March 10, 2021
After more than a year of intense debate, House Democrats and Senate Democrats have crafted a compromise on expungement, which will have an automatic process for some misdemeanors and a petition-based model for some felonies.
Stories this photo appears in:
![Tease photo](http://connection.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2021/03/10/courthouse_r100x80.jpg?144a9619b7b2d55e12d8b619b3e5adb91a2095fa)
Starting from a Clean Slate
Compromise on expungement: automatic for some misdemeanors, petition for some felonies.
Marijuana convictions will be automatically expunged under a bill now under consideration by Gov. Ralph Northam, although convictions for crack cocaine will require missing a day of work and probably hiring a lawyer to go to court and seal the record. The legislation is a compromise crafted late in the General Assembly session by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring of Alexandria and state Sen. Scott Surovell (D-36), who clashed repeatedly over the last year about how the process should work.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID