[A]ttorneys met with about 50 people and will be filing more than 200 petitions with courts following the first of several expungement clinics set to take place across Vermont in the coming months.
At the event Friday at the Winooski Community Justice Center, a team of 10 volunteers from the Chittenden County Bar Association and Vermont Legal Aid helped people fill out petitions seeking to expunge qualifying criminal convictions, Mairead O’Reilly, a staff attorney for Vermont Legal Aid, said Monday.
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office co-hosted the clinic in Winooski along with Vermont Legal Aid and the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Among the most common convictions people were seeking to have expunged from their records, according to O’Reilly, were disorderly conduct, drug possession, retail theft and violation of conditions of release.
A criminal record can serve as a roadblock, O’Reilly said, including for those seeking certain jobs, licenses, loans and housing.
“Many decision makers use criminal records as a proxy for determining how well someone is going to fit into their workplace,” O”Reilly said. “When that record is removed, people are able to get work more easily, able to get in housing more easily.”
Most misdemeanor offenses and some felony offenses are eligible for expungement. Serious crimes of violence are not eligible. Also, as of July 1, all dismissed charges are eligible for expungement, erasing them from a person’s criminal history.
“Once the court grants the motion, the court then gives out an order essentially telling the agencies that would possess the records to destroy said records,” Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan said Monday. “It is as if it never occurred.”
Among those misdemeanors not eligible for expungement are drunken driving convictions, Donovan said. Grand larceny, however, is one of the few felonies eligible for expungement, he added.
“The policy for me, why expungements are important, is because it comes down to jobs and justice,” Donovan said. “Old criminal convictions have marginalized and sidelined people from gainful employment, and my view is, the best form of public safety is a good job.”
He added, “When people paid their debt back to society, we should be able to hit the reset button and give them a second chance.”
After Vermont legalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana on July 1, prosecutors in several counties held expungement clinics for people who had previously been convicted of marijuana-related offenses.
The latest round of clinics is targeting those with any qualifying conviction, not just marijuana-related.
An expungement petition can be filed after a period of time that depends on the type of conviction, and the offender has completed the terms and conditions of their sentence, O’Reilly said.
Also, she said, if a prosecutor “stipulates” to the expungement, that timeframe can be reduced.
The court charges a $90 fee per docket to petition for expungement. Some people may be eligible for a fee waiver based on their income.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said Monday that expungement clinics help provide “one-stop” assistance for those seeking to clear past convictions from their records.
“These clinics,” according to George, “allow individuals to go to one location and speak with an attorney, free of charge, fill out a form to have the fee waived if they are unable to pay it, and also have a state’s attorney or the attorney general’s office present, to determine on the spot whether the petition will be stipulated to.”
At the clinic in Winooski attorneys helped 47 people fill out more than 200 expungement petitions, O’Reilly said. Some people needed to file more than one petition as a result of separate convictions at different times in different dockets, she added.
The next expungement clinic is set for Jan. 18 in Franklin County at the Franklin/Grand Isle Restorative Justice Center. Then, on Feb. 4, another clinic is planned in Windsor County at the state Department of Labor office.
Other expungement clinics are being scheduled for March in Orange County, April in Lamoille County and May in Windham County.
