- Jan 13, 2025
Minnesota Clean Slate Law Update: BCA’s Non-Compliance
Minnesota passed the Clean Slate Act in 2023, which was set to automatically expunge thousands of criminal records held by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). The Minnesota Statute governing the Clean Slate Act established that automatic expungement of all eligible records would go into effect on January 1, 2025. [1]
Unfortunately, the BCA did not abide by this law and has caused a major compliance issue. Read on to learn about the Act and implications of the BCA’s actions.
What is the Clean Slate Act?
The Clean Slate Act is an automatic process by which the BCA is to identify eligible criminal records and expunge them from their database and the court record database. Criminal expungement essentially seals a record from public view. To learn more about expungements, click here.
Eligibility is determined by state law categorized by offense level and offense type. Basic eligibility requirements include: [1]
Criminal case resulted in a conviction
No new convictions (other than a petty misdemeanor)
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Waiting period after the completion of the sentence met
Qualifying offenses must meet the above requirements and include a specific waiting period based on the offense level: [1]
Petty misdemeanors: 2 years after the discharge of the sentence
Most misdemeanors: 2 years after the discharge of the sentence
Most gross misdemeanors: 3 years after the discharge of the sentence
Felony 5th degree controlled substance offenses: 4 years after the discharge of the sentence [2]
Felonies on the eligible list: 5 years after the discharge of the sentence [3]
For the full list of eligible and ineligible offenses, click here.
How does the process work?
The BCA is the government agency in charge of identifying criminal records that qualify for an automatic expungement. Individuals with eligible records do not need to take any action. After identifying an eligible case, the BCA will administratively seal the record and send notice to the Minnesota Judicial Branch for sealing of the court record.
Criminal records are held in the databases of agencies that were involved in the case. For example, a criminal conviction is usually held by:
City or County Attorney’s Office
Police or Sheriff Department where the offense took place
BCA
Minnesota Judicial Branch
Probation
Corrections
MN Department of Health
Minnesota Department of Human Services
Department of Public Safety (traffic and DWI-related offenses)
The BCA will also inform the police department that handled the case of the granting of expungement relief for a criminal case.
Conflicts and considerations
Several issues have surfaced since the Clean Slate Law was passed in 2023.
1. Only the BCA, Minnesota Judicial Branch, and police department will be administratively sealing the criminal record. All other agencies will still have access to the record.
This may result in the criminal record still being accessible to the public through other databases or third-party sites that are used to search criminal records for employment, housing, education, or other situations where background checks are conducted.
2. BCA has no method of contacting eligible persons to inform them that their record will be automatically sealed. While individuals do not need to take any action to seal the record, the only method they have of checking if their record is eligible is utilizing the BCA public record website.
If the individual looks up their case and it does not appear, that means the case was expunged. If the case still appears that means it has not been processed or is not eligible. This creates confusion over which cases are eligible because there is no process for documenting or tracking cases that have been deemed eligible for expungement relief.
3. The most concerning conflict to consider is that the BCA came out and stated they will not meet the state law of expunging eligible records by January 1, 2025. The BCA now states they will automatically seal all eligible cases by mid-May 2025. [4]
This is four months after the effective date mandated by the Clean Slate Act.
The BCA’s tardiness is a major compliance issue with the State of Minnesota and may result in individuals or organizations taking legal action against the BCA. Not only is this a legal violation that the Minnesota Legislature now must deal with, this impacts thousands of individuals who have an eligible criminal record that are still being prevented from obtaining jobs, housing, education, and other rights that have been stripped away since their conviction.
4. Lastly, the BCA does not hold records for criminal cases that did not result in an arrest.4 This includes all petty misdemeanor cases that are not considered a crime since they do not have any jail time associated with them. In addition to all petty misdemeanors, any other case that did not result in an arrest is not able to be evaluated for automatic expungement eligibility by the BCA.
Essentially, these records will be exempt from the automatic expungement process despite meeting criteria from the Clean Slate Act. The BCA has not determined how it will combat these other major compliance and procedural issues.
Interested in hiring a paralegal for your next criminal case trial? Look no further! Lucid Legal Support knows criminal cases inside and out to provide the necessary support for your next trial. Our specializations include:
Criminal Defense
Criminal Expungement
Clemency
Other Post-Conviction Relief Remedies
You can reach us at info@lucidlegalsupport.com.
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