Simple fixes could further advance expungement access opportunities
LANSING — With Michigan’s Clean Slate laws reaching their 5-year anniversary on April 11, a new report from nonprofit criminal justice reform organization Safe & Just Michigan illuminates the overwhelming successes the package of expungement access legislation has brought, while pointing to two simple legislative fixes that could open the doors of opportunity to even more Michiganders. The report, “Clean Slate Turns 5: Clean Slate 2.0 and What Comes Next,” can be viewed HERE.
Clean Slate, a package of seven laws passed in 2020, took effect on April 11, 2021. Since then, more than 50,000 Michiganders have petitioned courts to have old items removed from their conviction records. Two years later, on April 11, 2023, the Automatic Expungement portion of Clean Slate took effect, allowing hundreds of thousands of Michiganders to clear their records without taking any action. That same day, more than 1 million old records were expunged, and to date, nearly 1 million people have had their record partially automatically expunged, while more than 300,000 Michiganders have seen their record entirely automatically expunged.
“We knew when we were campaigning for the passage of Clean Slate that it had the potential to improve the lives of millions of Michiganders,” said Kamau Sandiford, Clean Slate Program Manager for Safe & Just Michigan. “About 1 in 3 Michigan adults has some form of a criminal record, and that record can keep them from getting the good-paying jobs they are qualified for or signing a lease on a safe and affordable place to live. Clean Slate changes that by removing obstacles to those goals.”
But challenges remain. Clean Slate made more offenses — both misdemeanors and felonies — eligible for expungement and allowed people to expunge a larger number of items from their records. However, the laws didn’t touch non-conviction records — occurrences where someone was arrested and charged with a crime, but that didn’t result in a conviction. It is further complicated by the way in which the Michigan State Police’s rules engine, which drives automatic expungement, handles people who accrued subsequent arrests and charges after a conviction they’re seeking to expunge.
To address these remaining issues, Safe & Just Michigan favors a series of fixes known as Clean Slate 2.0. That could be addressed with a state law requiring the Michigan State Police to set aside records either 7 years after the last recorded entry on the case, after the statute of limitations had ended or upon receipt of a court’s dismissal order. We estimate that would help roughly 301,000 Michiganders who have non-conviction records. A second law we propose would direct local courts to expunge dismissed cases as well.
Safe & Just Michigan also promotes the creation of a statewide Clean Slate Portal that would enable people to look up their own criminal records and expungement status. Michigan is currently doing a remarkable job clearing old items from people’s records, but the people receiving an expungement aren’t notified when old items are removed. That has led to people with a clear record still telling potential employers and landlords that they have a criminal record. The portal we propose would empower people to make the most of automatic expungement.
“In a few short years, Michigan has gone from a state where it was nearly impossible to clear your record to a national leader in expungement reform,” Safe & Just Michigan Executive Director Kate McCracken said. “Other states already look to Michigan when they want to learn how to do expungements well. With Clean Slate 2.0, they will look to us to learn how to make second chances even more available to the people who earned them.”
Read the report, “Clean Slate Turns 5: Clean Slate 2.0 and What Comes Next,” here: https://safeandjustmi.org/2026/04/13/clean-slate-turns-five-clean-slate-2-0-and-what-comes-next-report-released-april-11-2026/
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Safe & Just Michigan (www.safeandjustmi.org) advocates for evidence-based policies that reduce the harms of the criminal legal system and promote justice, community safety and healing. We partner with Michigan organizations and leaders from across the political spectrum, including business and community leaders, faith communities, crime survivor organizations, formerly and currently incarcerated people and their families, as well as Michigan taxpayers statewide.
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