Minnesota expunges 58,000 low-level cannabis offenses from state records

Alex Derosier, Pioneer Press
·3 min read
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Minnesota has sealed nearly 58,000 criminal records related to non-felony cannabis offenses, completing a process set into motion by the state’s legalization law last year.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety on Monday announced the completion of the expungements from the state’s Criminal History System, which the agency said it completed three months ahead of schedule.

“It is very encouraging to see that misdemeanor cannabis criminal records are moving toward expungement now,” Cannabis Expungements Board Executive Director James Rowader said in a news release. “These actions together will have a lasting and significant equity impact on communities throughout the state of Minnesota.”

As part of the Aug. 1, 2023, legalization of adult-use cannabis in Minnesota, the state started the process of sealing criminal records related to the drug. A vast majority of records reviewed by the Minnesota Judicial Branch were eligible, though 213 could not be expunged.

BCA records

Expungement doesn’t mean the records no longer exist. Anyone can request their criminal record from the Criminal History System, including records that are sealed.

And while the BCA’s records are expunged in Minnesota, they’ll still be viewable in other states because of Minnesota’s membership in the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, according to state public safety officials. That compact requires records to be available in other states unless someone files a petition and a court orders the BCA to seal them.

Now that this part of the process is complete at the state level, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will give local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies a list of the records it expunged so the process can happen at those agencies as well.

The BCA said it will review and expunge records again in 2025 to find any records for cases that were still moving through court during the 2024 round of expungements.

Felony convictions

Those with felony convictions related to cannabis won’t have their records automatically expunged. Instead, the new Cannabis Expungement Board plans to review those records, and determine whether they’ll be expunged or if the person with the conviction will be resentenced.

People can’t apply to have their records expunged. The board will review cases and then consider them for action. The board said it plans to begin reviewing records by the end of 2024 and is set to hold an initial organizational meeting on Tuesday.

The Department of Public Safety said it will take several years to review felony convictions because each case is weighed on an individual basis. Cases that involved a dangerous weapon, intentional bodily harm to another person, or threats of death or bodily harm won’t be considered by the board.

Members of the board include Minnesota Court of Appeals Chief Judge Susan Segal, Hennepin County Assistant Public Defender Amanda Brodhag, Deputy Corrections Commissioner Safia Khan, and Rebecca St. George, the legal and policy counsel to the chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. A fifth member will be appointed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

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