Although Massachusetts updated our criminal record sealing laws in 2018 to make sealing more accessible, the administrative burden required to seal records remains a deterrent.

Individuals seeking to seal records need to mail or deliver petitions to the Commissioner of Probation who processes them manually, one-by-one. This creates backlogs, with several months passing before people hear back when they have already waited years for the opportunity.

Moreover, many people do not know when their records are eligible for sealing, and only learn they might be eligible for record sealing after they lose the prospect for a job, housing, or other opportunity due to their record.

Record sealing has well-documented benefits, but these benefits in economic opportunity are only possible if people can get their records sealed.

The Clean Slate bill would require the Commissioner of Probation to automatically seal criminal and juvenile records after the applicable waiting periods without the filing of a petition. The bill also specifies all juvenile cases are sealable under the juvenile sealing law because the Commissioner is now applying the adult sealing law to certain charges, creating longer wait times and making some charges not sealable at all. Other states such as PA, CT, NJ, CA, CO, DE, MI, OK, VA, and UT have successfully adopted automatic record clearing with great benefits to those with records.