Automatic Record Clearance — Code for America

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href="https://codeforamerica.org/success-stories/">Success Stories</a> </li> </ul> </cfa-nav> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <main id="content" role="main"> <div id="page-2526"> <header class="page-header "> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-6 page-header__content "> <h1 class="page-header__title eyebrow"> Automatic Record Clearance </h1> <div class="page-header__headline h1"> Working with communities and government to fundamentally transform the process of clearing records </div> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-6 page-header__visual page-header__visual--vertical-breakout-bottom has-bg-blob "> <div class="page-header__illustration"> <img src="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2022/03/21000536/parents-with-son-1-768x589.png" alt="Illustration of three adults embracing, smiling"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <section class="section"> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs top-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p><strong><span class="large">A criminal record creates lifetime barriers for people trying to move forward with their lives, meet basic needs, and thrive in their chosen field.</span></strong></p> <p>We’re working to help solve this issue by partnering with courts, criminal history repositories, executive branch agencies in state governments, policymakers, and advocacy groups to design and implement new record clearance policies. Our goal is to make automatic record clearance—where the state initiates and completes the clearance of all eligible criminal records—the standard across the country.</p> <p>With technology and human-centered design, automatic record clearance helps reduce barriers imposed on people with criminal records and their families—and is more efficient for states. Our services for states are focused on supporting the implementation of automatic record clearance. We collaborate with policymakers and government agencies to surface and solve implementation problems before an automatic record clearance bill even passes, helping to maximize the chances for successful policy passage. We also work with government agencies implementing automatic record clearance to develop proofs of concepts that solve technical barriers to implementation.</p> <div class="cfa-spacer" style=" --height: calc(var(--spacing-layout-1) * 2); --height-desktop: calc(var(--spacing-layout-1) * 2); "> </div> <cfa-promo heading="Let’s work together to improve government in meaningful ways" text="" linkUrl="https://codeforamerica.org/partner-with-us/" linkTarget="" actionLabel="Partner with us" > </cfa-promo> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="" class=" section section--default text-default " style=" " > <div class="section__header"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-10 text-center"> <div class="h2"> The importance of record clearance </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row between-xs middle-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-6"> <div class="stack"> <p><strong>One in three people in the U.S. today have a criminal record that appears on a routine background check.</strong> Decades of federal, state, and local criminal legal system policies and practices—like the War on Drugs and mass incarceration—disproportionately target Black people and people of color.</p> <p>A criminal record can be a life sentence to poverty, <a href="#audio-series" rel="noopener">creating barriers to jobs, housing, education, and more</a>. These barriers create ripple effects for generations: nearly half of all U.S. children have at least one parent with a criminal record. This reality causes negative consequences for a child’s cognitive development, school performance, and even employment outcomes in adulthood.</p> </div> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-5 stack "> <iframe width="100%" height="258" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL65XgbSILalVskZDSarxdoNMr8t3n2LeE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs top-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p>Nearly every state has existing laws that allow people to petition to clear their criminal records after a certain amount of time. Unfortunately, these petition processes are complicated and burdensome—and often costly. For people with low incomes, expensive legal assistance and court fees can make this process impossible.</p> <p>As a result, only a tiny fraction of people eligible for record clearance ever obtain the relief they need. Tens of millions of people are blocked from moving forward with their lives because of their criminal record.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs middle-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p><strong>At Code for America, we believe that government at all levels can and should work dramatically better than it does today.</strong> That’s why, with our experience and learnings, we work with state governments to remove these burdens and increase life opportunities by supporting states in implementing automatic record clearance from beginning to end.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-column-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-md top-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md stack"> <cfa-stat beforeLabel="" figure="144,000" afterLabel="records identified for clearance in California" animated="" style=" " > 144,000 records identified for clearance in California </cfa-stat> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md stack"> <cfa-stat beforeLabel="" figure="350,000" afterLabel="records cleared in Utah" animated="" style=" " > 350,000 records cleared in Utah </cfa-stat> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="clear-my-record" class=" section section--default text-default " style=" " > <div class="section__header"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-10 text-center"> <h2 class="eyebrow"> Clear My Record </h2> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row between-xs middle-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-6"> <div class="stack"> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2016, we launched an online intake tool to connect people with the legal aid they need to navigate California’s expungement process. With this tool, our team helped 27,000 people get connected to legal aid services. But we also saw firsthand how the petition-based process wasn’t working. We wanted to go beyond tweaking the status quo to re-envision the whole process of record clearance so that it would be accessible to anyone and everyone who needs it. So in 2018, we shifted our focus to automatic record clearance.</span></p> </div> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-5 stack "> <div class="cfa-embed"> <iframe title="Working Together to Change the System" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V1xxVpeS53k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-tile-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="cfa-tile-block__tiles"> <div class="row center-sm stretch-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md"> <cfa-tile title="Automatic Record Clearance policy" description="Automatic Record Clearance policy paves a path to clear eligible convictions, automatically." imageurl="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/05/28124720/sunrise.svg" imagealttext="Icon of a sunrise" linkurl="" linktarget="" actionlabel=""> </cfa-tile> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md"> <cfa-tile title="Clear My Record" description="helps surface and solve implementation problems before bills pass and provides proofs of concepts that solve for technical implementation challenges." imageurl="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/09/27220430/check-mark.svg" imagealttext="Icon of a check mark in a circle" linkurl="" linktarget="" actionlabel=""> </cfa-tile> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md"> <cfa-tile title="Courts & Repositories" description="update records to reflect relief granted." imageurl="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/09/27220710/courthouse.svg" imagealttext="Icon of a courthouse" linkurl="" linktarget="" actionlabel=""> </cfa-tile> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md"> <cfa-tile title="Millions of people" description="can get the job or housing they were previously blocked from." imageurl="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/09/27220600/many-people.svg" imagealttext="Icon showing many people" linkurl="" linktarget="" actionlabel=""> </cfa-tile> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row between-xs middle-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-6"> <div class="stack"> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Clear My Record team works with communities, advocates, and government to leverage technology and human-centered design to advance automatic record clearance. </span><b>The goal of this work is to clear all eligible criminal records in the U.S.</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After we realized petition-based processes couldn’t scale to meet the current need, </span><a href="https://www.codeforamerica.org/news/leveraging-technology-to-fulfill-the-promise-of-record-clearance-laws/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">we partnered with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to create a process for automatic record clearance. We developed technology that reads criminal history data, determines eligibility for relief under state law, and produces the necessary documentation for courts. This work expanded to become a first-of-its-kind partnership with five District Attorneys’ Offices in California. </span></p> </div> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-5 stack "> <div class="cfa-image"> <picture class=" cfa-image cfa-image--narrow cfa-image--default "> <source media="(max-width: 1024px)" srcset="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2022/03/21000539/cmr-bear-e1648687868280.jpeg" /> <source media="(min-width: 1024px)" srcset="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2022/03/21000539/cmr-bear-e1648687868280.jpeg" /> <img src="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2022/03/21000539/cmr-bear-e1648687868280-230x300.jpeg" loading="lazy" alt="A screenshot of the ClearMyRecord BEAR app" > </picture> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs middle-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When the state passed a new cannabis record clearance law, we released the technology to District Attorneys statewide. The free, open-source application combs through criminal history data to find people eligible for record clearance—at a speed of up to 10,000 eligible convictions per minute. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To date, this Clear My Record technology in California alone has helped identify </span><a href="https://www.codeforamerica.org/news/record-clearance-at-scale-how-clear-my-record-helped-reduce-or-dismiss-144-000-convictions-in-california/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">144,000 records</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for clearance—two-thirds of all eligible cannabis convictions in California.</span></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs top-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p><b>This work became part of a new era for record clearance policies in America. We began to see a future in which eligible records would be cleared automatically as a routine function of government. To get there, we needed to think big, and our work in California showed that it was possible.</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Code for America is a founding member of the Clean Slate Initiative. This bipartisan national movement supports state legislative campaigns to move away from relying primarily on the petition-based record clearance processes and move towards automated clearance processes that are initiated by government. The initiative also works to expand the number and types of records eligible to be cleared.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Using the learnings and momentum from California, Clear My Record has now worked with over twenty states to help design impactful and implementable automatic record clearance policies. After Utah’s automatic record clearance policy was passed, </span><a href="https://codeforamerica.org/news/utah-record-clearance/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clear My Record partnered with the state</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to build technology that would implement the law. Ultimately, this technology is helping clear approximately </span><span class="highlight highlight--yellow"><b>350,000 criminal records</b></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in that state alone, and providing another proof point for the possibility of automatic record clearance to remove barriers at scale. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since then, we’ve been able to scale our implementation support to other states by partnering with government agencies to develop proofs of concepts that overcome technical implementation challenges.</span></p> <p>In addition to Utah, automatic record clearance, also known as “Clean Slate,” policies are now in place in 12 states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, California, Delaware, Virginia, Minnesota, and New York. But there is still work to be done. We need to ensure laws are implemented effectively, and more policies need to change across the country to fundamentally improve the process of record clearance.</p> <p><span class="large"><b>With the right policies and the conscious use of technology, government </b><b><i>can</i></b><b> deliver impact at the scale we need. Ultimately, this work is not just about creating efficient ways to change criminal record data. It is about changing lives.</b></span></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="clearmyrecord-org" class=" section section--default text-default " style=" " > <div class="section__header"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-10 text-center"> <h2 class="eyebrow"> ClearMyRecord.org </h2> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs top-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">ClearMyRecord.org is a free informational website that helps people in California get connected to legal assistance to navigate the record clearance process. The site also provides an overview of the record clearance process and what to expect, along with resources across the state. </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a class="prominent-link arrow-link" href="https://www.clearmyrecord.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Access the informational site</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="stories" class=" section section--default text-default " style=" " > <div class="section__header"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-10 text-center"> <h2 class="eyebrow"> Stories </h2> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="feed-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="feed-block__feed"> <div class="story-feed" data-items-per-page="3" data-order-by="date" data-show-controls="false" data-show-pagination="true" data-show-visuals="true" data-tag="56" > <div class="cfa-loader"> Loading </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="audio-series" class=" section section--default text-default " style=" " > <div class="section__header"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-10 text-center"> <h2 class="eyebrow"> Audio series </h2> <div class="h2"> Listen: The impact of a criminal record </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs top-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We spoke to people across the country living with a criminal record. In this audio series, hear them describe in their own words the impact of a conviction on their employment prospects, housing situations, and mental health.</span></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="feed-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="feed-block__feed"> <div class="story-feed" data-items-per-page="3" data-order-by="date" data-show-controls="false" data-show-pagination="false" data-show-visuals="true" data-tag="133" > <div class="cfa-loader"> Loading </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-content-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs top-md"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-8"> <div class="stack"> <p style="text-align: center;"><a class="prominent-link arrow-link" href="https://soundcloud.com/user-906889651/sets/clear-my-record-audio-series-the-impact-of-a-criminal-record" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Listen on SoundCloud</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="resources" class=" section section--compact text-default " style=" --bg-color: var(--#c2c0e8); " > <div class="section__header"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-10 text-center"> <h2 class="eyebrow"> Resources </h2> </div> </div> </div> </div> <cfa-carousel> <cfa-card theme="default" linkUrl="https://codeforamerica.org/resources/advocates-guide-to-automatic-record-clearance/" linkTarget="" visualType="" visualUrl="" visualThumbnailUrl="" visualAltText="" eyebrow="Resource" title="The Advocate’s Guide to Automatic Record Clearance" text="A new informational resource designed to assist advocates in developing automatic record clearance policies that are implementable by government" metaText="" actionLabel="" > </cfa-card> <cfa-card theme="default" linkUrl="https://info.codeforamerica.org/recommendations-for-automatic-record-clearance-policies-report" linkTarget="_blank" visualType="" visualUrl="" visualThumbnailUrl="" visualAltText="" eyebrow="Report (PDF)" title="Recommendations for Automatic Record Clearance Policies in Legalization and Decriminalization Legislation" text="11 best practices for creating high-impact, implementable policies that clear conviction records—automatically" metaText="" actionLabel="" > </cfa-card> <cfa-card theme="default" linkUrl="https://codeforamerica.org/news/record-clearance-at-scale-how-clear-my-record-helped-reduce-or-dismiss-144-000-convictions-in-california/" linkTarget="" visualType="" visualUrl="" visualThumbnailUrl="" visualAltText="" eyebrow="Blog post" title="Record Clearance at Scale: How Clear My Record Helped Reduce or Dismiss 144,000 Convictions in California" text="Ushering in a new era for record clearance, and what's next for relief" metaText="" actionLabel="" > </cfa-card> <cfa-card theme="default" linkUrl="http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/codeforamerica-cms1/documents/Partnership-Report_Clear-My-Record-SFDA_Code-for-America_February-2019.pdf" linkTarget="_blank" visualType="" visualUrl="" visualThumbnailUrl="" visualAltText="" eyebrow="Report (PDF)" title="San Francisco Partnership Report" text="Results from Code for America’s Automatic Record Clearance Pilot with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office " metaText="" actionLabel="" > </cfa-card> <cfa-card theme="default" linkUrl="http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/codeforamerica-cms1/documents/CMR-Partnership-Report-Los-Angeles.pdf" linkTarget="_blank" visualType="" visualUrl="" visualThumbnailUrl="" visualAltText="" eyebrow="Report (PDF)" title="Los Angeles Partnership Report" text="Results from Code for America’s Automatic Record Clearance Pilot with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office" metaText="" actionLabel="" > </cfa-card> <cfa-card theme="default" linkUrl="http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/codeforamerica-cms1/documents/Making-Proposition-64-Marijuana-Conviction-Relief-Automatic-A-Community-Resource-Guide.pdf" linkTarget="_blank" visualType="" visualUrl="" visualThumbnailUrl="" visualAltText="" eyebrow="Guide (PDF)" title="Making Proposition 64 Marijuana Conviction Relief Automatic" text="A Community Resource Guide" metaText="" actionLabel="" > </cfa-card> </cfa-carousel> </section> <section id="press" class=" section section--default text-default " style=" " > <div class="section__header"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="row center-xs"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-10 text-center"> <h2 class="eyebrow"> What people are saying about Clear My Record </h2> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cfa-logo-block"> <div class="container-fluid wrapper"> <div class="cfa-logo-block__logos"> <div class="row center-sm"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/us/marijuana-proposition-64-code-for-america.html" class="cfa-logo" target="_blank" rel="noopener" > <img src="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/03/28124756/the-new-york-times.svg" alt="New York Times"> </a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-county-marijuana-convictions-20190401-story.html" class="cfa-logo" target="_blank" rel="noopener" > <img src="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/03/28124756/los-angeles-times.svg" alt="Los Angeles Times"> </a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40572854/this-algorithm-is-quickly-clearing-old-marijuana-convictions-in-san-francisco" class="cfa-logo" target="_blank" rel="noopener" > <img src="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/03/28124756/fast-company.svg" alt="Fast Company"> </a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="https://apnews.com/d4fa650b6572cca41bbb587a1e6f666d" class="cfa-logo" target="_blank" rel="noopener" > <img src="https://files.codeforamerica.org/2021/05/28124718/associated-press.svg" alt="Associated Press"> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="" class=" section section--compact text-default " 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