On October 13, 2020, Public Act 193 of 2020 was signed into law with an effective date of April 11, 2021. This act included a group of bills collectively known as the “Clean Slate” package. These bills have impacted the rules and procedures an individual may use to have prior convictions set aside. In addition to making several changes to the existing paper application processes and eligible offenses, the Clean Slate package also created a process to automatically set aside certain convictions without an application. The new automatic process required the Michigan State Police (MSP) to make technical changes to the Criminal History Record (CHR) database. To make those changes, the legislation provided for a two-year development process, making the effective date April 11, 2023.
The MSP engaged the Department of Technology Management and Budget (DTMB) to develop the automated program for setting aside eligible convictions within the CHR database. In addition, the statute requires the MSP make all set asides within the database accessible to each court in the state. To accomplish this, beginning April 11, 2023, the MSP will be notifying the courts daily and providing a file, via secure transfer, of all eligible convictions that have been set aside in the MSP CHR database.
While some individuals will be eligible for setting aside convictions by application, individuals with certain types of misdemeanor or felony records could or will additionally qualify to have convictions set aside automatically.