Michigan Expungement of a Criminal Record

 

Expungement is a legal process granted as a privilege to citizens by the federal government that lets people who have previously been arrested and charged with a crime to have that crime removed from their criminal record.

Why is this important? Because unlike other punishments that can result from arrest – jail time, fines, court fees, probation, and so on – a criminal record is something that will stay with you for your entire life, and the simple fact of having one could negatively impact your life in a number of ways. This is because any time someone does a background check on you for things like employment, housing, credit, loans, and even some licenses for professional organizations, your criminal record will show up and they will be able to view it and see the arrest. This could cause them to refuse you service or pass you over for another person who does not have a criminal record.

Unfortunately, some states have decided not to allow anyone the privilege of expungement, but thankfully the state of Michigan does not fall into that category, and allows certain crimes to be erased or expunged under specific circumstances.

If expungement is granted in Michigan, what happens?

 

Once your eligible record has been approved and expunged or set-aside by Michigan officials, no one in the public will be able to see it anymore, nor will it be accessible for the purpose of general law enforcement.

There are, however, exceptions to this rule in Michigan. If an individual applies for a job or license in law enforcement, the court will grant access to the records that have been set aside so that the person’s history can be considered as a whole. These records will also be accessible if a person who has had a record expunged is arrested for another crime. In cases such as this, the set-aside record can be counted as a prior offense to make the penalties you will face for your offense increase. And if you are a sex offender in Michigan, having a record set aside does not mean that you will not have to register as a sex offender.

For juvenile offenders with crimes that have been set aside or diverted, those records will be destroyed within 28 days of the person reaching 17 years of age.

 

What kind of offenses can be expunged in Michigan?

Michigan law only allows certain first-time offenses to be set aside. If any other set-aside or regular convictions are already on the individual’s record, this renders them ineligible. However, following Michigan Law 22.828, juveniles over the age of 17 with diverted sentence records are eligible.

 

This is true even if a judge or jury finds the individual guilty, they are found guilty by mental illness, or they plea no contest, provided that it is not a sexual offense as described by Michigan Law 750-520c through 750.520g.

The offense is not eligible to be set aside, though, if the person has been convicted of a felony or attempted felony that would otherwise require them to receive life in prison.

What is the process for expunging a record in Michigan?

 

Anyone eligible to have a record set aside is required to submit an application for expungement 5 years after either the sentence in question or 5 years after the imprisonment term for the conviction seeking expungement has been finished.

These applications must be filled out fully and completely, and include:

• the full name and current address of the individual
• a certified record of the conviction
• a statement saying the applicant has not been convicted of any offense besides the one on the application
• a statement saying whether or not a previous application for setting aside has been filed for this or for any other conviction
• a statement regarding whether or not the applicant has any current criminal charges pending in any court – even in another country
• a consent statement agreeing to use the non-public record under section 3 to the proper extent that the language of section 3 authorizes its use.

 

In addition to this, the applicant must also submit a second copy of the application to the state police department along with two complete sets of fingerprints and a $50 fee. The police will then compare those fingerprints to the ones they already have on file as well as sending them to the FBI to check.

Once this is done, the state police department will contact the court to tell them where the case was originally handled and verify the information in the application. Before continuing with proceedings, the court will wait to hear back from the police to ensure that all information is correct.

And finally, copies of the application also have to be provided to the office of the prosecuting attorney and the attorney general, either of whom may attempt to contest the application.