Then they must travel to several municipal courthouses across the state to file their paperwork in person, and potentially go back to court later for a full hearing before a judge if either the prosecutor or the victim objects. Then they must apply for and obtain from the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI), a “certificate of eligibility,” which expires after 90 days and involves additional cost. In most cases, individuals must hire an attorney to understand the complex eligibility criteria and procedural requirements. While Utah’s eligibility criteria for expungement are quite generous (allowing for multiple felony and misdemeanor records to be expunged), the expungement process is expensive and time-consuming. The petition-based systems that exist in most states are costly, confusing, and cumbersome. Perhaps the most tragic thing about the number of people struggling with the collateral consequences of a criminal record is that, in many states, so many are eligible to clear their records but so few ever make it through the process. As someone who was involved in that process from the beginning, I hope it will be helpful to others seeking to push their own states in that direction. What follows is a story about how Utah, one of the reddest states in the nation, came to adopt such a generous and efficient record relief system. Preliminary estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of people across the state will have their records expunged automatically. Several months later, implementation is back on track, and it is now anticipated that Utah’s state agencies will begin clearing court and repository records of non-convictions and qualifying misdemeanor convictions by the end of March. That law went into effect on May 1, 2020, but due to COVID-19, implementation efforts were delayed. At the time, this made Utah the third state in the nation to pass a law automating the criminal record expungement process. In March of 2019, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 431, Utah’s Clean Slate law.
Relief from Sex Offense Registration Obligations.
Criminal Record in Employment, Licensing & Housing.Expungement, Sealing & Other Record Relief.Loss & Restoration of Firearms Rights under Federal Law.Loss & Restoration of Civil/Firearms Rights.