Minnesota Expunges Over 57,000 Marijuana Convictions For Low-Level Offenders

MINNEAPOLIS, MI – The state of Minnesota is moving ahead with the expungement of low-level marijuana convictions for thousands of residents.

In a news release, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said that criminal history records that qualify for automatic expungement under the state’s adult-use cannabis act are no longer visible to the public in the Minnesota Criminal History System. (CHS)

The department of public safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has expunged 57,780 records in CHS almost three months ahead of schedule. The Minnesota Judicial Branch determined that 213 records should not be expunged.

Under the full decriminalization law that took effect Aug. 1, 2023, possession, use and home grow of cannabis is permitted in Minnesota for people 21 and older.

“We are pleased to be able to deliver on this legislative priority,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said. “Minnesotans will see changes to their records immediately and as additional expungements are made in the months and years ahead.”

The BCA said that since the enactment of the adult-use cannabis law, it has been working to identify all records in the state’s CHS that qualify for automatic expungement.  The bureau also completed coding changes to the system so qualifying records could be sealed from public view.

The next step in the process will be for the state’s Cannabis Expungement Board to start reviewing felony-level records that qualify for potential resentencing or expungement.  But officials noted it could take years for those cases to be reviewed and determined.

“The Cannabis Expungement Board is tasked with the thoughtful and careful review of cannabis-related felonies and we are quickly moving forward to build a team to accomplish the work,” Cannabis Expungements Board Executive Director James Rowader said. “It is very encouraging to see that misdemeanor cannabis criminal records are moving toward expungement now. These actions together will have a lasting and significant equity impact on communities throughout the state of Minnesota.”

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