Minnesota expunges nearly 58,000 misdemeanor cannabis records

Ryan Faircloth, Star Tribune
·2 min read
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Minnesota has expunged nearly 58,000 misdemeanor cannabis records ahead of schedule, state officials announced Monday.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said it's completed the process of expunging misdemeanor cannabis records as required by the state's recreational marijuana law. State officials had previously expected to finish that work by August.

"We are pleased to be able to deliver on this legislative priority," BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said in a statement Monday. "Minnesotans will see changes to their records immediately and as additional expungements are made in the months and years ahead."

The records are no longer visible to the public in searches of the Minnesota Criminal History System, according to the BCA. The Minnesota Judicial Branch signed off on the expungement of 57,780 records while determining that 213 should not be expunged.

BCA officials will soon provide a list of the expunged records to local criminal justice agencies so they can wipe away any related records in their systems.

People who have their records wiped clean are typically able to obtain better jobs and housing.

Minnesota's marijuana law created a separate Cannabis Expungement Board to review felony offenses. Felony cannabis cases are likely to number in the tens of thousands.

Board members will consider whether to resentence or expunge felonies. They will do so on a case-by-case basis, meaning it could take several years to review all cannabis-related felonies.

The board will not review cannabis-related felonies that involved violence, weapons or threats, as those are deemed ineligible under the law. Its five voting members will decide whether to expunge a felony record. Victims and law enforcement will be able to provide input beforehand.

The expungement board is scheduled to meet for the first time on Tuesday.

"The Cannabis Expungement Board is tasked with the thoughtful and careful review of cannabis-related felonies and we are quickly moving forward to build a team to accomplish the work," Jim Rowader, executive director of the expungement board, said in a statement.