Department announces Genesee County expungement event

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel last Friday announced the first in a series of Department of Attorney General Expungement Fairs, starting in Genesee County this summer. The event will be open to applicants who register online via the Department of Attorney General website.

The Department of Attorney General is partnering with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office and others to host the first expungement fair. The event will take place outdoors on June 2 at the Sheriff’s Office located at 1002 S. Saginaw Street in Flint. The purpose of the event is to assist eligible individuals in obtaining expungements for misdemeanor marijuana convictions and provide information to individuals seeking an expungement of other eligible misdemeanor and felony convictions. 

Interested individuals must answer an online questionnaire at the Department of Attorney General’s website (mi.gov/agexpunge), to be evaluated for participation in the event. The application process is now open and will close Wednesday, May 19.

“The ability to expunge these convictions, means an individual’s past mistakes no longer have to impact future plans,” said Nessel. “We are eager to help residents gain access to the newly expanded expungement process. This law brings about overdue change for residents who would otherwise have to carry around the burden of a public criminal record well past the point of having paid their debt to society.”

The first event will assist individuals with expungements of convictions that occurred in Genesee County only. Interested applicants must know the conviction they seek to expunge, the convicting court, and be available to attend the in-person outdoor expungement event on June 2. The Department of Attorney General will review applications to assess eligibility and contact eligible applicants to schedule their participation in the event. Volunteers will be present at the event to provide information to applicants seeking to expunge from their public record eligible misdemeanor and felony convictions.

“All of us have a purpose in life,” said Sheriff Christopher R. Swanson. “A basic human right to dignity and a clear conscience. Yet, we still make mistakes. On June 2, 2021 Genesee County will have a front row seat to witness stigmas of the past wiped away and new chapters of life beginning. For this, I am honored to work shoulder to shoulder with Michigan’s attorney general.” 

Michigan’s new expungement 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.

This expungement event is the first of multiple events the Department of Attorney General intends to host in the coming months. Individuals with convictions outside of Genesee County who are interested in obtaining more information about the expungement law and process, including application checklists, may do so online at the Department’s expungement webpage (mi.gov/agexpunge).  

Information regarding other expungement events will also be made available on the webpage.