Free legal services are available Saturday at Waiʻanae Public Library for those who think they may qualify for criminal record expungement or bench warrant recalls.
Legal providers like the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary, the American Civil Liberties Union Hawaiʻi and the state Office of the Public Defender are hosting the event.
Several records could qualify for expungement, such as marijuana possession under 3 grams or an arrest that did not result in a conviction.
"If their record is expungable, we would like to help them apply for an expungement through an application and then if they're granted a certificate of expungement, then we could apply for the records to be sealed in court," said Deputy Public Defender Eddie Aquino.
"The reason why we want to do that is a lot of people who have some type of record, albeit nothing serious, oftentimes that becomes a problem when they're trying to apply for different types of employment or just trying to get a job, it becomes an issue. So this is one way for them to clean up their record so there would be no hindrance to their application for any type of employment," he said.
The clinic will also offer services to help people clear bench warrants for missing court dates and get back on the court calendar to take care of outstanding cases.
Even if people are unsure if they qualify, Aquino encourages them to come to the clinic anyway.
They will be accepting clients from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Walk-ins are welcome, but people can also sign up at bit.ly/expungementclinicHI.
