On January 1, 2025 the Clean Slate Act went into effect in Minnesota. The Clean Slate Act is Minnesota’s new automatic expungement statute and can be found in Minnesota Statute § 609A.015. This was a law designed to help individuals who have been convicted of certain criminal get the record cleaned up without the hassle of hiring a lawyer or petitioning for an expungement. 

How Does the Automatic Expungement Statute Work? 

Under the new statute the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is responsible for identify the cases and individuals who qualify for an automatic expungement. Once a record is determined it is eligible for the expungement the BCA notifies the judicial branch of all records that would be granted an expungement under this section.



The judicial branch has 60 days to issue an order prohibiting the sealing of the records or additional information establishes that the record is not eligible. After that 60 days if there is no Order issued by the judicial branch then the records get sealed. If the record does not get sealed it will be reviewed annually until it does get sealed.

Who Qualifies for an Automatic Expungement?

A person becomes eligible if they have waited the applicable waiting period and are apart of one of these groups of people:

1. Individuals who had their cases dismissed or exonerated.
2. Individuals who successfully completed a diversion program or stay of adjudication.
3. Individuals who have been convicted of any qualifying petty misdemeanor, misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor and felony offenses.

A. Individuals who have had their cases dismissed or exonerated through trial.

You are eligible for an expungement if you were charged with a crime and the prosecutor dismissed the case, the case was dismissed by a judge or you were acquitted at trial unless the not guilty was by reason of mental illness.

If your case meets this criteria there is no applicable waiting period and the case can be expunged as soon as the case is dismissed.

B. Individuals who have completed a diversion program or stay of adjudication.

A person who completes a diversion program or stay of adjudication for an offense that was not a felony level offense.

If your case meets this criteria you are eligible for an expungement one year after you have completed the program so long as you have not been charged with any new offenses that is a misdemeanor or greater.

C. Individual convicted of a crime.

If you have been convicted of a crime the waiting period and eligibility depends on which crime you committed and the level of offense.



1. Petty Misdemeanors: For petty misdemeanors the waiting period is two years from the discharge of the sentence and applies to all petty misdemeanor convictions that are not a violation of a parking or operation of a motor vehicle traffic regulation.
2. Misdemeanors: The applicable waiting period is two years after discharge of the sentence and relates to misdemeanor convictions except those listed in Minn. Stat. § 609A.015 subd. 3(b)(2).
3. Gross Misdemeanors: The applicable waiting period is three years and relates to all gross misdemeanor convictions except those listed in Minn. Stat. § 609A.015 subd. 3(b)(3).
4. Felonies: The applicable waiting period is five years after the discharge for the offense which relates to the felony convictions as listed in Minn. Stat. § 609A.015 subd. 3(b)(4). Except a person convicted for a felony under Minn. Stat. § 152.025 only has to wait four years from the discharge of the sentence.
   

Do I get notified if my case is automatically expunged? 

It isn’t clear under the statute if you will get notified if your case does get automatically expunged. The statute provides you should be told by the Court if your case is eligible for expungement at the time your case ends whether that is through a dismissal or at sentencing. The statute does not provide for the BCA or Court to notify the individual whose case actually gets expunged.



The only thing that would suggest a Court may notify you is if the Court has to issue an Order effectuating the expungement. If that Order gets issued it should get mailed to your current address on file with the Court. But it is unclear that a Court Order is required in practice to effectuate the Expungement. So you may not be told when your case does get expunged but the best way to get notified if it is possible is to ensure that the Court has your updated mailing address if you move to a new residence after your conviction.

What is the effect of an Automatic Expungement?

If your case does get expunged that means the records would be sealed regarding the case at the BCA, the Courts, and Law Enforcement records of the expungement. This would mean that a person doing a background check through those agencies should not receive the records. Those people typically include private employers, landlords, and other private citizens who cannot access the records.

The expungement does not effect records held by the commissioners of children, youth, and families; health; and human services. So if the conviction was sent to these agencies the expungement would not effect them.



The expunged records can also be accessed for a background study by the Department of Human Services or the Department of Health and can be accessed for purposed of a background check by the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board.

If my case is automatically expunged can I get the records not sealed Expunged as well? 

Yes. Even if your case is automatically expunged you can still file a regular expungement petition to seal any additional records not sealed by the automatic expungement that are held by the Department of Human services or the Department of Health.

Final Thoughts

The new Clean Slate Act is helpful for people with qualifying convictions to have their records expunged without having to hire an attorney and navigate the court system. This is a great first step for individuals with convictions to get their record clean.

However, the new statute is not a perfect remedy for everyone. The lack of clear notice if your case gets expunged or not, makes it difficult to know if a conviction is still on your record or when you can expect the conviction to be expunged from your record.

Since some records still don’t get sealed at certain agencies the effects of your conviction may still linger even after your case is automatically expunged under this statute.



Because of these shortfalls of the Clean Slate Act it is still important to talk with an experienced attorney on how to best navigate the expungement process and if waiting for an automatic expungement or filing a petition for expungement is right for your case.