Lisa Cope Duflock, Staff Attorney

In our last newsletter I wrote briefly about the passage of SB 731 and some of the potential positive impacts it will have for Californians seeking record clearance. I thought with the effective date of the new laws now imminent, I would expand on the practical aspects of these new laws and how they will broaden record clearance relief.

When SB 731 takes effect on July 1, 2023, it will have two distinct, major impacts. First, a wide array of offenses will become eligible for record clearance that were previously ineligible, and second, many convictions that previously required a petition before a court for record clearance relief will now be automatic.

Previously, convictions eligible for mandatory record clearance were granted relief only after filing a petition in court. Beginning July 1, 2023, these offenses will be cleared automatically without any petition for relief.

Beyond the impact of many convictions transitioning from mandatory relief to automatic relief, almost all felony convictions (with some exceptions) will now be eligible for expungement relief within the discretion of the court. Where previously many felony convictions (including almost all felony offenses that resulted in a prison sentence) were ineligible for expungement, now almost all felony convictions except for those requiring 290 registration are eligible for discretionary relief, subject to certain conditions. This means that if an individual is convicted of a felony that is not automatically expungable and it is not an offense that requires 290 registration, that individual can petition the court to expunge the conviction.

This is a massive expansion of record clearance relief in the State of California. It is estimated that at a minimum 225,000 Californians will have at least one conviction automatically cleared from their record, and a further 1 million will be able to petition the court for discretionary relief after July 1, 2023. These expansions of record relief will assist many Californians to secure employment and find housing where their criminal record had previously prevented them from doing so.