St. Paul, MN: State officials have reviewed and expunged more than 57,000 low-level marijuana-related convictions, according to data provided this week by the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Legislation passed last year regulating the adult-use cannabis market called for the automatic review and expungement of records for those previously convicted of misdemeanor marijuana-related violations.
“The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has expunged (also referred to as sealing) 57,780 records in CHS [the Minnesota Criminal History System] almost three months ahead of schedule,” the agency posted Monday on its website.
A separate process will be undertaken to review marijuana-related felony records, some of which may also be eligible for expungement relief.
“These actions together will have a lasting and significant equity impact on communities throughout the state of Minnesota,” James Rowader, Executive Director of the state’s Cannabis Expungement Board, said in a press release.
Twenty-five states have enacted laws facilitating the sealing of eligible marijuana-related convictions. Publicly available data compiled by NORML finds that state courts have sealed the records of an estimated 2.2 million marijuana-related convictions since 2018.
A summary of state-specific marijuana expungement laws is available from NORML. The full text of the updated report, Marijuana Pardons and Expungements: By the Numbers, is available from NORML.