Understanding Michigan's New Expungement Laws

Last October, Michigan passed a series of reforms to Michigan’s expungement (criminal record-sealing) process, including both an expansion of the traditional petition process and a new law that would automatically seal many low-level convictions. On April 11, 2021, the expansion of the petition process went into effect, making hundreds of thousands of people in Michigan with old criminal convictions eligible to seal those records if they have remained crime-free for 5 years or more.