Can I clear my record in Michigan?

Set-aside

Setting aside a conviction by application

You are 'considered not to have been previously convicted,' with exceptions. The conviction can still be used as a prior to charge a repeat offense and at sentencing for habitual-offender purposes. Sex offender registration still applies to listed offenses, and restitution must still be paid (MCL 780.622). The Michigan State Police keep a nonpublic record that only courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, the Attorney General, the Department of Corrections and the Governor can see, for listed purposes such as later sentencing, pardons, and job applications with the Department of Corrections or a law enforcement agency. Anyone else who divulges or uses a set-aside conviction commits a misdemeanor (MCL 780.623). Setting aside a traffic conviction, including OWI, does not have to remove it from your Secretary of State driving record (MCL 780.621c(5)).^1,2,3,4

What it's for: Most Michigan misdemeanor and felony convictions, up to three felonies in a lifetime.

Who can use it

• You may apply to set aside all of your Michigan convictions if you have no more than 3 felony convictions in total, and any number of misdemeanors (MCL 780.621(1)).
• No more than 2 convictions for an assaultive crime can be set aside in your lifetime, and no more than 1 felony conviction for the same offense if it is punishable by more than 10 years (MCL 780.621(1)).
• Felonies or misdemeanors that happened within 24 hours and arose from the same transaction count as one conviction ('one bad night'), unless any of them is an assaultive crime, involves a dangerous weapon, or carries a maximum of 10 or more years (MCL 780.621b).
• A first-offense OWI conviction can be set aside, once in a lifetime (MCL 780.621c(3)).
• Deferred-and-dismissed cases count as misdemeanors when your record is counted (MCL 780.621(2)).
• Some prostitution-related convictions committed as a direct result of being a human trafficking victim can be set aside at any time (MCL 780.621(3), 780.621d(6)).

What doesn't qualify

• Felonies with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and attempts to commit them (MCL 780.621c(1)(a)).
• Listed sex and child-abuse offenses: first-, second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, assault with intent to commit CSC, child sexually abusive material, using a computer to solicit a minor, first- and second-degree child abuse, and child abuse committed in the presence of another child. Fourth-degree CSC is barred if the conviction was on or after January 12, 2015; an earlier fourth-degree CSC conviction can be set aside only if you have no other convictions except up to two minor offenses (MCL 780.621(1)(d), 780.621c(1); Michigan Legal Help).
• A second or later OWI, any traffic offense committed by a commercial license holder while driving a commercial vehicle, and any traffic offense that caused injury or death (MCL 780.621c(1)(d)).
• A felony domestic violence conviction when you have a prior misdemeanor domestic violence conviction (MCL 780.621c(1)(e)).
• Human trafficking and terrorism-chapter offenses listed in MCL 780.621c(1)(f).
• Anyone with criminal charges pending, or convicted of any offense during the waiting period (MCL 780.621d(4)).

How long you have to wait

Some records clear automatically. Many convictions are now set aside automatically (see Automatic set-aside). OWI convictions can only be set aside by application (MCL 780.621c(3)).

How to apply

1. Fill out an Application to Set Aside Conviction and sign it under oath (have it notarized). Michigan Legal Help's Do-It-Yourself Expungement tool fills out the forms for you.
2. Get a certified record of each conviction from the court that convicted you, and make copies.
3. Get one full set of fingerprints at a local police station or a Michigan State Police post.
4. File the application with the court where you were convicted.
5. Send a copy of the application, the certified records and your fingerprints to the Michigan State Police with a $50 check or money order payable to the State of Michigan. The court cannot act until it gets the State Police report.
6. Send copies of the application and certified records to the Michigan Attorney General and to the prosecutor who handled each case. They may contest the application. Crime victims of assaultive crimes and serious misdemeanors are notified and may speak.
7. Attend the hearing. Be ready to explain why the conviction should be set aside and how you have lived since. The judge must find that your circumstances and behavior warrant it and that it is consistent with the public welfare (MCL 780.621d; Michigan Legal Help).

Where to file

The court that convicted you (Michigan Legal Help; MCL 780.621f(3)).

Cost

The application fee is $50, payable to the State of Michigan and sent with your packet to the Michigan State Police (MCL 780.621d(9); Michigan Legal Help). Fingerprinting and certified copies of your conviction records may cost extra.

Court hearing

Yes

How long it takes

Michigan Legal Help says the process can take about six months or more.

The law

MCL 780.621-780.621d (Setting Aside Convictions Act, 1965 PA 213)

Official forms

• Do-It-Yourself Expungement (Adult Conviction) tool
• Notice of Hearing and Motion (MC 326), for a motion for rehearing after a denial

Set-aside

Automatic set-aside (Clean Slate)

Same effect as a set-aside by application: the conviction becomes nonpublic and you are considered not previously convicted, with the exceptions in MCL 780.622 and 780.623. Courts, law enforcement and some government agencies can still see it in some situations. Restitution must still be paid. A driving-related conviction stays on your driving record (Michigan Legal Help). A court must reinstate an automatically set-aside conviction if it was not actually eligible, or if you have not made a good-faith effort to pay ordered restitution (MCL 780.621h).^13,14,15,16

What it's for: Many misdemeanors after 7 years and many felonies after 10 years, with no application.

Who can use it

• Misdemeanors are set aside 7 years after sentencing (MCL 780.621g(1), (3), (4)).
• Felonies are set aside 10 years after the later of sentencing or completion of any prison term (MCL 780.621g(2)). Michigan Legal Help describes the felony clock as starting at the latest of sentencing, probation, jail or prison, or parole.
• Lifetime limit: no more than 2 felonies and 4 misdemeanors set aside automatically. Misdemeanors punishable by 92 days or less do not count toward the misdemeanor limit (MCL 780.621g(5)).
• For felonies and misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more: no pending charges in the State Police database and no new conviction during the waiting period (MCL 780.621g(6)).

What doesn't qualify

• Assaultive crimes, serious misdemeanors, crimes of dishonesty, and offenses punishable by 10 or more years in prison (MCL 780.621g(10)). These exclusions apply to felonies and to misdemeanors in the State Police database; low-level misdemeanors (92 days or less) that are not in that database are not subject to them (MCL 780.621g(1)).
• Listed offenses involving a minor, a vulnerable adult, injury or serious impairment, or death, and human trafficking offenses (MCL 780.621g(10)).
• Anyone with more than one assaultive crime conviction, for the felony and 93-day-or-more misdemeanor tracks (MCL 780.621g(7)).
• OWI convictions (they can only be set aside by application, MCL 780.621c(3)), and anything barred from set-aside in MCL 780.621c (MCL 780.621c(2)).

How long you have to wait

Happens automatically. The law set automatic set-asides to begin two years after the Clean Slate amendments took effect (April 11, 2021), subject to funding (MCL 780.621g). Michigan Legal Help says the first automatic set-asides ran on April 11, 2023, with daily runs planned after that. You do not need to apply. Courts and the State Police process eligible convictions, and courts notify arresting agencies monthly.

How to apply

1. Nothing to file. To check, search yourself on ICHAT ($10); an expunged conviction should not appear. Search every name you have used.
2. For a full record, request a Michigan State Police personal record check ($30, fingerprints required). It shows public and expunged convictions.
3. Call the court for misdemeanors punishable by 92 days or less, which are often not in the State Police database (Michigan Legal Help).
4. If a private background-check company still reports the conviction, ask it to remove the entry.

Where to file

Handled by the courts and the Michigan State Police.

Cost

No application or fee. Optional record checks cost $10 (ICHAT) or $30 (State Police personal record check), per Michigan Legal Help.

Court hearing

No

The law

MCL 780.621g, 780.621h

Set-aside

Setting aside a misdemeanor marijuana conviction

Same effect as other set-asides (MCL 780.622). You cannot later seek resentencing in another case where this conviction was used, and fines, costs and forfeited property are not returned (MCL 780.621f).^9,17,18,19

What it's for: Misdemeanor marijuana possession, use and paraphernalia convictions, and matching local ordinance violations.

Who can use it

• A misdemeanor conviction under MCL 333.7403(2)(d) (possession), 333.7404(2)(d) (use), the marijuana provision of 333.7453 (paraphernalia), or a substantially matching local ordinance (MCL 780.621e(7)).
• Filing creates a presumption that the conduct would not have been a crime on or after December 6, 2018. The prosecutor must prove otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence (MCL 780.621e).

What doesn't qualify

• Conduct the prosecutor shows would still be a crime under state or local law on or after December 6, 2018.
• Felony marijuana convictions; use the regular application route instead.

How long you have to wait

How to apply

1. File an application with your full name, current address and a certified record of each conviction with the convicting court, and serve a copy on the prosecuting agency.
2. The prosecutor has 60 days to object. If it does not, the court must enter the set-aside order within 21 days, with no hearing.
3. If the prosecutor objects, the court holds a hearing within 30 days and rules within 14 days after it. You do not have to present evidence (MCL 780.621e).

Where to file

The court that convicted you.

Cost

MCL 780.621e does not mention a fee. Certified conviction records may cost money.

Court hearing

Sometimes

How long it takes

About 81 days if the prosecutor does not object (60 days to respond plus 21 days for the order).

The law

MCL 780.621e