TRAVERSE CITY— In Michigan a criminal record can follow someone for life, but thanks to Clean Slate, certain convictions can be expunged.
“The law was enacted essentially to do what it’s implying, to give people a second chance to clean their slate if they have certain criminal offenses that are eligible.”
As of late 2025, more than 912,000 people in Michigan have had more than 1.4 million convictions automatically removed from their records through the state’s Clean Slate which began automated expungements in 2023.
“Depending on the conviction, there can be lots of benefits. If it’s a felony, you can get your gun and voting rights back,” said North Shore Legal attorney Devin Roberts. “If it’s just a misdemeanor operating while intoxicated offense or you only have one OWI, you can get those set aside. So, depending on the case, there can be a lot of benefits for people.”
Groups like Safe & Just Michigan host expungement fairs throughout Michigan to help people achieve the clean record they’ve been looking for.
“A lot of people that we meet don’t even know what’s on their record,” said Safe and Just Michigan program manager Kamau Sandiford. “So, one of the things we do is run their background check to see what’s on their record, and then the attorneys will review it with them to determine their eligibility.”
For anyone unsure if they qualify, attorneys recommend starting by checking your record through Michigan’s public criminal history tool called iChat. People can explore whether their case qualifies for automatic expungement or requires an application that will go before a judge.
“The first step in the process is to go get fingerprinted. That fingerprint card then goes to the Michigan State Police and they make sure you don’t have any other convictions that would bar you from the application process.”
Safe and Just Michigan is hosting three expungement fairs throughout Michigan in March.