A Second Chance Under Michigan Law: How Expungement Works and Who Qualifies to Clear Their Record

A criminal record follows a person in ways that extend well beyond any sentence served. Background checks for employment, housing applications, professional licenses, educational programs, and volunteer positions all surface criminal history that affects opportunities long after the legal consequences of a conviction have been satisfied. Michigan’s Clean Slate Act, which took effect in 2021, significantly expanded expungement eligibility and created an automatic expungement process for qualifying offenses. Understanding who qualifies, what the process involves, and what expungement actually accomplishes helps people with criminal records evaluate whether their records can be cleared and how to pursue that relief.

MARKOU MONTAGUE, PLC assists individuals in Kalamazoo and throughout Michigan with evaluating expungement eligibility under the Clean Slate Act and pursuing the expungement process — whether through a petition or by ensuring that automatic expungement has been properly applied to eligible convictions.

What Michigan’s Clean Slate Act Changed

Before the Clean Slate Act, Michigan’s expungement law was significantly more restrictive — limiting eligibility to one felony and two misdemeanors, and excluding many offense categories entirely. The 2021 reforms expanded eligibility substantially. The most significant changes include: allowing up to three felony convictions and an unlimited number of misdemeanors to be expunged in a single petition, reducing waiting periods, creating an automatic expungement process for certain qualifying offenses, and making marijuana convictions expungeable for conduct that would be legal under current law.

Waiting Periods Under Michigan Expungement Law

Waiting periods for Michigan expungement petitions:

• Misdemeanor convictions — three years from the date of sentencing or release from custody, whichever is later
• Felony convictions — five years from the date of sentencing or release from custody, whichever is later
• Serious misdemeanors — five years
• Automatic expungement — seven years for most misdemeanors, ten years for most felonies, applied without a petition

An Expungement of Criminal Records Attorney Kalamazoo reviews each client’s complete criminal history to determine which convictions are eligible for expungement, which require a petition versus automatic processing, and how to structure the expungement application to maximize the number of convictions cleared in a single proceeding.

Offenses That Cannot Be Expunged in Michigan

The Clean Slate Act expanded eligibility significantly but did not make all convictions expungeable. Offenses that remain ineligible for expungement in Michigan include: offenses punishable by life imprisonment, traffic offenses including OWI convictions, most criminal sexual conduct convictions, child abuse convictions, domestic violence convictions where the defendant was sentenced to prison, and offenses involving a minor where the victim was under 13 years of age.

The ineligibility of OWI convictions is a frequent source of frustration for people who were convicted of drunk driving years ago and have since built clean records. Michigan law does not provide a path to expunge OWI convictions, regardless of how long ago they occurred or how compelling the personal circumstances. An attorney can confirm ineligibility clearly and advise on any alternative relief that may be available.

Automatic Expungement: What It Is and What It Is Not

Michigan’s automatic expungement process is designed to clear eligible convictions without requiring individuals to file a petition. Eligible misdemeanors are automatically expunged seven years after sentencing, and eligible non-assaultive felonies are automatically expunged ten years after sentencing. The process is administered by the State Police and does not require court involvement or attorney action for the expungement itself.

However, automatic expungement has not always operated perfectly in practice. Some eligible convictions have not been automatically cleared due to data issues, and individuals whose records should have been automatically expunged may find that background checks still reflect the conviction. An attorney can verify whether automatic expungement has been properly applied and, where it has not, can seek a court order confirming the expungement and directing the correction of public records.

What Expungement Actually Does

Expungement in Michigan sets aside the conviction — it is not erased from all records, but it is removed from public criminal history databases. Employers, landlords, and licensing boards who conduct standard background checks will no longer see the expunged conviction. The person whose record has been expunged may legally state that they have not been convicted of the expunged offense in most contexts.

Limitations on what Michigan expungement accomplishes:

• Law enforcement and prosecutors retain access to expunged records for specific purposes
• Expunged records may still be considered in subsequent criminal proceedings
• Some professional licensing boards retain the ability to consider expunged convictions
• Federal employment background checks may reflect expunged convictions
• Immigration consequences of a conviction are not erased by expungement

The Petition Process for Non-Automatic Expungements

For convictions that require a petition — those not covered by automatic expungement, or where automatic expungement has not occurred — the process involves filing a petition with the circuit court in the county of conviction, serving notice on the prosecutor and the arresting agency, and appearing at a hearing where the court considers whether expungement is in the public interest. The court has discretion to grant or deny the petition, and the strength of the application — including evidence of rehabilitation, community involvement, and the absence of subsequent criminal conduct — affects the outcome. An attorney who prepares a thorough and well-documented petition gives the client the best available chance of a favorable result.