New legislation in Michigan called the Michigan Clean Slate Act and it’s automatic expungement of certain criminal convictions began on Tuesday, April 11th 2023.

The ability to have some convictions hidden from public view, including on background checks, took effect in April 2021. Due to the backlog of applications, COVID-19 and technology hurdles some of the expungement applications have taken 6 months or up to a year to review and complete.

Automatic expungement will help clear this backlog and bypass some of the application hurdles and wait times.

Beginning April 11th, some felonies and misdemeanors will be automatically expunged after a certain amount of time. Those include:

• Misdemeanors punishable by less than 92 days of imprisonment will be expunged 7 years after the sentencing date.
• Misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more of imprisonment will be expunged seven years after the sentencing date if there are no criminal charges pending against the individual and the individual has not been convicted of another criminal offense during those seven years. No more than fours of these misdemeanors can be automatically expunged.
• Up to two felonies can be automatically expunged 10 years after the sentencing date or the completion of the term of imprisonment, whichever occurred last. Felonies can be expunges if there are no criminal charges pending and the individual has no other criminal convictions during those 10 years.

More information on the Michigan Clean Slate program can be found at: Automatic Expungements: Michigan Clean Slate