Attorney General Nessel joined expungement efforts for veterans

Michigan Attorney Dana Nessel helped welcome attendees to the Veteran Resource Deployment event held in Muskegon on Sept 10.

The free expo – hosted by VanDyk Mortgage, JCI Greater Muskegon and the Muskegon County Department of Veterans Affairs – offered wide-ranging resources for veterans and their families. Members of the Department of Attorney General were onsite to provide information regarding the expungement process.

“My department has seen a significant increase in the number of applications submitted for expungement under the law,” said Nessel. “I believe our role in reviewing and processing expungement applications is so important because clearing a criminal record can make a real, meaningful difference in the life of an individual.”

Michigan’s new expungement law – known as the Clean Slate law – took effect on April 11, 2021. The law created a specific process to expunge certain offenses that are no longer crimes in the wake of the passage of Proposal 1 in November 2018 that legalized the possession and use of recreational marijuana for adults in Michigan. Qualifying misdemeanor marijuana convictions may be expunged by individuals who complete a required application process.

The new expungement law also expands the number of other misdemeanor and felony convictions a person may expunge. An individual convicted of up to three felonies, except life offenses and other serious felonies, and an unlimited number of certain misdemeanors can, with some exceptions, file an application with the convicting court to expunge all his or her convictions. Individuals with more than three felony convictions on their criminal record are not eligible to seek expungements under the new law.

Information regarding Michigan’s Clean Slate law and the expungement process is available  at www.michigan.gov/ag.