KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — State representatives have unveiled bipartisan legislation that will help citizens get crimes dropped from records after a certain amount of time, according to an official press release.
The bill sponsors met with Mayor Bobby Hopewell and other representatives to announce the new package Monday.
“The innovative reforms we’re proposing will make Michigan a leader in criminal justice reform,” State Rep. Graham Filler, R-DeWitt said in a press release. “By removing barriers for former offenders, we will give them new opportunities to thrive while simultaneously expanding the pool of workers available to Michigan job providers looking to grow.”
Filler explains that convicts can now petition courts to have records expunged, while some records will be expunged automatically.
“If you haven’t committed a new crime, depending on the seriousness, than you can petition to have it taken off your record,” Filler said. “The part of the package that will make Michigan a national leader is there’s some automatics for low-level misdemeanors and low-level felonies.”
According to the press release, the current expungement laws allow “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 press release also lists the full bill 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.
- Establish 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.
- Allow for 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.
- Allow forgiveness for acts committed during “one bad night.” For the purposes of expungement, crimes similar in nature that were 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.
- Allow for the expungement of some traffic offenses. Offenses such as DUI/OWI and other traffic crimes causing serious injury or death would not qualify.
- Shorten 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.
The legislation will be officially introduced in the House later this week.
