As part of ArchCity Defenders’ (ACD) expanding holistic legal advocacy and ‘know your rights’ learning opportunities, ACD is hosting virtual education sessions on expungement, the process of sealing a person’s criminal record, including records of conviction, arrests, and even arrest where charges were not filed.

The upcoming, identical sessions are free and will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, October 20 (12pm), and Wednesday, October 21 (6pm). Registration is required.

Register for Tuesday, October 20th session at 12pm: tinyurl.com/y6kftuv5 

In the presentation, Martin Hutchins, a Racial Justice Fellow and Staff Attorney at ACD, will cover the following topics:

• what is expungement
• recent changes to Missouri’s expungement law(s) 
• the process of going through expungement and issues people face
• steps people can take if they’re interested in starting the process of getting their criminal record sealed (arrests, and misdemeanor & felony convictions) 

Why now? 

• MO’s Expungement law went through major changes in 2018, and more changes recently.
• Recent reports from MO courts show that very few people are pursuing expungement even though many may be eligible.
• Criminal records create several barriers to people gaining employment, education and housing. 
• Tackling these barriers has become even more urgent due to the pandemic as coronavirus continues to cause further housing instability, unemployment, etc.–those with records will face even more difficulty in bouncing back

The target audience for this includes people personally impacted by the criminal legal system and wanting to learn about expungement for themselves and/or someone they care about. These sessions are also intended for local (and statewide?) service providers who work with people who have prior criminal records. 

These info sessions are a continuation of public education ACD’s provided on various ‘know your rights’ topics. Stemming from the systemic criminalization of race and poverty and the underrepresentation of people in local courts, ArchCity Defenders launched a #ProSeSTL initiative, providing guidance to people who get arrested, held on money bail, and/or people who are representing themselves in court. Since the rise of COVID-19, ACD has also provided virtual ‘know your rights’ sessions on housing and municipal courts. Those recordings can be found on ACD’s YouTube channel.