Understanding Michigan Expungement Law: Clean Slate Act and MCL 780.621

Michigan's Clean Slate Transformation

Michigan undertook a sweeping overhaul of its criminal record relief laws in 2020 with the passage of what became known collectively as the Clean Slate legislation. The package — Public Acts 193, 194, 195, and 196 — was signed into law in October 2020 and took effect on February 19, 2022, giving the courts and the Michigan State Police time to implement the new framework. The changes were substantial enough that many provisions of the pre-2020 law were rendered obsolete for most applicants.

Before Clean Slate, Michigan law allowed a person to have at most one felony conviction "set aside" — the term Michigan uses rather than expungement — and at most one misdemeanor conviction set aside, subject to strict eligibility requirements. This meant that individuals with more than one felony or more than one misdemeanor conviction had no realistic pathway to relief regardless of how much time had passed or how exemplary their subsequent conduct had been. Clean Slate changed this calculus entirely.

For a detailed breakdown of the current eligibility standards and the petition process in Michigan, visit the Michigan expungement guide.

Michigan's Terminology: "Set Aside" Rather Than Expungement

Michigan law uses the phrase "set aside" to describe the process of clearing a conviction from a person's public record. The term is more accurate than "expungement" in describing the legal reality: the conviction record is not physically destroyed. It remains in law enforcement databases and continues to be accessible to courts, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies. What changes is the record's status — it is treated as having been set aside, and it is no longer accessible to the general public through standard background check channels.

For most practical purposes — applying for private employment, renting an apartment, applying to colleges or universities — a set-aside conviction functions much as an expunged conviction would in other states. The individual may lawfully treat the conviction as though it did not occur for most purposes, and the conviction should not appear on commercial background checks. The distinction between "set aside" and "expungement" matters primarily in law enforcement contexts, where the underlying record remains visible.

What Clean Slate Changed: Expanded Felony and Misdemeanor Eligibility

The most immediate change under Clean Slate was the expansion of how many convictions may be set aside in a single lifetime. Under the revised MCL 780.621, a person may now have up to three felony convictions set aside, compared to the previous limit of one. For misdemeanors, the limit was eliminated entirely — an unlimited number of misdemeanor convictions may be set aside subject to the applicable waiting periods and offense-specific exclusions.

The practical significance of expanding from one to three eligible felonies is difficult to overstate. Under the old law, a person who had been convicted of two separate felonies — regardless of how minor or how long ago — had no avenue to relief. Under Clean Slate, that same person may now petition to have both (and potentially a third) set aside, assuming the offenses are not excluded by the ineligibility provisions and the waiting periods have been satisfied.

There is important nuance in how Michigan counts multiple felonies for set-aside purposes. Michigan has adopted what is sometimes called a "one bad night" rule — multiple convictions arising from the same incident may be treated as a single conviction for counting purposes. This means that a person who was convicted of three felony-level offenses arising from a single event may, under some circumstances, have all three treated as one conviction for eligibility purposes. The application of this rule can be complex and depends on how the underlying charges were structured and sentenced.

Waiting Periods Under the Clean Slate Framework

Michigan's waiting periods under the post-Clean Slate framework are measured from the point at which the person has completed all aspects of their sentence — meaning incarceration, parole, probation, and payment of any court-ordered fines or restitution have all been finished.

For misdemeanor convictions, the waiting period is three years. For felony convictions, the waiting period is five years. Certain serious misdemeanors — a category that includes some domestic violence-related offenses and other misdemeanors with penalties exceeding two years — carry a five-year waiting period as well, aligning them with the felony standard even though they are technically classified as misdemeanors.

During the waiting period, the petitioner must remain conviction-free. A new conviction at any point during the waiting period resets the clock and may in some cases affect overall eligibility depending on the offense. The waiting period requirement reflects the legislature's intent that set-aside relief be reserved for individuals who have demonstrated a sustained period of law-abiding conduct, not merely those who have recently completed a sentence.

Automatic Expungement: Michigan's Most Distinctive Feature

One of the most groundbreaking aspects of Michigan's Clean Slate legislation is the introduction of automatic expungement — the setting aside of qualifying convictions without any action required from the individual. This provision took effect on April 11, 2023, after the state completed the technology and administrative work needed to implement it.

Under the automatic expungement system, most misdemeanor convictions are automatically set aside after seven years if the person has had no subsequent convictions during that period. The process is triggered by the Michigan State Police's regular review of records — the individual does not need to file a petition, pay a fee, or take any action to benefit from the automatic process.

Certain low-level felony convictions are also subject to automatic setting aside, though after a longer period of 10 years without subsequent convictions. The specific felony categories eligible for automatic treatment are more limited than those available through the petition process, and the automatic system does not cover the full universe of felonies that an individual could petition to have set aside.

Marijuana-related misdemeanor convictions occupy a special category under Clean Slate. Michigan legalized recreational marijuana in 2018 under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA). Under MCL 333.27955, marijuana misdemeanor convictions are automatically set aside under the MRTMA framework. This provision covers convictions for conduct that became legal after the 2018 legalization — a recognition that people should not continue to bear the burden of convictions for behavior that the state has since decided to permit.

It is worth noting that automatic expungement, while powerful in concept, depends on the accurate identification of eligible records in state databases. Individuals who believe their records may qualify for automatic expungement should verify the status of their records rather than assuming the process has operated correctly. Data matching issues and administrative delays are not uncommon in automated systems, and a verification step is prudent.

Offenses That Cannot Be Set Aside

Michigan's expanded eligibility comes with a clear and non-negotiable set of exclusions. Certain categories of offense are ineligible for setting aside regardless of the number of convictions, the waiting period, or the petitioner's subsequent conduct.

Crimes with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment are categorically excluded. This typically includes first-degree murder, kidnapping, and certain other serious violent offenses. The legislature determined that for offenses serious enough to carry a life sentence, the public's interest in maintaining accessible records outweighs the individual's interest in privacy.

Criminal sexual conduct in any degree — CSC 1, CSC 2, CSC 3, and CSC 4 — are all ineligible for setting aside. This is an absolute bar that applies regardless of the circumstances of the offense, the petitioner's age at the time, or any other mitigating factor. Michigan has determined that sex offense records must remain accessible across all categories of criminal sexual conduct.

Domestic violence-related offenses carry a conditional exclusion: a domestic violence conviction may not be set aside if the person has a prior domestic violence conviction or a prior CSC conviction. A first domestic violence offense with no prior history of similar offenses may be eligible, but subsequent domestic violence convictions are categorically excluded.

Operating while intoxicated (OWI) convictions with certain aggravating prior history are excluded. Standard first-offense OWI convictions present a more nuanced picture, but OWI convictions with enhancements — including prior OWI history or serious bodily injury — are excluded from set-aside relief. Human trafficking is also expressly excluded.

After Set Aside: Employment and Licensing Consequences

When a conviction is set aside in Michigan, the record is no longer accessible through standard commercial background check services. The Michigan State Police updates its records to reflect the set-aside status, and the conviction should not appear on most background checks used by private employers.

Michigan law affirmatively provides that a person whose conviction has been set aside may lawfully state that they have not been convicted of the offense in most contexts. This right to "deny" the conviction is explicitly established by the statute and applies to most employment applications and most non-law-enforcement background checks.

The significant exception applies to licensing boards and certain regulated industries. Michigan's professional licensing system — covering medicine, nursing, law, real estate, and many other fields — generally retains access to set-aside convictions for the purpose of evaluating license applications. Regulatory boards have independent authority to consider an applicant's character and fitness, and a set-aside conviction may still be a factor in that evaluation even though it is no longer publicly accessible.

Positions involving minors or vulnerable populations, including schools, childcare facilities, and certain healthcare settings, also retain the ability to access set-aside records for screening purposes. This is consistent with the legislature's determination that the protective purposes served by background checks in these sensitive environments warrant an exception to the general non-disclosure rule.

The Petition Filing Process

For convictions that are not eligible for automatic setting aside, or for individuals who do not wish to wait for the automatic process, the petition process under MCL 780.621 provides a direct pathway.

The petition is filed with the Michigan State Police rather than directly with the court — a procedural distinction from most other states. The State Police then forwards the petition to the sentencing court, which conducts the hearing. The filing fee is $50, which is relatively modest compared to many states.

The prosecuting attorney who handled the original case receives notice of the petition and has 60 days to file an objection. During those 60 days, the Michigan State Police conducts a background investigation to verify the petitioner's current record and assess whether any new criminal activity has occurred since the conviction. This background investigation is a distinctive feature of Michigan's process and provides the court with current information rather than relying solely on the petitioner's representation of their record.

After the investigation is complete and any objection period has passed, a hearing is scheduled at the sentencing court. The judge evaluates whether setting aside the conviction is consistent with the public welfare and the petitioner's rehabilitation. If the petition is granted, the court issues an order to the Michigan State Police, which updates its central records and notifies relevant local law enforcement agencies.

Multiple Convictions and Strategic Considerations

For individuals with multiple convictions — the group who stands to benefit most from Clean Slate's expanded eligibility — the petition process requires careful planning. Petitions for multiple convictions may be filed together or sequentially, but each petition must individually satisfy the eligibility criteria. If one conviction in a group is ineligible, that does not necessarily disqualify the others.

The three-felony limit under Clean Slate means that individuals with four or more felony convictions must make choices about which convictions to prioritize. In making those choices, practical considerations matter: which conviction causes the most harm in employment or licensing contexts, which has the longest waiting period that has now been satisfied, and which is most likely to face prosecutorial objection.

Consulting an attorney before filing is particularly advisable for individuals with multiple convictions, complex offense histories, or records that involve borderline eligibility questions under the set-aside statute. The investment in legal counsel at the petition stage can make the difference between a well-prepared petition that succeeds and a poorly framed one that is denied, leaving the petitioner to restart the process.

Michigan's Clean Slate legislation created one of the most expansive set-aside frameworks in the country, and for the many Michigan residents who were previously locked out of any form of relief, it represents a genuine opportunity to move forward without the lasting consequences of old criminal records defining their future.