Clinic covers effects of the Clean Slate Act and which criminal records it clears
A criminal record can prevent a person from getting a job, finding a place to live or entering an education or job training program, even if a charge is years or decades old.
Neighborhood Legal Services helps clear criminal record documents for people who are eligible. The nonprofit group held two clinics on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at the Holly Pointe Building in Butler, where its attorneys explained how the Clean Slate Act, enacted in Pennsylvania in 2018, opened opportunities for certain records to be expunged, sealed or pardoned.
Melissa Evans, managing attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services’ Economic Security Unit, said certain misdemeanors and felonies can be cleared if a person convicted of them has served their sentence and enough time has passed. She said most of the records that can be cleared involve non-violent crimes, but the Clean Slate Act is constantly evolving.
“Anything involving harm to a person is going to be excluded from record sealing at this time. It’s property and drugs,” she said about records that are eligible to be cleared. “Just because something is not eligible under the current law, know that things could change.”
The clinics on Jan. 7 were opportunities for the staff of Neighborhood Legal Services to break down the Clean Slate Act in detail and speak with people who may be eligible to have criminal records cleared. But Evans said the service is available through Neighborhood Legal Services all the time and potential clients can set up appointments to discuss their records with its staff.
“It really benefits everyone, so we offer clean slate services all the time — no one has to wait for a clinic to be able to avail themselves,” Evans said.
Neighborhood Legal Services Association is a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides civil legal assistance to poor and vulnerable residents of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties. On Jan. 7, the association brought in law students from the University of Pittsburgh, who helped facilitate conversations with potential clients looking to have records cleared.
In addition to Evans, the clinics were led by Neighborhood Legal Services staff attorneys Olivia O’Donnell and Jendi McNicholas, who provided a packet of presentation slides that helped explain each point they discussed.
O’Donnell said a record can be expunged or sealed mainly based on what the charge is. She also explained what each option means: expunging erases a record and makes it as if it never existed, sealing erases a record from public view, and pardoning erases a record through permission of the governor of the state where the offense was committed. However, O’Donnell said it can take up to 11 years for a conviction to be pardoned by a governor.
Expungable offenses include non-convictions and summary offenses. Misdemeanors and felonies can be expunged if a charge did not result in a conviction, a charge was made when a person was a juvenile or if a person is over 70 years old and it has been at least 10 years since the last conviction.
“It is pretty limited. It covers non-convictions. That means you're arrested and charged with something but you're not convicted of it or you can be outright acquitted and get the not guilty disposition,” O’Donnell said. “For non-convictions, there's only a 30-day waiting period. Summary convictions are eligible and must have a five-year arrest-free period.”
A record can be sealed if it has been 10 years since an eligible felony conviction or if it has been seven years since a misdemeanor conviction. There are other qualifications for sealing or expunging a record. Neighborhood Legal Services staff members said at the clinic they can review a potential client’s eligibility.
Evans said it is more common to have a record expunged, but the eligibility of expungable records differs from that of records that are eligible to be sealed.
“If someone can get a record expunged, it means the record is gone entirely,” Evans said. “Sealing is the second best option, but still impactful in removing the record from the public domain.”
According to O’Donnell, either method of record clearing can help a person move on from a conviction, because an expunged or sealed record cannot legally be considered in background checks.
“When you are expunging the record, that is going to take it off the front and back end. Sealing will erase a record from public view, so it's only taking it off the front end,” O’Donnell said. “Sealed and expunged records under Clean Slate are not allowed to be considered by employers.”
After a record is determined to be eligible to be expunged or sealed, a person can petition a judge to clear a record. A person has to obtain the record from state police, pay the filing fee to petition and appear before a judge who will decide if the record can be cleared.
Evans said there can be a wait between the time a petition is filed and a judge’s decision, but Butler County moves the process along relatively quickly.
“In Butler County it's a little more expedited because the district attorney will indicate whether or not the office is going to object to the petition,” Evans said. “The judge is then able to take action without waiting 30 days for a misdemeanor or 60 for a felony.”
Evans said that in addition to determining if a record is eligible to be expunged or sealed, Neighborhood Legal Services will also determine if a client is eligible for the nonprofit’s free services. There are financial requirements a person must meet to be able to receive services from the agency.
Evans said record clearing is one of the main services offered by Neighborhood Legal Services, which many people — even those who are eligible — are not aware of.
She explained the people who are often eligible to have their records cleared with help from Neighborhood Legal Services are the ones who can benefit the most from the service.
“It takes convictions that are decades old and have little to no bearing to the person today,” Evans said. “It makes them better contributors to the community. It gives them access to safe housing, opportunities in the employment space and it makes the whole community a better place.”
Evans added the Clean Slate Act has been updated many times since 2018, mostly by expanding the records that are eligible to be sealed or expunged.
“Once somebody has paid their fine, served their time … they should be then restored to the same playing field as everyone else,” Evans said, “because they made their debt to the society whole and they should be allowed to move forward without having to carry this burden for the rest of their life.”
For more information on Neighborhood Legal Services’ record clearing services, visit its website at nlsa.us/request-legal-help.
