Clean Slate in States: End of Year Wrap Up
This year, Clean Slate state campaigns made incredible strides — laying strong foundations for future legislation, expanding their reach, hosting impactful public information sessions and record relief clinics, and coordinating notification campaigns. The year may not have brought about new Clean Slate laws, but it was still filled with meaningful progress and victories.
CSI supported partners’ work in over fifteen states in 2024. These efforts are building momentum and paving the way for even greater successes ahead.
Here’s a snapshot of what Clean Slate state campaigns accomplished this year:
Clean Slate Colorado
Colorado built on their Clean Slate success by introducing – and passing – a technical fix bill, HB 24-1133, that clarifies procedures for automatic sealing, allows for remote petition hearings, and creates a sealing procedure for convictions records for when a statutory change legalizes previously prohibited conduct.
Learn more about Clean Slate in Colorado at cleanslateco.org.
Clean Slate Connecticut
Partners in Connecticut have been working hard this year to push for the full implementation of the state’s Clean Slate law. In October, advocates held a public meeting with Connecticut Governor Ted Lamont to seek answers and solutions for the nearly two-year delay in fully implementing Clean Slate. Over 200 people joined the meeting, urging movement on implementation and sharing the impact that this delay has had on people with records in the state.
Learn more about Clean Slate in Connecticut at cleanslatect.org.
Clean Slate Delaware
Delaware’s Clean Slate law went live on August 1, marking the implementation of the state’s first automated mandatory expungement process. This year the Clean Slate Delaware partners have focused efforts on public information sessions and advocating for lawmakers to improve the notification process so people will know if their record has been cleared through the automated system, and to expand eligibility by removing fines and fees as a barrier to mandatory expungement in the First State.
Learn more about Clean Slate in Delaware at CleanSlateDE.org.
Clean Slate Hawaii
In May, lawmakers in The Aloha State passed stepping-stone legislation — a first step toward making Hawai’i a Clean Slate state. Championed by the ACLU of Hawai’i and other partners, SB 2706 creates a Clean Slate task force tasked with developing legislation that expands access to opportunities, removes barriers, streamlines the legal process, and promotes public safety. The task force held its first meeting in October, where it established its goals, areas of focus, and next steps.
Clean Slate Illinois
Clean Slate Illinois partners hosted record-sealing events during Second Chance Month in April and again in November, giving almost 200 attendees the opportunity to expunge or seal their records for free.
Additionally, Illinois partners hosted a second chance advocacy day on April 10, pulling together Illinoisans to advocate for Clean Slate legislation in The Prairie State.
Organizers in Illinois are building power in their communities through outreach, public education, and events. Planning has begun to build more organizing infrastructure to help pass Clean Slate in 2025.
Learn more about Clean Slate in Illinois at cleanslateillinois.org.
Clean Slate Kentucky
In February, Kentucky introduced two Clean Slate bills: HB 569 and SB 218. Ultimately the bills did not pass, but momentum for Clean Slate continued to grow throughout the year, including a strategic planning session mid-year that brought advocates together to plan for a renewed legislative effort in 2025.
Following the bills’ introduction, The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) and Clean Slate Kentucky partners joined forces to equip 25 directly impacted advocates with powerful advocacy and persuasion tools. The values-based messaging training session, led by CSI’s Director of Campaign Communications Dustin Chicurel-Bayard, provided participants with strategies to build relationships and influence positive policy outcomes.
In October, partners kicked off a series of town hall events to discuss the state’s current process for record sealing, and how Clean Slate’s automated sealing would help improve the system and bring second chances to Kentuckians. Between September and October, over 100 directly impacted people signed up to join the state’s Clean Slate campaign.
Learn more about Clean Slate in Kentucky at cleanslatekentucky.org.
Clean Slate Maryland
The Clean Slate Maryland Coalition was formally launched on January 8, 2024, with a campaign kick-off event in Baltimore. Generously hosted by the Center for Urban Families, the event was the culmination of months of groundwork, making connections with long-time advocates and existing networks, sharing the details and message of automated record sealing that will benefit an estimated 410,000 Marylanders.
Following the Maryland Clean Slate coalition’s official launch in early January, the state partners went straight to work pushing progress forward in the Old Line State.
At the end of January, the Maryland Clean Slate Act of 2024 was introduced in both chambers. HB 658 and SB 602, the bills that encompass the state’s Clean Slate Act, were introduced with bipartisan support and strong legislative champions on both sides. Ultimately, the bills did not pass, but that didn’t slow down the momentum for Clean Slate partners in Maryland.
In May, Clean Slate was the topic of a panel discussion at the Justice 4 All conference hosted by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD). The panel discussion, “Expungements Now - Expungements in the Future,” was presented by Ryan Ewing, CSI Campaign Strategist, along with local partners Christopher Dews (Out for Justice & Center for Urban Families) and Mary Denise Davis of OPD.
In July, Clean Slate Maryland partners hosted a strategic planning session, bringing together partners from across the state to build a plan that could position Maryland to become the next Clean Slate state with the introduction of a new Clean Slate bill in 2025.
Clean Slate Massachusetts
Clean Slate partners have spent the year laying the groundwork for a Clean Slate bill in 2025. In November, the Clean Slate Massachusetts Steering Committee grew, welcoming additional partner organizations, and drew a crowd of almost 30 participants in support of Clean Slate at a legislative committee hearing.
Clean Slate Michigan
In March, partners and advocates in Michigan hosted a Second Chance Summit featuring free expungement services, other resources, and a panel discussion on why second chance policies and strategies are critical and effective.
In April, Clean Slate in Michigan met a big milestone, celebrating the first full year of automatic record sealing in the state. As of the anniversary, an estimated 912,000 people have had a record sealed, with many now having a fully cleared record. To mark the milestone, partners published a report reviewing the challenges leading up to the law's implementation, as well as recommendations for how to address current issues.
On August 22, Clean Slate partners in Michigan held a livestream to let people know about new legislation they're introducing to improve the state’s Clean Slate law. The legislation could extend record clearance opportunities to thousands of people who are locked out of the current law, removing a barrier to expungement for eligible records for people who have received other convictions.
Learn more about Clean Slate in Michigan at safeandjustmi.org/our-work/clean-slate-for-michigan.
Clean Slate Missouri
Clean Slate Partners have built a robust coalition of organizations who are leading the fight to pass Clean Slate in the Show-Me State. Clean Slate partners in Missouri worked on a series of bills that would help expand access to second chances this year. H.B. 2108, H.B. 2555, S.B. 763, and S.B. 1161 all gained traction in the state’s legislature making significant strides towards passing legislation. 2025 is well positioned for success!
Learn more about Clean Slate in Missouri at mocleanslate.org.
Clean Slate New York
In November, New York marked the one-year anniversary since the state’s Clean Slate bill was passed. While the bill is now law, the state has three years to seal all eligible records.
To prepare for the state’s Clean Slate implementation, New York partners have been hitting the ground to spread the word: hosting informational sessions across the state, and virtually, to explain what the new law means, what to expect next, and how to understand eligibility.
Learn more about Clean Slate in New York at cleanslateny.org.
Clean Slate North Carolina
North Carolina’s Second Chance Alliance hosted a lobby day during Second Chance Month in April. This event pulled grassroots activists from all corners of the state, and featured a program with speeches from leaders all around the South. Among the Second Chance Lobby Day priorities was SB 565, stepping-stone legislation that would reinstate the automatic expungement of dismissals and not-guilty charges.
Following the advocacy day, the bill passed in June and was signed by Governor Roy Cooper in July.
Learn more about Clean Slate in North Carolina at forwardjustice.org/campaign/clean-slate-campaign.
Clean Slate Ohio
Ohio’s first Clean Slate bill, H.B. 460 the GROW Act, was introduced in April with a strong showing of testimony support. The bill would automate expungements for the first time in the Buckeye State. The GROW Act did not blossom this year, but the state’s support for Clean Slate did.
In September, the Supreme Court of Ohio Reentry Task Force released a report with a list of recommendations to foster success after incarceration — and Clean Slate made the list.
Then, in October, the Ohio Justice & Policy Center (OJPC) held its annual fundraising event, highlighting the 20th anniversary of OJPC’s Second Chance Project. The theme “Redemption for Ohioans: Clean Slate Ohio” drew attention to the opportunity for Clean Slate legislation in Ohio, featuring CSI’s CEO, Sheena Meade, as a speaker and panelist during the event.
Nearing the end of the year, advocates met in October to plan out the legislative strategy for the GROW Act in the remaining months of 2024 and in the new legislature beginning in 2025.
Clean Slate Oklahoma
This year, Clean Slate Oklahoma partners worked to pass a Clean Slate expansion bill, SB 1770, with overwhelming success. The bill will work to ensure the successful implementation of the Clean Slate policies that were adopted in 2022.
In March, the bill passed out of the Senate chamber with unanimous approval: 43 “YES” votes and 0 “NO” votes. The bill continued its winning streak, eventually being signed by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt in May.
Clean Slate Utah
Earlier this year, the Salt Lake City Police Department caught up on their expungement backlog – expunging 74,000 Salt Lake City records that qualified for automatic sealing since Utah's Clean Slate law went into effect. Clean Slate Utah partners have been working to help people figure out if their record was included in that backlog.
Clean Slate Utah is actively engaged in a working group created by the state legislature to study the state's implementation challenges and make recommendations on how to move forward, making sure the Beehive State lives up to its promise of a second chance for Utahns who meet the requirements.
Learn more about Clean Slate in Utah at cleanslateutah.org.