34 million criminal cases now removed from public view under Pa.'s Clean Slate law

More than 34 million criminal cases have been removed from public records under the Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law, state court officials say.

The law, the first of its kind in the United States, was implemented last June and provides for the automatic expungement of public records pertaining to low-level crimes such as summary and some misdemeanor offenses. Officials said the records removed from public dockets as part of the program remain on file for use by law enforcement and the courts.

Records of charges that did not result in convictions as well as guilty findings in summary and misdemeanor cases in which individuals completed their sentences, paid all financial obligations and were crime-free over the last 10 years are eligible for the partial expungement from public dockets.

Through May 1, a total of nearly 47 million criminal charges stemming from the removed cases were stricken from public records under the Clean Slate program.

Criminal records can be a barrier to many, said Mandy Zalich, executive director of Westmoreland Community Action, a local nonprofit that helps low-income residents find housing, jobs and mental health treatment and assists with other human services needs.

Removing the stigma of a criminal record can help remove some barriers, she said.

“Criminal records can give someone a negative stereotype,” she said. “This will give them a brighter future, a second-chance opportunity that some folks may never have had before. You can start to see how turning your life around can result in a better life.”

In Allegheny County, more than 5 million records in which no convictions resulted were removed. More than 1.5 million guilty verdicts for summary offenses and another 6,000 misdemeanor convictions were also removed from public view.

Michael McGeever, director of Allegheny County’s Department of Court Records, said computer programs identified most records, including many that dated back to the 1980s. Most of the backlog of cases from years past earmarked to be stricken from the public record has now been completed.

“It was difficult in the beginning, but we figured everything out and got rolling. It’s going smoothly now,” McGeever said.

More than 970,000 records of cases and charges in Westmoreland County that resulted in no convictions were stripped from the dockets. Another 582,000 summary charges and more than 1,000 misdemeanor convictions were expunged.

Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline, who oversees the records removal process, said the county’s initial purge of records resulted in the generation of a 10,000-page report.

“This is a good law because it gives people the opportunity for employment and housing as well as state licensing. It’s been a smooth process, once we figured it out,” Kline said.