set aside if the behavior that led to the conviction is permissible under current law.
• Allows forgiveness for acts committed during “one bad night.” For the purposes of expungement, crimes similar in nature committed in the same act may be treated as a single felony if none of the crimes were assaultive, none of the crimes involved the possession of a weapon, and none of the crimes had a maximum penalty greater than 10 years.
• Allows the expungement of some traffic offenses. Offenses such as DUI/OWI and other traffic crimes causing serious injury or death would not qualify.
• Shortens the eligibility period for expungement. Under the plan, an application to set aside more than one felony could be filed after seven years; an application to set aside a “serious misdemeanor” or single felony could be filed after five years; and an application to set aside other misdemeanors with no felonies could be filed after three years.

House Bills 4980-85 have been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.

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