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Here's how a pilot program to clear marijuana possession records is going

FILE - A marijuana sample is displayed for customers at Good Day Farm dispensary Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
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AP
FILE - A marijuana sample is displayed for customers at Good Day Farm dispensary Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Last year, the Legislature created a pilot project to see how difficult it would be to expunge – or clear – arrest records for those who were arrested for marijuana possession but not convicted on Hawaiʻi Island before 2020. Possession of under 3 grams of marijuana was decriminalized in 2019.

After about one month, the project has been able to expunge 196 records.

While non-conviction arrest records are already expungeable, the person seeking to clear their record must pay a $35 fee for the first expungement – and $50 for subsequent requests.

This pilot project is testing a new method called state-initiated expungement. In this method, the Attorney General’s Office identifies a record eligible for the program and then clears it at no cost.

American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi Policy Director Carrie Ann Shirota said arrest records – even for something that resulted in a non-conviction – can negatively impact people’s lives.

“ There is a need and people want to clear their records because we hear story after story of how these records can be used as a barrier or a basis of denial for jobs, housing, other type of life opportunities,” she said.

“Really what's at the heart of this is really giving everybody a second chance and clearing these records so people can move forward in their lives.”

The Criminal Justice Data Center estimates that there are over 2,200 records eligible for the pilot project expungement program.

In its report to the Legislature, the AG’s office said that expunging only marijuana arrests made the process more difficult. That’s because the statute under which many people were charged also covers other substances.

The process required staff members to request information from the arresting authority to vet the information for each case. In many cases, there were inconsistent records of critical information, like the types of drugs involved in the case.

Shirota is part of the state’s Clean Slate Expungement Task Force. It’s looking at different ways to implement state-initiated expungement for more qualifying records– including those that resulted in a conviction.

Twelve other states have implemented some form of state-initiated expungement and the eligibility of records varies from state to state.

“Ultimately the idea behind clean state is that after a period of time, particularly if people do not have any new charges or convictions, like they pay their debt to society, let's give them the support to clear their records and obtain like jobs, housing, other life opportunities,” Shirota said.

In the meantime, ACLU Hawaiʻi and other legal advocates, like the Office of Public Defenders and Hawaiʻi Workers Center, have hosted pop-up legal clinics to help those seeking record expungements.

They were able to process 41 expungement applications at their recent event in Waiʻanae.

Ashley Mizuo is the government reporter for Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Contact her at amizuo@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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