Courts are on deadline to expunge nonviolent cannabis cases under Amendment 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Modification 3 did greater than legalize adult-use hashish. It additionally paved the way in which for folks to get their nonviolent hashish circumstances expunged.

Expungements are alleged to occur routinely for folks not incarcerated or on probation or parole.

Below Modification 3, the courts have till December 2023 to expunge felony circumstances and till June 2023 to expunge misdemeanors.

These nonetheless in jail should petition a decide to have their circumstances expunged.

Missouri state Supreme Court docket reviews as of January 20, the courts have routinely expunged 3,631 circumstances thus far and that quantity is even larger now. That does not imply over 3,600 folks, simply circumstances, with the overwhelming majority being misdemeanors.

As for petitions, the state says as of January 20, about 16 petitions have been filed in 13 counties. That quantity is larger by now, too.

This takes some work within the circuit courts. The Jackson County circuit court docket stated they first prioritized the 42 felony and misdemeanor circumstances of individuals on probation and parole when the modification handed.

Now they’re specializing in the misdemeanors.

They’ve gone again to 1990 and located 2,015 misdemeanor drug circumstances. They filtered by these and remoted 414 circumstances that have been cannabis-specific, which a decide will evaluation.

Jackson County stated they’re pooling their sources to make sure they end it on time.

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